Audio hub(?)

[nayman898]

Hello,

I recently purchased a Soundcard for my computer, as my onboard doesn't work, and I have been trying to find a product, or something, that essentially is an extension from the audio card to a little station with all the ports that I can either put on my desk, or directly underneath (almost definitely directly underneath the middle of the desk). The reasoning for this: I do have my front panel ports working, but with the way my computer is setup, the cable has to come from the left of me, and it often gets in the way of my chairs armrests. Centralizing the connections to directly in front of me makes it easier as the cable has nothing to get caught on. I could mount like a neat packaging to store the female audio connectors directly in front of me and plug in whatever I want whenever.

 

[ninbura]

10 minutes ago, nayman898 said:

Hello,

I recently purchased a Soundcard for my computer, as my onboard doesn't work, and I have been trying to find a product, or something, that essentially is an extension from the audio card to a little station with all the ports that I can either put on my desk, or directly underneath (almost definitely directly underneath the middle of the desk). The reasoning for this: I do have my front panel ports working, but with the way my computer is setup, the cable has to come from the left of me, and it often gets in the way of my chairs armrests. Centralizing the connections to directly in front of me makes it easier as the cable has nothing to get caught on. I could mount like a neat packaging to store the female audio connectors directly in front of me and plug in whatever I want whenever.

A bit confused, the audio on your motherboards IO isn't working? So you replaced it with a internal soundcard? But you aren't entirely satisfied with it because you have to reach around your computer to access it?  So you'd rather use the front ports on your case (that are working somehow)? But when using the front IO the cable gets caught on stuff so it's not the best solution either?

[nayman898]

1 hour ago, TheAgnda said:

A bit confused, the audio on your motherboards IO isn't working? So you replaced it with a internal soundcard? But you aren't entirely satisfied with it because you have to reach around your computer to access it?  So you'd rather use the front ports on your case (that are working somehow)? But when using the front IO the cable gets caught on stuff so it's not the best solution either?

So the front I/O is connected to the new internal soundcard, as the motherboard IO does not work. I am essentially just trying to centralize all the audio connections so I can access them easily, and without running something from my front I/O. The case I have puts them on the top, and my computer sits on a stand built into the desk so its underneath the desk, to the left of me while I am sitting (gets all up in my arm rest). To give another idea, I currently use a cheap insignia stand mic because best buy discount, and my headphones are temporarily connected through that. But the quality is meh, and I want to upgrade to the better sound that my new internal sound card has without sacrificing the convenience of having my audio connection directly in front of me. Sorry, I wasn't very specific. 

[ninbura]

33 minutes ago, nayman898 said:

So the front I/O is connected to the new internal soundcard, as the motherboard IO does not work. I am essentially just trying to centralize all the audio connections so I can access them easily, and without running something from my front I/O. The case I have puts them on the top, and my computer sits on a stand built into the desk so its underneath the desk, to the left of me while I am sitting. Sorry, I wasn't very specific. 

No problem I just wasn't quite understanding.

Does the new card also have IO available from behind the PC? I mean I don't think anyone just makes an audio IO extender, at least as far as I know... but really all you'd be doing / need to do is get a bunch of male 3.5mm to female 3.5mm extensions (TS, TRS, or TRRS depending on the connector) and enclose them in something. Would be fairly easy to do with a bit of cheap wood and glue or a 3D printer. Could even drill a few holes in the desk itself somewhere just big enough to fit a female 3.5mm connector nice a snug, maybe with a little glue, if you plan on using the desk for a while.

The best solution IMO, at least before you already bought another audio card, would have been just getting an external USB audio interface / soundboard. Would have given you inputs and outputs in a central location with superior control and better or equal to routing depending on which interface you got.

[corrado33]

Why not just plug the case audio connectors into your new soundcard. Almost all soundcards have HD audio pins. 

[ninbura]

1 hour ago, corrado33 said:

Why not just plug the case audio connectors into your new soundcard. Almost all soundcards have HD audio pins. 

He did, but the cables slinging across from the front of the case get caught on stuff and bother him.

[nayman898]

Correct, sorry, I am really bad at keeping up with this thread. I have been looking into an audio interface, but if I understand correctly I would also need to get an amp to run my headphones, whereas I don't have to do that with my new onboard soundcard. I expected to have to fabricate something myself, but I was hopeful that maybe there was something out there that was what I was looking for, I just wasn't looking correctly. I plan on eventually upgrading the audio in my system drastically in comparison to what I have now, but I have bigger priorities given that I am still running a FX-9590 on a mediocre ASUS M5A99FX pro 2. My intentions in the long run (thanks to a new job ) Is to upgrade my CPU, MOBO and RAM to the Ryzen 2600 (or wait for Ryzen 2 7nm) then to add an audio interface with a headphone amp (maybe? i don't know), and a condenser mic. I have a similar setup for my "work" PC (side job, I run a DJ business with a friend, and I am very familiar with audio interfaces, but unfortunately, not with running them to headphones, all the speakers I run are powered) but without a condenser, rather a simple hand mic because weddings and drunk people.

[ninbura]

2 hours ago, nayman898 said:

Correct, sorry, I am really bad at keeping up with this thread. I have been looking into an audio interface, but if I understand correctly I would also need to get an amp to run my headphones, whereas I don't have to do that with my new onboard soundcard. I expected to have to fabricate something myself, but I was hopeful that maybe there was something out there that was what I was looking for, I just wasn't looking correctly. I plan on eventually upgrading the audio in my system drastically in comparison to what I have now, but I have bigger priorities given that I am still running a FX-9590 on a mediocre ASUS M5A99FX pro 2. My intentions in the long run (thanks to a new job ) Is to upgrade my CPU, MOBO and RAM to the Ryzen 2600 (or wait for Ryzen 2 7nm) then to add an audio interface with a headphone amp (maybe? i don't know), and a condenser mic. I have a similar setup for my "work" PC (side job, I run a DJ business with a friend, and I am very familiar with audio interfaces, but unfortunately, not with running them to headphones, all the speakers I run are powered) but without a condenser, rather a simple hand mic because weddings and drunk people.

Only need an amp if the interface isn't powerful enough to drive your headphones, if your on-board audio can drive them basically any audio interface with phones out can. Also higher end interfaces already have great amps, no need for additional hardware.

Lower end - Behringer UMC22 or Focusrite Scarlett Solo
Intermediate - Yamaha AG03 or Yamaha AG06
Higher end - Yamaha MG12XU
Professional - RME Babyface Pro or RME Fireface UC

If within budget I recommend the Yamaha AG03 or AG06, big step up from the lower end interfaces. Provides both mic input(s) and stereo input(s) with per input level control and multiple routing options for the USB input.

[nayman898]

9 hours ago, TheAgnda said:

Only need an amp if the interface isn't powerful enough to drive your headphones, if your on-board audio can drive them basically any audio interface with phones out can. Also higher end interfaces already have great amps, no need for additional hardware.

Lower end - Behringer UMC22 or Focusrite Scarlett Solo
Intermediate - Yamaha AG03 or Yamaha AG06
Higher end - Yamaha MG12XU
Professional - RME Babyface Pro or RME Fireface UC

If within budget I recommend the Yamaha AG03 or AG06, big step up from the lower end interfaces. Provides both mic input(s) and stereo input(s) with per input level control and multiple routing options for the USB input.

That's some great help, thank you!