Asus Sound Card Question

[goldensun87]

This is the sound card I want to get.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/397403/Xonar_DSX_PCIe_71_Audio_Card

This is my case.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/357897/CM_Storm_Enforcer_Mid_Tower_ATX_Gaming_Computer_Case

My question is, when I plug my headphones into the front jack, will the headphones receive audio from the onboard, or the discrete sound card?

P.S.: I have read the features description, but I just wanna be sure. Also, I have a 660 Ti and a Hyper 212 Evo installed. Will I have any space issues?

 

[n1ghtr4v3n]

on board! unless you switch the front spearker/earphone cables from mobo to sound board. usually they are just replaceable like usb cables for front side.
but I'm not sure if its possible to stick them on discreet audio board.

 

[thee_prisoner]

It has a front panel header but whether it comes with a cable or not is another question. And you have to go into your bios and disable your on board sound. If your on board sound is crappy then go with a sound card from Creative or Asus.

 

[goldensun87]

It has a front panel header but whether it comes with a cable or not is another question. And you have to go into your bios and disable your on board sound. If your on board sound is crappy then go with a sound card from Creative or Asus.

So, the sound card will have its own front audio connector? If so, will switching the front audio from the motherboard to the sound card do the trick? And then I would also have to disable the onboard sound in the BIOS?

 

[thee_prisoner]

I know at least the Creative card has a front audio header, which means you can connect it to the front headphone jack. You could pull the one that is now connected from the motherboard to that front headphone connector and use that cable.

You can't have both sound card and onboard audio on at the same time so you will need to disable the onboard sound. I guess the question is that are you having problems with the onboard sound? And what headphones are you using?

To answer your other question whether you should have room for the card, I don't see a problem.

Happy listening, the Prisoner...

 

[goldensun87]

Ok, so the specs say that there is a front panel header. I did not know that I would have to switch the front audio connector from the mobo to the sound card, or that I would have to change BIOS settings. So thanks for that, guys. And to answer the questions, there is nothing wrong with the onboard audio, I just want to see how much better a quality discrete audio card can be. Currently, I use the Skullcandy Hesh when I play games, but I'm thinking of buying the Skullcandy Slayer, which was their first "gaming" headphone. Will the Hesh and/or Slayer sound good with the Asus Xonar DSX?

 

[thee_prisoner]

I would avoid SkullCandy but they are trying to get better. They bought the company that make Astro headphones(Astro fans must be shuddering!) which are better quality but overpriced. So maybe they are trying to improve. The Slayers might be an improvement on sound but since I haven't heard either, no clue. You may perceive a better sound after you spent the cash, justifying your purchase but in reality, you would be hard pressed to hear a difference.

If you get a sound card, you will need to disable the onboard audio, then install the sound card, then run the cable from the sound card(I prefer creative for gaming) header to the front headphone. Or just make it easier on yourself and just run it out of the rear speaker output(green).

If you are gaming, the Creative Z series card will be better than an entry level Xonar. The reason, it includes a decent microphone that uses beam forming tech and has good surround sound DSP(Digital sound processing) compared to the Xonar.Link to Z card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102048

Happy gaming, the Prisoner...