from Santa Cruz to Sound Storm.... need advice

[CaptNKILL]

OK, ive got a Santa Cruz sound card and its working just fine. Although the hardware sound technology is out of date so it rarely sounds good in DS3D, EAX, A3D.. whatever.

The thing I really love about it is the versa-jack. I have my headphones plugged into the versa-jack and my 4.1 speakers plugged ito the front\rear. To go from 4 channel to headphones, its as easy as picking up the headphones, clicking the TBSC icon and changing output mode......

Soooo.... I plan on buying an nForce 2 mobo (most likely the Epox 8RDA+... unless someone can change my mind!) soon with GOOD onboard sound. I want to change sound cards because TB already dropped out of the sound card business, so: NO MORE DRIVERS. I trust nvidia's drivers more than any other company, so nForce audio is an obvious choice seeing how I "need" a new mobo too.

OK, so sound storm audio is great and nvidia's drivers are great..... BUT, what will happen with my versa-jack? Im so used to this convenience that I dont think I could do without it. I switch output constantly (one second I might want to play a game with head phones..... the next I might listen to music REAL loud with LOTS of bass) so it MUST be convenient.

Is there an option similar to the versa-jack for the nForce drivers\card? What I need:
The ability to switch between headphones and speakers through software, without changing plugs (ie, crawling under desk, bashing head on wall, trying to move my running computer so I can get to the plug.....).

IS there any way to do this with the nforce software?

If not, is there a way to have an "override" output jack on the front of my case, so I dont have to crawl around? My case has a SPACE for two front audio connectors, but only has front USB ports. Can I get "inserts" that can go in the front, then plug into the mobo?

This is very important.

Thanks guys :)

[CaptNKILL]

:\

[Head_slinger]

The Hercules Gamesurround has that headphone versa-jack thing your talking about. Where you can change from difernt output jacks.

Its a good card too. I dont know anything about nforce onboard sound however.

[CaptNKILL]

Doesnt ANYONE have an nForce board???????????

Geeeez.......

[Smokey]

Sorry CaptNKILL, I love love to help, but I just ordered an Audigy2 and dont have an nForce :( Sounds like a nice feature to have, I use my headphones 90% of time, so I dont mind plugging in and out my speakers every now and again.

[CaptNKILL]

This board isnt very active is it....

[HurgleBurgle]

I have both. When I upgraded my motherboard from a kt333 model to and nForce2 (Abit nf7-s to be exact), I tired out the onboard sound and liked the way it sounded BUT it has no versajack or anything equivalent to it. You have to go back behind the case and switch out the jacks which for me is a royal pain. So I switched back to the Santa Cruz.

Hope that helps. :\

[CaptNKILL]

hey any input is great..... at least I know what im up against now..

this sucks.... I why wouldnt nVidia implement something like this? Its all software anyway. Just have it use one of the extra outputs for a seperate headphone jack..... I wonder if they will do this in the future...... hmm...

[SnakeEyes]

I have the Microsoft Game Voice (the full package, not just the freebie software). I have my speakers connected using just an SPDIF connection (DD5.1), and the headphones / mic from the GV hooked to the analog ports on my PC. When I want to switch, I change the output mode from the nVidia applet. If I was using analog only output, it would be even easier, because the GameVoice has an analog pass-through for the speakers, and all I'd have to do would be flip a switch on the control pad itself to change from headphones to speakers, then change the control applet from stereo to 4/5.1 speakers..

This setup works well for me, because other than my clan's UT2003 ladder matches, where I want to use the mic for voice comms and the headphones to keep the sound from feeding back to the mic, I normally use the 5.1 mode of my speakers when playing.

Of course, I already had the Game Voice before I bought my nForce2 motherboard. It was running ~$35 when I bought it, and I don't know if you'd want to spend the money for that or not (if you use voice comms in games, probably so..)

[FastM]

As SnakeEyes mentioned using the Digital-Out for your speakers leaves the Line-Out for your Headphones but not many of us have DigitalSpeakers at our disposal.

Another option (which many people i know have) is that their speakers have the Headphones Jack built into them (IE All the Logitech Z-xxx models)

I have the Epox-8rda+ and am very happy with the onboard sound (choose it over a Audigy and Audigy2, yes i have both). The only thing i dont like about the onboard sound is the lack of connections. The Mic-in or Line-In has to be shared to get 4 speakers connected. Asus did a better job by giving more sound ports. Im lucky at the moment because my current speakers setup is only a 2.1 so i can use my Line-in for my TV Tuner Card and my Mic-In for voice chat in games.

IMO the easiest thing for you to get is a Line-Out Stereo (MaKe sUrE its STEREO) Splitter (Y-Cable).

[volt]

As FastM stated, most new speakers come with a headphone jack so there is no need for a versa input. HOWEVER it is still a pain if your sound system doesn't have one. I realized about a month ago, that my C-media sound chip (on Soyo Dragon+) is able to switch between speakers and headphones via its software. There is no special jack on the input panel so I plugged my headphones into SPDIF connector and voila!

I'm sure you can do the same thing with nForce/nForce2. For this occasion I would pick Asus board which has plenty of audio ports and play around with the NVIDIA software.

As a last resort, you can always get a front side extension panel:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=11&manufactory=1644&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

[CaptNKILL]

Hey, thanks for the input guys!

I dont have digital speakers. Mine are Labtec (Logitech) LCS-2514 4.1 speakers. Ive just got front and rear jacks. I dont have a headphone jack either. I really wish I did.

