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AMD 64 system - Audigy 2 question (plus some Nexus sourcing)

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:39 pm
by Kimo
Hey everyone -

I'm new around these parts, although I've been lurking for a while.

I have a simple questions, and it's not really quiet computing related but I think you might be able to help me out.

I hav ethe Lian Li V1000B case, and there are front media ports on the front bezel. It has the usual mic in, headphones out and 2 USB ports.

I'd like to connect it to my Audigy 2 Value card, but I can't figure out where to plug it in. Have any of you done this?

Also - Quiet computing related this time :)

What is the best place to get the Nexus 120 mm fans? I'd like to get 3 of them (one for HDD area, one for exhaust and one for my XP-120.)

Thanks!

Jamie

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 5:53 pm
by m0002a
I don't know about "best" but I bought mine at Silicon Acoustics:
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/120mmfans.html

If you don't have an Audigy 2 Value manual, you can download one from the Creative website.

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 7:03 am
by Badger
put your audigy 2 in an available pci slot on your motherboard.

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 7:50 am
by NeilBlanchard
Hello:

If you want a Yate Loon fan (the same company that makes the Nexus) that costs a lot less:

http://store.yahoo.com/pctekonline/12x12cmcasefan.html

Now, these are the medium speed version -- they run at ~1650RPM at 12volts, though they are very quiet and run well at 5v. So if you put a FanMate on them, they will be virtually as quiet as the Nexus (which runs at 1000RPM), and still be about 50% of the cost.

There used to be some low speed Yate Loons that run at ~1350RPM available here:
http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?in ... 12&cat=FAN for only a bit more money -- though they are still out of stock...

You can buy this fan at CompUSA, which is in all likelyhood a medium speed Yate Loon, as well:
http://www.maddogmultimedia.com/product ... -CF-UC.htm

Re: AMD 64 system - Audigy 2 question (plus some Nexus sourc

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:15 am
by Talz
Kimo wrote:I hav ethe Lian Li V1000B case, and there are front media ports on the front bezel. It has the usual mic in, headphones out and 2 USB ports.

I'd like to connect it to my Audigy 2 Value card, but I can't figure out where to plug it in. Have any of you done this?
Creative Labs decided to display their pure genious and customer friendliness by making the headphone and mic connectors on the Audigy series proprietary and designed only to work with their proprietary 5.25" front panel. I really hope someone makes a good competetive gaming sound card soon like Aureal back in the day. Between stuff like that and Creatives disgraceful driver support I'm pretty fed up with them.

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 11:11 am
by Kimo
Thanks for the replies, and I'll cehck out those fans.

The audigy thing has me a little miffed.

You can try the KX drivers, they are pretty good and very powerful compared to creative's. They just take a little tweaking to get them set right...but in this forum that won't be a problem.

Jamie

Re: AMD 64 system - Audigy 2 question (plus some Nexus sourc

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:02 pm
by Thy Left Elbow
Talz wrote:
Kimo wrote:I hav ethe Lian Li V1000B case, and there are front media ports on the front bezel. It has the usual mic in, headphones out and 2 USB ports.

I'd like to connect it to my Audigy 2 Value card, but I can't figure out where to plug it in. Have any of you done this?
Creative Labs decided to display their pure genious and customer friendliness by making the headphone and mic connectors on the Audigy series proprietary and designed only to work with their proprietary 5.25" front panel. I really hope someone makes a good competetive gaming sound card soon like Aureal back in the day. Between stuff like that and Creatives disgraceful driver support I'm pretty fed up with them.
I suggest you take a look at the M-Audio Revolution series. Great converters and support for most sound formats.

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:21 pm
by Green Shoes
Kimo wrote:The audigy thing has me a little miffed.
AFAIK, the connectors on the front of any case are some bizarre standard that only ever works with onboard Mobo sound, which is usually pretty heinous. If you're already stuck with the Audigy you might just try and get a longer shielded male/female 1/8" cable, but if not check out the 2-channel solutions from Aardvark and (as Thy Left Elbow said) M-Audio. They're usually just a hair cheaper than the Audigys and sound loads better.

oh, and since nobody else has said it yet, Welcome to SPCR!!

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:48 pm
by m0002a
Creative (SoundBlaster) makes a front control panel for the Audigy 2 that fits in the external 5.25" bays. It is includes the normal connections, plus volume controls, remote control, and other extras. Unfortuenately, it is expensive at about $130.00. It comes standard with the Audigy 2 Platinum edition.

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:27 pm
by Kimo
Creative (SoundBlaster) makes a front control panel for the Audigy 2 that fits in the external 5.25" bays. It is includes the normal connections, plus volume controls, remote control, and other extras. Unfortuenately, it is expensive at about $130.00. It comes standard with the Audigy 2 Platinum edition.
Yeah, I know. And I'd be willing to bet that the connector to the front panel use some sort of digital encoding so that we can't just figure out what pins carry which signal and make our own connector.

Ah well, I guess if I REALLY want to use the front panel connectors I will have to make some connectors with a 1/8in plug, pass it out the back of my case and plug them in. That SUCKS.

I hate it when a company locks you in like that but I guess it's life. MAudio makes great MIDI controllers so I bet their sound cards are great too!

Thanks for all the suggestions, and I'm really pleased with how helpful everyone is here.

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2005 12:13 am
by CX23882-19
The white connector on the top edge of Audigy boards is also for front panel audio. You need an adapter cable for it to work with most cases front panel audio, I believe that HPaq use this in their systems. The white connector carries standard analog signals.

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:48 am
by m0002a
CX23882-19 wrote:The white connector on the top edge of Audigy boards is also for front panel audio. You need an adapter cable for it to work with most cases front panel audio, I believe that HPaq use this in their systems. The white connector carries standard analog signals.
HP does offer front audio ports with an Audigy2 ZS, so it is possible to figure out which ones they are. HP does not have the full functionality provided by the connectors of the Audigy2 Platinum Front Bay, but you should be able to hook up the basic line-in and line-out pins. Maybe HP offers their cable as a spare part that would help figure it out.

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 12:43 pm
by Kimo
Well I'll be damned.

Here's the answer - use the white panel. Pin 1 is the one by the SB logo:

1 - Analog Ground
2 - Analog Headphone Out Left
3 - Audio Backpanel Mute -- short to ground to mute the backpanel (when headphones are plugged in)
4 - Analog Headphone Out Right
5 - same as #3
6 - Mic input from front panel
7 - key pin (shouldn't be there)
8 - VREF out -- voltage reference for Mic
9 - MIC IN MUTE -- ground when mic isn't plugged in, +12VDC when mic is plugged in
10 - Audio cable detect -- will be ground when headphones are plugged in (not normally used)

I got this by googling around.

Now to figure out all the connections for my Lian Li :)

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 12:49 pm
by m0002a
Please post it when you do figure it out.