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Front Panel Audio Connectors

Because the average computer user wants them and would be upset if they weren't there. It's a safe bet that anyone posting here or similar sites, is NOT an average user.
 
I don't understand why case manufacturers can't get it right.

My Dell Vostro 200 and Inspiron 530 systems are quiet out of the headphone jack.
 
Skakruk said:
Why do case and sound card designers still include the provision for front panel headphone and microphone jacks? They've been unusable for years now, with the amount of interference in modern PCs.

I used to think that I was getting worse results than the average Joe because I've always had high end graphics cards in my case, which tend to be very electrically noisy. But I've just built a very basic system with integrated graphic, and no add in cards to speak of, and the front panel phones jack is still extremely noisy.

And this noise isn't just during high heavy GPU or CPU activity anyway... It's perfectly evident in the Windows environment. Just dragging a window, or scrolling, an you can hear an answering buzz or squeal. The volume doesn't have to be particularly loud either.

I've had this problem with so many case/sound card/graphics card etc. combinations, that it can't possibly be defective hardware. When I dissect the front panel wiring, I often see dual or quad shielding, but it's obviously not enough.
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Case manufacturers just build them like shit. Either they don't shield the cables at all, they have uber cheap connections, or they have common grounds with other wiring on the headphone jack which is prone to interference and noise (many Antec cases have this exact problem). People building PCs have just accepted the problems and moved on. I have a Lian Li case with a noisy front panel, and I have a new case being delivered on Wednesday which should hopefully fix the problem.

I have never encountered this problem with an OEM computer like a Dell or HP. Normally during testing someone actually bothers to plug in a headset to verify things work...
 
Krispy Kritter said:
Because the average computer user wants them and would be upset if they weren't there. It's a safe bet that anyone posting here or similar sites, is NOT an average user.
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Why wouldn't an enthusiast want them there? For people with speakers and headphones, it sure makes things a lot easier when you have a front headphone jack and an auto jack sensing sound card.
 
ocellaris said:
Why wouldn't an enthusiast want them there? For people with speakers and headphones, it sure makes things a lot easier when you have a front headphone jack and an auto jack sensing sound card.
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The problem is the front panel audio connector on a sound card is typically low power compared to the dedicated headphone jack on the back of the card. Therefore, it is only useful for low end, low impedance headphones (hopefully people on here are [H]arder than that ;) ). Good for testing purposes, but useless if you actually have real audio gear.
 
Tonight I ditched my Lian Li case with a noisy front panel connector for a new Cooler Master 690 II case. I tried everything I could to solve the problem, the only thing that fixed the issue on the Lian Li was disconnecting the USB ports completely. The front panel on the new CM case works perfectly and has no extra noise coming through it. It works great with the headphone amp on my Xonar card as well. Does not sound any different than the jack on the back of the PC.
 
ocellaris said:
Tonight I ditched my Lian Li case with a noisy front panel connector for a new Cooler Master 690 II case. I tried everything I could to solve the problem, the only thing that fixed the issue on the Lian Li was disconnecting the USB ports completely. The front panel on the new CM case works perfectly and has no extra noise coming through it. It works great with the headphone amp on my Xonar card as well. Does not sound any different than the jack on the back of the PC.
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Does your Xonar's front panel audio jack have the same specifications as the rear headphone jack? What headphones are you using?
 
ocellaris said:
Tonight I ditched my Lian Li case with a noisy front panel connector for a new Cooler Master 690 II case. I tried everything I could to solve the problem, the only thing that fixed the issue on the Lian Li was disconnecting the USB ports completely. The front panel on the new CM case works perfectly and has no extra noise coming through it. It works great with the headphone amp on my Xonar card as well. Does not sound any different than the jack on the back of the PC.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your purchase... I do own HAF 922 and I cannot wait to test Xonar DG with AD700 cans with the front panel. So far onboard audio with el cheapo Sony gym and Pannasonic closed cans seems to work fine... no noise or static, however with better cans and head amp connection from Xonar card it could be a different story. I do have issues with underpowered (or something) usb ports on the front panel... Some usb drives (self power or w/external power) get disconnected during file transfer... although my usb flash drives, digital camera and 2 small passport WD drives work fine... i did contact CM about getting a new front panel, I'm still waiting for a reply...

BTW... how do you like XONAR card with your RX700 cans? better than audio onboard solution?
 
amd7674 said:
BTW... how do you like XONAR card with your RX700 cans? better than audio onboard solution?
Click to expand...

Yeah I think the combination is great. I don't know if its just the amp or the sound card is better, however I can hear things in my games and music much better than I could with the on board solution and same headphones.

The only problem I've had with the Xonar is the stupid GX (EAX) mode defaulting to enabled and its crap.
 
ocellaris said:
Yeah I think the combination is great. I don't know if its just the amp or the sound card is better, however I can hear things in my games and music much better than I could with the on board solution and same headphones.

The only problem I've had with the Xonar is the stupid GX (EAX) mode defaulting to enabled and its crap.
Click to expand...

excellent :D

I skipped RX700/RX900 in favor of AD700s. I hope I won't regret my decision. I'm worrying about weak bass, not that I'm a basshead. Hopefully with some EQ tweaking on Xonar DG I'll get an "ok" bass out of them. I'm sure I'll have good/bad experience with xonar card too... Looks like I'll get my Xonar on Friday and cans sometime next week.
 
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