zenotal

Hello,

I have a new ENERMAX Chakra ECA3052B Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case that has cool audio ports on the front top control panel. I see all the individual audio leads (the usual suspects) that need to be plugged in somewhere. Don't see any aux audio ports directly on my mobo, and I don't have a PCI sound card.

Do I need one to take advantage of the front audio jacks? If so, can anyone recommend a cheap PCI audio card that will let me do this?

I currently plug my speakers into the back jack, which is connected directly to the mobo. Sounds great, no complaints. So I would be getting a card strictly to enable the front audio jacks.

Thanks for any tips!

Sk8forMaple

Do they have the 1/4mm headphone jacks on them? If so, they're designed to go through one of the PCI slots and plug into your sound card. Now having a second sound card would be kind of a pain due to the fact that you'd have to constantly change which sound card you want to use. My suggestion is to buy 2 1/4mm headphone jack splitters from Radio shack. That way you could have both the front access audio and the speakers plugged into the same jack

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godling

Quote: Originally Posted by zenotal I currently plug my speakers into the back jack, which is connected directly to the mobo. Sounds great, no complaints. So I would be getting a card strictly to enable the front audio jacks. Thanks for any tips!

Yes, those leads need to be plugged into your sound card, unless your onboard audio has aux plugins for those feeds. Check your mobo's manual, but it's unlikely ...

If you do get a new sound card so you can use those front jacks, make sure your sound card has plugins for those leads. I know it sounds simple ... but not every card support those.

Finally, if you do get a new sound card, remember to disable your on-board audio, as they may well conflict.

-godling

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zenotal

Quote: Originally Posted by Sk8forMaple Do they have the 1/4mm headphone jacks on them? If so, they're designed to go through one of the PCI slots and plug into your sound card. Now having a second sound card would be kind of a pain due to the fact that you'd have to constantly change which sound card you want to use. My suggestion is to buy 2 1/4mm headphone jack splitters from Radio shack. That way you could have both the front access audio and the speakers plugged into the same jack

They don't have 1/4 mm jacks.

zenotal

Quote: Originally Posted by godling Yes, those leads need to be plugged into your sound card, unless your onboard audio has aux plugins for those feeds. Check your mobo's manual, but it's unlikely ... If you do get a new sound card so you can use those front jacks, make sure your sound card has plugins for those leads. I know it sounds simple ... but not every card support those. Finally, if you do get a new sound card, remember to disable your on-board audio, as they may well conflict. -godling

Don't have a mobo manual, but have looked carefully for aux feeds. Will check again one more time this weekend.

Can you suggest an appropriate sound card that would have front panel aux ports?

Will have to figure out how to disable on-board audio when I get to that step. Thanks!

kardiacc

What is the make and model of the motherboard you are trying to connect to?

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godling

Quote: Originally Posted by zenotal Don't have a mobo manual, but have looked carefully for aux feeds. Will check again one more time this weekend. Can you suggest an appropriate sound card that would have front panel aux ports?

Hmmn ... a bunch of cards do, really. Define your price range, then go check out ZipZoomFly, TigerDirect, or NewEgg for options. I believe those are specifically referred to as "front-panel audio headers."

Quote: Will have to figure out how to disable on-board audio when I get to that step. Thanks!

Just go into the BIOS and tell it to disable the onboard audio. Should be a very clear option.

-J

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zenotal

Quote: Originally Posted by kardiacc What is the make and model of the motherboard you are trying to connect to?

Computer is a SONY VAIO PCV-RX891 Pentium 4 2.8 - not sure about exact mobo. Tried to get a manual from SONY, but of course you can imagine how that went!

Hibiki

Creative Sound Blaster Xtreme Gamer

This sound card has front panel audio connections and supports hardware 3D sound in both XP and Vista (with the free ALchemy download from Creative) if you play games. It's regular price is about $80, but some rebates and sales can push it down to about $50.

The thing is that the old AC97 front panel standard is being replaced by the HD Audio front panel standard and this card reflects that.

You may be able to get the front panel to work if you can match the AC97 pinout of your case to the translation provided by Intel, the people behind the HD Audio standard, with the following links:

Enermax Chakra Manual
Intel HD Audio -> AC97 front panel

The picture provided in the Intel guide will have you place the pins in a particular order, the missing 8th connector is used to orient your connection properly. Just follow the AC97 chart and the following graphical translation:

2 4 6 - 10
1 3 5 7 9

The easiest way to get front panel audio today is to get a case with a connector marked as "HD Audio" and any motherboard or sound card with a front panel connector.

An HD audio connector is compatible with both HD Audio pins, like the above Sound Blaster, or AC97 pins, like in most motherboards.

zenotal

Quote: Originally Posted by Hibiki Creative Sound Blaster Xtreme Gamer This sound card has front panel audio connections and supports hardware 3D sound in both XP and Vista (with the free ALchemy download from Creative) if you play games. It's regular price is about $80, but some rebates and sales can push it down to about $50. The thing is that the old AC97 front panel standard is being replaced by the HD Audio front panel standard and this card reflects that. You may be able to get the front panel to work if you can match the AC97 pinout of your case to the translation provided by Intel, the people behind the HD Audio standard, with the following links: Enermax Chakra Manual Intel HD Audio -> AC97 front panel The picture provided in the Intel guide will have you place the pins in a particular order, the missing 8th connector is used to orient your connection properly. Just follow the AC97 chart and the following graphical translation: 2 4 6 - 10 1 3 5 7 9 The easiest way to get front panel audio today is to get a case with a connector marked as "HD Audio" and any motherboard or sound card with a front panel connector. An HD audio connector is compatible with both HD Audio pins, like the above Sound Blaster, or AC97 pins, like in most motherboards.

Thanks for your reply - I'll give it a shot! My case manual was a much more bare-bones version.

Razel

HI, new guy here been a looker on this site for awhile just never registered. But I need some help and I think you guys could help me. I have similar problem that zenotal is having. I have mic and phone jacks on top of my case, which is a Thermaltake Tsunami Dream, and all the wires are separated and labeled which isn't a huge problem and my mobo has aux. jax and are labeled in the manual but the labels don't match so I'm not sure which wires go to which. I've tried it once kinda making educated guess but it didn't work. So if you guys could help it would be appreciated greatly.

Here are the labels on the case wires:
EAR L
RETURN R
MIC VCC
EAR R
RETURN L
MIC-IN
GROUND

And the mobo (mobo is a abit AN8 32X) manual:
MIC2 L
AGND
MIC2 R
AVCC
FRO-R
MIC2_JD
F-IO-SEN
NC
FRO-L
LINE2_JD

THX
RAZEL DAZEL

Hibiki

Ear L -> Fro-L
Return R -> Mic2_JD
Mic VCC -> Mic2 R
Ear R -> Fro-R
Return L -> Line2_JD
Mic-In -> Mic2 L
Ground -> AGnd

Razel

Sweet that worked!!


THX
RAZEL DAZEL