PC - AUDIO on front and rear panels connectors.

[Dave_s]

I am curious about PC's that have AUDIO
[Line_IN, MIC-IN, SPK_out and LINE_OUT] connectors on both the front
panel and on the rear panel of PC case.

The question really concerns if the motherboard [mobo] or sound card
feeding the AUDIO Connectors will allow both front/rear to be active at
the same time?

A specific example:
Suppose I wanted to listen on headphones plugged into
front panel SPKR or LINE_OUT, would the Stereo Speakers plugged into the
rear panel LINE_OUT jack also be active while front headphones are working?

My new PC, about to be built, uses an INTEL D865PERLK mobo.
This mobo specifically says the rear AUDIO connectors are DISABLED
when built-in AUDIO is jumper selected to drive FRONT AUDIO.
Are other mobos implemented differently so both front and rear audio
work at the same time? If not at same time, how do you change from REAR
to FRONT? Must the PC case be opened and jumpers changed on mobo?

Thanks for info about this AUDIO question.

Dave_s

 

[David Maynard]

I am curious about PC's that have AUDIO
[Line_IN, MIC-IN, SPK_out and LINE_OUT] connectors on both the front
panel and on the rear panel of PC case.

The question really concerns if the motherboard [mobo] or sound card
feeding the AUDIO Connectors will allow both front/rear to be active at
the same time?

Not done. The two are not active at the same time.

\

A specific example:
Suppose I wanted to listen on headphones plugged into
front panel SPKR or LINE_OUT, would the Stereo Speakers plugged into the
rear panel LINE_OUT jack also be active while front headphones are
working?

No. And it would defeat one purpose of headphones, 'private' listening, to
have the speakers blaring away at the same time.

My new PC, about to be built, uses an INTEL D865PERLK mobo.
This mobo specifically says the rear AUDIO connectors are DISABLED
when built-in AUDIO is jumper selected to drive FRONT AUDIO.

The jumper is simply selecting which set of wires, the ones going to the
front panel or to the on-board rear jacks, are connected to the on-board audio.

Are other mobos implemented differently so both front and rear audio
work at the same time?

Would be dern strange if they did.

If not at same time, how do you change from REAR
to FRONT? Must the PC case be opened and jumpers changed on mobo?

Well, one way to do it might be to make a custom switch/cable that plugs
onto the motherboard jumper block so you could manually switch it from
outside the case (where you'd mount the switch).

One way (there are others) it's done 'automatically' with home stereo units
is by using a headphone jack that does the switching when the plug is
inserted. I.E. output from the audio goes to the headphone jack where,
inside, it 'jumpers' the audio through a normally closed set of contacts
back out to the speaker terminals. When the headphone plug is inserted it
physically 'breaks' that connection (pushes the normally closed contacts
open so the signal path is broken) at the same time it makes up to the audio.

You might be able to, again using some custom made wiring to the
motherboard jumper block, do a similar switching via the headphone jack. Or
use the headphone jack to operate a relay, which would then act as a switch
to the jumper block that dynamically changes the connection.