Front jack whine w/ IP35 onboard; help, need recc. for new aud. card too

[veritas7]

Hey all... I have a very complex problem.

I can't seem to figure out if this problem is due to my motherboard (Abit IP35 Pro) or the front headphone jack cable (of my Lian Li PC V2000 Plus II).

When I use the onboard sound from the front jack, as soon it as gets about halfway loading (Windows boot screen) of Windows, there seems to a high pitch frequency whine coming (listening to with headphones). For some odd reason too, I swear there's also additional noise like almost you can hear the hard drive seeking... but what's weird is that the audio cable running from the front of my case is not really cramped too much with other wires, nor touching the hard drive.

My front jack cable is zip tied initially with two USB cables and one Firewire cable. Then, about 12 inches later (from the front, length wise, not distance) it splits off and is zip tied next to the side of my case and then to the top and then finally plugged in to the AUDIO1 port of my motherboard (the cable from the front has two ends, HD AUDIO and AC'97, I used the HD AUDIO). So I don't think I would be getting much interference, but I could be wrong...

Right now I am using an old Audigy 2 card I had in my Dell, but unfortunately it doesn't have the the two row, 7 prong male end to take the cable (HD/AC'97), only a one row 10 prong male plug that was used to connect to the front of my Dell case (Headphone/Mic/1 USB/1 Firewire).

What could possibly be the problem behind the annoying high pitch whine? The mobo? Faulty cables?

The [onboard] sound coming from behind the computer (aka directly from the motherboard) sounds perfectly fine so it is not a Realtek HD chip/driver issue (afaik).

Can anyone reccomend me a card that will accept this front panel connection for a semi-audiophile (I can discern/hear a lot things but tend to not notice THAT much, but the onboard just seems really flat, thats why I like my Audigy 2 but I want to use my front panel jack!) that listens mostly to music (trance, chill, house, R&B, trip-hop, hip-hop, classical, piano) and games occasionally, and I have only a 2.1 setup (and looking to get a 5.1 setup in about a year or two when I get my own place).

Sorry for this lengthy post... I just want to lay out all the facts so if anyone tries to help they won't have to ask for more. Stats in sig, running XP Pro SP2 with all correct drivers installed.

EDIT: How would I go upon tying to route using my Audigy 2 to process sound and sending it through the mobo/AUDIO1 port to the front panel jack? Is it possible? I don't see any sound cards on Newegg that have the AC'97/HD AUDIO type of connector to connect to my front jacks... :(

[veritas7]

I guess I found a card that has the front panel audio connector, is this a good card for my music (and some gaming) needs?

HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

[mandeep]

I got that front panel interference too before I bought my audio interface, so it seems like it may be a problem with our IP35 mobos. RealtekHD audio isn't as bad as you make it sound, and to tell you the truth, I think the differences you would hear between that and something like an Audigy2, or that Omega card, are minuscule even if there were a difference. As far as the front panel connection, I think you may be out of luck unless you try something that fits in a 5" drive bay.

[veritas7]

I got that front panel interference too before I bought my audio interface, so it seems like it may be a problem with our IP35 mobos. RealtekHD audio isn't as bad as you make it sound, and to tell you the truth, I think the differences you would hear between that and something like an Audigy2, or that Omega card, are minuscule even if there were a difference. As far as the front panel connection, I think you may be out of luck unless you try something that fits in a 5" drive bay.

I found two different cards that I might want to get, it's time to get a good card and a decent set of headphones.

If anything I'll just be running a long stereo cord from the back of the computer.

I can definitely tell the difference between the onboard and my Audigy 2, lots more noise coming from the onboard than the Audigy.

[veritas7]

Another update... it seems like it may just be my motherboard/interference with all that's going on around the Realtek chip on the mobo.

I found a converter to use my old Audigy 2/Audigy/Live with my front ports here

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=83&products_id=21700


So it'll end up either I get a new soundcard or a slightly expensive cable, lol. I'm leaning towards the cable, but a new card isn't always a bad thing, I might consider it after the next paycheck.

[mandeep]

I just plugged my headphones into the onboard audio port, and you're right about the noise. However, I still think that as long as you're using the Windows kernel for audio, there'll hardly be a difference in the sound quality you'll get with other cards.