P4C800-ED installing soundcard - front panel audio?

[Rocky]

If I install a soundcard and disable the onboard sound on a P4C800-ED, will
the front panel mic and headphone sockets still work on a Antec Sonata
Tower?

 

[Michael S.]

I would think that if you disabled the sound in the BIOS (as I have done) on
your P4C800-ED, that any connections between your case and the motherboard
for sound would be shut off. You could then connect the sound card to the
case connections instead (IF that is possible with your new sound card and
it has the extra internal connectors as some sound cards do).

MikeSp

 

[Paul]

If I install a soundcard and disable the onboard sound on a P4C800-ED, will
the front panel mic and headphone sockets still work on a Antec Sonata
Tower?

No, I wouldn't think so. The PCI bus was designed to carry PCI signals,
so how will the soundcard get its analog signals into the motherboard ?
The only way to connect the soundcard to the front panel is if the
soundcard has headers labelled "Mic" or "Speakers", and you aren't
likely to find that. Sometimes the soundcard has a 2xN header, a long
one intended for connecting to another device (like an extension
interface), but the pinouts for those can be impossible to find.
Generally, if such an extension interface exists, you have to
rely on the work of experimenters, to find out which pin is which.
With so many different sound card models, few will be documented.

If you go to frontx.com , they have a modular system for making a drive
tray interface. They have some audio connectors for their system.
Each has a 1/8" plug and length of wire on it. You route the wire out
through an open PCI slot, then plug the 1/8" plug into the sound
card. While this is messy on the back of the computer, it does allow
transferring the jacks from the back of the computer, to the front.
Note that with the amount of electrical interference flying around
inside the computer case, you will hear funny noises on the mic input
by doing this. That is also frequently true if you use the CD audio
output and cable that to the soundcard or the motherboard. You would
need shielded cabling for that to be practical.

Many times, jobs like this need custom cabling. So, a soldering iron,
parts from an electronics store, etc., are required, if you want
this to work. At least the connectors on the back of the sound card
are reliable and have a low noise floor.

My solution is to put the computer on top of my desk, making it
easy to get to the back of the computer. I have a really big computer
desk, home made.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Rocky]

No, I wouldn't think so. <snipped>

Thanks for the info, disapointing as it was. Strikes me as bizarre it is
such a hastle to get front connectors working, the rear is such a pain.
That's one of the reasons I bought this sonata case, for the front
connectors, now I am thinking about installing a sound card, I would lose
that finctionality. What a pain.

 

[Michael S.]

Yep--it is a pain--BUT, as a workaround, somebody sells (sorry--sieve-like
memory forgets) a kludgy fix that would work--it consists of cables that
plug into the rear exterior, pass through the interior of the computer and
connect to the inside connectors at the front of the case. Another
possibility that I used with a USB rear connector until I built this new
computer was to purchase a short cable extension and laid it beside the
computer out of sight until it was needed.

MikeSp
--------------------

 

[Rich]

Or you could get a sound card with its own breakout box, such as the Audigy2
Platinum or others like it. See http://www.nusystems.co.uk/buy.asp?b=167
for some examples.

Rich

 

[Rocky]

Or you could get a sound card with its own breakout box, such as the Audigy2
Platinum or others like it. See http://www.nusystems.co.uk/buy.asp?b=167
for some examples.

Thanks Rich, seen any for sub £50? p

 

[Michael S.]

It would depend upon the needs of the user as to whether or not the Audigy
2ZS Platinum would serve the needed purpose--I am using one. In the "Front
Drive" Panel, there are no 5.1 - 7.1 outputs, but SPDIF in and out (RCA
connectors), one optical in and one optical (Toslink connectors) out, one
headphones out (1/4" jack), 1 each aux in, L & R (RCA connectors), another
line in (1/4" jack), MIDI in and out, and finally, Firewire in. This offers
some nice advantages for a soundcard of that quality in the $100-130 range
with rebate and/or discount or sale price, but if attempting a custom build
in which the wires are to be hidden and neat, it uses a wide ribbon cable
that looks kinda like a hard drive ribbon cable and is very difficult to
conceal or keep out of the way of air flow from fans in some cases.

MikeSp
------------------------------------------

Or you could get a sound card with its own breakout box, such as the Audigy2
Platinum or others like it. See http://www.nusystems.co.uk/buy.asp?b=167
for some examples.

Rich