Front audio panels or motherboard?

[memestar]

So I recently bought a pair of Kingston Hyperx Cloud Core's, and I'm not sure where to plug in the audio jacks. I've tried plugging in the jacks in the front and the back, and they each produce different sound quality. My motherboard is an ASrock H97 anniversary and my case is a Corsair 200R if that helps. I really am a newb at this stuff, so any advice would be appreciated. When i plug the headphones into the front, they have less bass but sound clearer and better(?) When plugged into the back which is directly into the motherboard, they have more bass, but they weirdly hurt my ears. The motherboard also has this ELNA audio thing, so I'm not sure which panel I should connect to at this point.

[Dackzy]

Front, because they are best amplified on that mobo (like most) the reason why the mobo ports will have more bass is because your back ports maybe can't power the headphones.

[memestar]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

Front, because they are best amplified on that mobo (like most) the reason why the mobo ports will have more bass is because your back ports maybe can't power the headphones.

Hey man thanks for the input, after testing some more, the front panels definitely sound much better, but have significantly less bass, almost none. The motherboard panel has alot more bass then again, but are you sure the front panels would have better sound quality overall? How so?

[Dackzy]

4 minutes ago, memestar said:

Hey man thanks for the input, after testing some more, the front panels definitely sound much better, but have significantly less bass, almost none. The motherboard panel has alot more bass then again, but are you sure the front panels would have better sound quality overall? How so?

Yes and you can just EQ some more bass into your sound  I know my MOBOs and sound.

[memestar]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

Yes and you can just EQ some more bass into your sound  I know my MOBOs and sound.

Alright, what do you mean by EQ btw? I would really love some more bass 

[Dackzy]

6 minutes ago, memestar said:

Alright, what do you mean by EQ btw? I would really love some more bass 

equalizer  

[Mr.Meerkat]

Ermmm...the ports on the motherboard is usually better. There's very little reason to use the front ports apart from it's more convenient but the back ports are usually the go to ports for sound quality ect.

 

24 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

Front, because they are best amplified on that mobo (like most) the reason why the mobo ports will have more bass is because your back ports maybe can't power the headphones.

You mean Back right? You talk about the motherboard ports having more Bass which is the back ports .

[memestar]

15 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Ermmm...the ports on the motherboard is usually better. There's very little reason to use the front ports apart from it's more convenient but the back ports are usually the go to ports for sound quality ect.

 

You mean Back right? You talk about the motherboard ports having more Bass which is the back ports .

Yes, the motherboard/back ports have more bass.

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 minute ago, memestar said:

Yes, the motherboard/back ports have more bass.

Can you please define what do you mean the sound quality in the front ports sound better?

[memestar]

2 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Can you please define what do you mean the sound quality in the front ports sound better?

I'm not good with audio terms, but they front sounds more "clear"? I really can't describe it. But the front definitely has much less bass.

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 minute ago, memestar said:

I'm not good with audio terms, but they front sounds more "clear"? I really can't describe it. But the front definitely has much less bass.

It could be something to do with due to the front port having less bass, the more bass in the motherboard ports is overwhelming the treble and mids compared to the front port resulting in the front sounds being "clearer" 

[memestar]

3 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

It could be something to do with due to the front port having less bass, the more bass in the motherboard ports is overwhelming the treble and mids compared to the front port resulting in the front sounds being "clearer" 

Well since I like the clearer audio quality of the front, should i try modifying the bass of the motherboard panel?

[Mr.Meerkat]

2 minutes ago, memestar said:

Well since I like the clearer audio quality of the front, should i try modifying the bass of the motherboard panel?

As @Dackzy has said, an Equalizer is your best friend here  

[Dackzy]

30 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Ermmm...the ports on the motherboard is usually better. There's very little reason to use the front ports apart from it's more convenient but the back ports are usually the go to ports for sound quality ect.

 

You mean Back right? You talk about the motherboard ports having more Bass which is the back ports .

On most motherboards to day the mobo ports are for speakers and are not amplify to the same level as the front ports are. The sound quality is the same.

[Mr.Meerkat]

Just now, Dackzy said:

On most motherboards to day the mobo ports are for speakers and are not amplify to the same level as the front ports are. 

Ermmmm...not true, the back ports could be used for speakers but so many motherboards now have an AMP built in as well while speakers will have their own dedicated AMP to amplify the signal which suggests the use of headphones...also, the front ports are more prone to interference with the wiring used for them aren't very good either usually. 

[memestar]

3 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

On most motherboards to day the mobo ports are for speakers and are not amplify to the same level as the front ports are. 

