Curiosity with my Headphone ports and their respective quality. Front audio sounds BETTER than rear audio

[Chem1calWaste]

Played around a bit with my audio options after getting a new mic recently and I noticed that the audio quality is considerably better when plugging my headphones into into the Front 3.5 mm jack.

I tried several direct comparisons and aside from the acoustic range increasing by about 1.2 KHz on the high end and about 5 Hz on the low end, voices are clearer, bass is deeper, highs are more punchy and it is overall just a way better experience. 

 

Specs are:
Razer Kraken V2
B450 A Pro Max
Case: Aerocool Cronus
Audio drivers are the Realtek ones (Version 6.0.1.8186)
Audio on MB: Realtek ALC892

 

Both Audio Channels are running at the same bit and sampling rate (24 bit, 48000 Hz), but the front one still sounds considerably better in almost any way. Even increasing both to 24 bit, 192000 Hz yielded no difference at all. Not only in clarity of voices and music is there a difference but also in relative aswell as absolute volume there is a huge difference. This shouldn't be the case though, since the Front Audio ports have to deal with all the interference and potential other problems such as vibrations from the case.

 

I have thought for a while that it might be some audio enhancing going on on the PCB of the front IO, but that is more likely than not just some BS, especially with a case that was only 100€. (If that's even an feature on any case at all)

 

I have tried a variety of small fixes and even completely reinstalled the Realtek drivers and tried the default ones Windows provides, but the difference persists.

 

In conclusion: Is this a common thing, should I be made aware about any potential problems with my Mainboard or the Headset?

[SkilledRebuilds]

Some boards have AMPED audio ports.

My 4th gen 4790k in my MSIGaming 7 z97a board and it had AMP audio ports.

 

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-A-PRO-MAX

Suss the AUDIO sections.

[Chem1calWaste]

10 minutes ago, SkilledRebuilds said:

Some boards have AMPED audio ports.

My 4th gen 4790k in my MSIGaming 7 z97a board and it had AMP audio ports.

 

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-A-PRO-MAX

Suss the AUDIO sections.

Took a look at them. They have separate PCB layers for each channel and and Isolated EMI-shielded Audio design. Doesn't really explain the extreme loss of quality on the MB 3.5mm ports though. Might be missing something obvious, but I don't think so. -_- Thanks for the suggestion anyways

[Spuriae]

Realtek codec outputs can be configured for headphone amplifier output or line output; headphone amplifier outputs perform much better into low impedance loads but much worse into high impedance loads. The ALC892 datasheet recommends configuring the front audio channels as headphone amplifiers, while keeping the rear channels as line out. As a result, most motherboards running the basic Realtek design will have better headphone outputs with the front audio.

 

Interference and vibrations from the rest of the computer are tiny compared to the inherent noise of the Realtek codecs; they have no significant effect on the audio quality for most motherboards.

 

See the ALC892 datasheet: http://www.chipset-ic.com/datasheet/ALC892.pdf

 

Specifically:

• Table 86 comparing analog performance of headphone amplifier and unamplified outputs
• Table 87 recommending the front panel outputs be configured as headphone amplifiers and the rear outputs being configured as line outputs
• Figures 19 and 20 showing significantly larger AC coupling capacitors for the front headphone outputs, giving them lower distortion and more bass extension into low impedance loads

[Chem1calWaste]

On 7/25/2021 at 6:44 AM, Nimrodor said:

Realtek codec outputs can be configured for headphone amplifier output or line output; headphone amplifier outputs perform much better into low impedance loads but much worse into high impedance loads. The ALC892 datasheet recommends configuring the front audio channels as headphone amplifiers, while keeping the rear channels as line out. As a result, most motherboards running the basic Realtek design will have better headphone outputs with the front audio.

 

Interference and vibrations from the rest of the computer are tiny compared to the inherent noise of the Realtek codecs; they have no significant effect on the audio quality for most motherboards.

 

See the ALC892 datasheet: http://www.chipset-ic.com/datasheet/ALC892.pdf

 

Specifically:

• Table 86 comparing analog performance of headphone amplifier and unamplified outputs
• Table 87 recommending the front panel outputs be configured as headphone amplifiers and the rear outputs being configured as line outputs
• Figures 19 and 20 showing significantly larger AC coupling capacitors for the front headphone outputs, giving them lower distortion and more bass extension into low impedance loads

Wow, thanks for the detailed response, I greatly appreciate that. Very informative