I just bought a soundcard and put it in (Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi) and now I'm wondering: Is there a way that I could connect the headphone and microphone jacks that are on the front of my computer to my new card? Right now I suppose they're connected to my motherboard which has a built-in soundcard. I tried taking a closer look but just oppening up the case isn't enough. The jacks are somewhere inside the front of the case so I've been trying to figure out how to take off the front cover.
Soundcard
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Soundcard The spec sheet on Creative's website mentions:
"Front Panel Header Intel HD Audio Compatible (2x5pin) "
If your front audio ports on your PC are currently working (using the old card), then it means that there must already be a header cable plugged into your motherboard. you could either try tracing the cable by popping the front of the case (can be very tricky to near impossible on some cases), or find the (online?) manual for you rmotherboard to find out where its on-board audio header is located. Once you know that, you can unplug the cable that's currently plugged in, and put it on the soundcard itself.
Make sure you got the right one though, since it may look pretty much identical to your front header USB ports, and it's probably a very bad idea to get those mixed up. :-?
"Front Panel Header Intel HD Audio Compatible (2x5pin) "
If your front audio ports on your PC are currently working (using the old card), then it means that there must already be a header cable plugged into your motherboard. you could either try tracing the cable by popping the front of the case (can be very tricky to near impossible on some cases), or find the (online?) manual for you rmotherboard to find out where its on-board audio header is located. Once you know that, you can unplug the cable that's currently plugged in, and put it on the soundcard itself.
Make sure you got the right one though, since it may look pretty much identical to your front header USB ports, and it's probably a very bad idea to get those mixed up. :-?
The front cover of most cases is held on by six retaining screws inside the case. Take off both sides and look behind the front panel beside the 5.25"/3.5" bays. You should see either some screws or clips that are holding the front panel on.
Be careful as you remove it/refit it tho because there will be wires attached that power the LEDs etc and you don't wanna either snap them, or get them caught between the front pane and the chassis.
Don't know much about wiring them up. My case has front audio ports but they're unused, as I have matching ports on my speaker setup. I think mine has an audio cable which feeds out the back of the case and back into the soundcard outputs.
Be careful as you remove it/refit it tho because there will be wires attached that power the LEDs etc and you don't wanna either snap them, or get them caught between the front pane and the chassis.
Don't know much about wiring them up. My case has front audio ports but they're unused, as I have matching ports on my speaker setup. I think mine has an audio cable which feeds out the back of the case and back into the soundcard outputs.
Alright, thanks. I'll try that stuff when I get home. My speakers (Logitech Z-4's) have a place to plug my headphones in, which works fine, and they also have a jack that has a little music note image beside it. When I plug in my mic, it doesn't work though.
My motherboard is an ASUS A8V-E SE. I'm looking at the manual and I don't see anything to do with audio on my motherboard layout diagram except an FP_AUDIO port on the left of my PCI slots. Would that be what I'm looking for?
Would that be what I'm looking for?
It could be. It depends on which type of front panel audio connectors your case has. AC97 or HD AUDIO. It'll usually be printed on the connector itself. If it doesn't say HD AUDIO, I wouldn't plug it in. I'm pretty sure its AC97.
EDIT: I'm just gonna take the front panel of my case off and trace from there then.
EDIT: I'm just gonna take the front panel of my case off and trace from there then.
Well, the Audigy series certainly wasn't capable of what you want - the X-Fi series sounds like it is, but only with Intel HD plugs.
See, the thing about Creative cards, is that if you want a front panel, you need to get the Platinum edition, which usually costs twice as much.
See, the thing about Creative cards, is that if you want a front panel, you need to get the Platinum edition, which usually costs twice as much.
Ugh. I guess I'll have to get used to plugging my mic into the back when I want to use it. Unless... Is there a way to disable the mic port until I want to use it again? My mic doesn't have an off switch.
Ugh. I guess I'll have to get used to plugging my mic into the back when I want to use it.
My current case doesn't have audio plugs on the front at all -- so to make things more convenient, I just plugged in a six foot cable with a male connector on one end and a female on the other, to extend the port.
I guided the cable to to under my monitor, so I effecitvely have a port right there to plug in the microphone when I want it.