Just curious do you use front panel for your headphones? It seems like I can just use an equalizer and roll with whatever I guess.

[memestar]

7 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Ermmmm...not true, the back ports could be used for speakers but so many motherboards now have an AMP built in as well while speakers will have their own dedicated AMP to amplify the signal which suggests the use of headphones...also, the front ports are more prone to interference with the wiring used for them aren't very good either usually. 

I specifically have a ASRock H97 Anniversary motherboard, and a Corsair 200R case. The case came with a front panel USB 3.0 cable to connect to the mobo (Not sure if that does anything to audio). The mobo has ELNA audio thingy, so I'm not sure which is better.

[Dackzy]

5 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Ermmmm...not true, the back ports could be used for speakers but so many motherboards now have an AMP built in as well while speakers will have their own dedicated AMP to amplify the signal which suggests the use of headphones...also, the front ports are more prone to interference with the wiring used for them aren't very good either usually. 

The amp that is for the front jack are generally more powerfull than the one for the speaker. Yeah they are more prone to interference, but if you don't have interference the sound quality is the same. Also the reason why the back ports are not that well amped is also so if you get a amp you will not end up double amping.

 

7 minutes ago, memestar said:

Just curious do you use front panel for your headphones? It seems like I can just use an equalizer and roll with whatever I guess.

Before I got my O2 yes, because the amp for the front is much more powerfull than the one for the back(mobo), Yeah you can roll with whatever you want  

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

The amp that is for the front jack are generally more powerfull than the one for the speaker. Yeah they are more prone to interference, but if you don't have interference the sound quality is the same. Also the reason why the back ports are not that well amped is also so if you get a amp you will not end up double amping.

 

Before I got my O2 yes, because the amp for the front is much more powerfull than the one for the back(mobo), Yeah you can roll with whatever you want  

Well why do so many gaming oriented motherboards have 300-600ohms headphone Amps on them? You would be required to plug your headphones into the motherboard ports as well  

 

3 minutes ago, memestar said:

I specifically have a ASRock H97 Anniversary motherboard, and a Corsair 200R case. The case came with a front panel USB 3.0 cable to connect to the mobo (Not sure if that does anything to audio). The mobo has ELNA audio thingy, so I'm not sure which is better.

Not the best built in sound chips but both the front and back will be running off the same chip so for the sound quality of the front ones are all down to how good the cabling is...

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Well why do so many gaming oriented motherboards have 300-600ohms headphone Amps on them? You would be required to plug your headphones into the motherboard ports as well  

Nonono that amp is for the front I have one of those mobo (formula VI) and the front is clearly the most amplified one.

[Dackzy]

1 minute ago, Dackzy said:

Nonono that amp is for the front I have one of those mobo (formula VI) and the front is clearly the most amplified one.

I once did a test with a dB meter and my front was about 12dB louder than the back, with the same percentage volume in windows

[Mr.Meerkat]

Just now, Dackzy said:

Nonono that amp is for the front I have one of those mobo (formula VI) and the front is clearly the most amplified one.

Well on my old z77 sabertooth, the front ports were craptastic in terms of audio quality and the back ones were what you would expect from a built in sound chip plus it would go louder than the front ports and same goes for this current h61 motherboard I'm using (can't test my new x99-s motherboard as missing PSU ) so in my experience,  it's the opposite of what you've said  

[memestar]

3 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I once did a test with a dB meter and my front was about 12dB louder than the back, with the same percentage volume in windows

 

2 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Well on my old z77 sabertooth, the front ports were craptastic in terms of audio quality and the back ones were what you would expect from a built in sound chip plus it would go louder than the front ports and same goes for this current h61 motherboard I'm using (can't test my new x99-s motherboard as missing PSU ) so in my experience,  it's the opposite of what you've said  

So now what  dont know which one to use.....

[Mr.Meerkat]

Just now, memestar said:

 

So now what  dont know which one to use.....

Just used the front ones and get a equalizer and up the bass slightly to get the extra bass you want  

[Dackzy]

Just now, memestar said:

 

So now what  dont know which one to use.....

take the front and eq more bass, since they are they most detailed when you use front.

 

4 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Well on my old z77 sabertooth, the front ports were craptastic in terms of audio quality and the back ones were what you would expect from a built in sound chip plus it would go louder than the front ports and same goes for this current h61 motherboard I'm using (can't test my new x99-s motherboard as missing PSU ) so in my experience,  it's the opposite of what you've said  

There are some motherboards that still have the back the best amplified, but generally the front is the best today.