All, I've got a socket 7 system I've been building and I'm curious when audio headers for front panels became a thing.
Did they exist in the early 2000s? My computer is very finicky with PCI revisions and doesn't want to cooperate with PCI 2.2-2.3.
Does there exist a PCI 2.1 audio card with Hd-Audio/AC'97 headers?
I don't know if a card exists with AC'97 or HD AUDIO header. I did find a workaround however.
In my setup, I have two cards: one ESS ES1868F and one Creative Audigy 2 ZS, both bought through eBay; the ES1868F has excellent DOS compatibility, and the Audigy 2 ZS great compatibility with anything newer, as well as excellent sound quality.
The particular case I use for the motherboard (Abit KT7A) is a Cooler Master N400. It has a front panel with a headphone input and microphone input.
What I did is soldering male dupont (2.54mm) cables to the audio output of both the ES1868F and the Audigy 2 ZS, on the back of each cards (have a look at the pictures). Then I plugged the five dupont cables into the AC'97 header of the case. See http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uRGUmPjTUig/TiCFxLV … anel+pinout.png
The result is very satisfying: I can plug my headphones into headphone front panel output and I get stereo sound from the Audigy 2 ZS. I can also plug my headphones in the "mic input" (turned into an output) and I get stereo sound from the ES1868F. This is much nicer than having to go to the back of the PC everytime I want to unplug/replug the headphones.
wrote:Did they exist in the early 2000s?
Nope. Some OEM's had started offering front connectors but wasn't a standard so not only were you stuck with the case but the soundcard as well/
This will work for SB Live! and up
http://audigy2zshowto.blogspot.com/
I was able to find one--If anybody else is looking for a solution that doesn't require you to modify your current card, I'd recommend the Chaintech AV-710.
It's a PCI card that has a front panel audio header--Works perfectly in my system!
It has the VIA VINYL ENVY24HT-S AUDIO CHIPSET which VIA still has drivers for on their page... Hope this helps anybody who had the same question I did. Thanks!