Im thinking of waiting until the BIOS corruption issue with nForce2 boards is solved. Then I will buy what ever board has a good price and comes with SoundStorm audio.

What boards do you guys recomend? The Epox is by far the best price for a SoundStorm board (its only $108 at newegg.com). The Abit board with Sound Storm is around $125 and the Asus A7N8X Deluxe is a whopping $150.

Are there any other GOOD nForce boards with Sound Storm? I dont want a cheapo board with lots of bugs. I want a quality board with Sound Storm and a reasonable price (below $120 is great).

Thanks

[volt]

Asus, Abit and Epox are the only ones I know.

If you want features go with Asus, otherwise one of the others

[CaptNKILL]

What about the Leadtek and MSI?

I know Leadtek has a SoundStorm board and It looks pretty nice, but im not really sure of their mobo quality.

I could go look all of this up, but Id rather get the info from "real" people :)

[Head_slinger]

If you are waiting, the KT400A may be a better choice. I bought an Abit board based on KT400. It had 5.1 sound and you could do all visa-versa stuff with the headphones. i sent it back however because my KT266A performed better. but the revision is nearly 30% better on most tests. It even beats the nforce 2 and it is only a reference board.

[CaptNKILL]

Originally posted by Head_slinger
If you are waiting, the KT400A may be a better choice. I bought an Abit board based on KT400. It had 5.1 sound and you could do all visa-versa stuff with the headphones. i sent it back however because my KT266A performed better. but the revision is nearly 30% better on most tests. It even beats the nforce 2 and it is only a reference board.

naa, I want Dual-Channel memory, soundstorm and Nvidia's drivers in my upgrade. I dont think a KT400A will get me much more feature wise, since Ive got a KT333 right now.

Thanks for the advice tho.

[volt]

Leadtek has a value nForce2 board. MSI on the other hand has a decent one. You'd have to check if both support SoundStrom as I'm not familiar with them.

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by volt
Leadtek has a value nForce2 board. MSI on the other hand has a decent one. You'd have to check if both support SoundStrom as I'm not familiar with them.

i don't think the non Pro Leadtek board uses Soundstorm. at least i looked at the website, and on online retail sites and it didn't list it.

only the Pro version lists it.

BTW, i don't see an Epox nforce2 board at NewEgg for $108....the cheapest nforce2 board with Soundstorm that i see is the Leadtek one for $110 :confused:

[volt]

Yea it's $112 :)

Still I'd rather get Epox then Leadtek lol

[CaptNKILL]

Originally posted by StealthHawk
i don't think the non Pro Leadtek board uses Soundstorm. at least i looked at the website, and on online retail sites and it didn't list it.

only the Pro version lists it.

BTW, i don't see an Epox nforce2 board at NewEgg for $108....the cheapest nforce2 board with Soundstorm that i see is the Leadtek one for $110 :confused:

The EPOX 8RDA+. Heh, it just went up 4 dollars so its $112 now.

It doesnt say Sound Storm but thats what it has. Newegg says the same thing about one of the Abit boards.

Anyway, take a look at the main news page (www.nvnews.net :D) appearently Nvidia has released a fix for the BIOS corruption issue. Its just now going to manufacturers, so that will give me some time to:
A) Decide what board I want
B) Backup my data for a reformat (im going to convert to WinXP when I get my mobo)
c) Make some money :p

It looks like I'll be going with the Epox 8RDA+ after the BIOS fix is implemented (probably a few weeks or a month), unless there is a better board for a good price.

About the sound issue, I think I can stomach having to crawl under my desk to switch plugs...... at least THEN I'll get a little excercise :angel:

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by volt
Yea it's $112 :)

Still I'd rather get Epox then Leadtek lol

eh, what's wrong with Leadtek?

[FastM]

The Epox is actually not allowed to advertise SoundStorm with their board because they did not include a SPDIF jack PCI Bracket in the package (you have to order it from Epox after). It supports everything else about the Soundstorm audio except that jack out of the box.

Also, the BIOS Corruption problem is associated with heavy overclocking, like 200Mhz FSB and over. Unless you plan on ripping that thing out of the box i wouldn't worry.

[CaptNKILL]

OK.... im getting a bit restless here, I want a new mobo!

It looks like the Epox 8RDA+ with Sound Storm is what im going to get.

Are there any porblems\quirks I should know about before going through with this? Im thinking of buying a new mobo in the next week (or two), so if you have any info please post.

I just hate always ending up with things that have quirks or bugs. Every mobo ive had over the past 5 years has had some sort of annoying problem that hampered my ability to do what I want (Ive never been able to overclock ANYTHING).

Thanks

[Smokey]

Best taking a lookie around here http://www.amdforums.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=9

[CaptNKILL]

gah.... reading trouble shooting forums makes every board seem like a POS. I really want to make sure I get a good board, but every Nforce 2 board available *CAN* have serious problems..... (including the famed Asus A7N8X Deluxe)

So, I usually stay away from trouble shooting forums until I have a problem, otherwise, I would think every board sucked and Id never buy one... I mean, look at all the problems people are having! Do you think Epox would even SELL the board if all of them at THAT many problems?

Im just looking for some input from people here, so the responses arent biased toward "the board sux because xxxx".

Is there a really good reason to buy\not buy the 8RDA+? Or any other Nforce 2? Should I wait for a new revision?

I dont mean to nag, I just want to really really really make sure im getting something that isnt going to screw me over in 2 months.

Thanks