Motherboard sound way too quiet

marc69 · 24 Oct 2011 at 15:24

Hi guys,

I'm using an asrock z68 extreme4 with my i5 2500k @ 4.5ghz and crossfire 6870s. The problem is the sound is just too quiet for my liking, I've tried my headphones into my iphone and they sound so much better.

I'd just buy a PCI sound card but doing so would cover up the fan on one of the graphics cards.

I was thinking about getting an Asus Xonar PCIE card but I'd rather save the £50 if there is another option.

I've tried updating the drivers as well

Cheers,

Marc

Update - Seems that if I use my front audio panel the sound is perfectly loud enough. Strange?

Tealc · 24 Oct 2011 at 16:27

What headphones are you using? It could just be that the amplification on the rear ports is lower than that of the front.

Clav · 24 Oct 2011 at 16:44

You wouldn't regret getting the xonar, it is a huge improvement over realtec audio. It will fit into the board with crossfire. I have crossfire 6950's and the xonar fits in the top slot no bother.

marc69 · 24 Oct 2011 at 16:52

Tealc said:
What headphones are you using? It could just be that the amplification on the rear ports is lower than that of the front.

Using Steelseries Sibera v2s (The ones without USB)

Yeah, the Xonar DX uses a PCIE slot which would be fine, just £50 seems quite pricey. My PC is hooked up to a Yamaha AV receiver and 4 floor standing speakers so I don't really need it for music but I'm still tempted because I do use my headphones when people are sleeping

yashiro · 24 Oct 2011 at 16:57

You have the rear port set as speakers and the front audio set as headphones. This is why the volume is different. Just re-assign the ports in the Realtek audio program.

marc69 · 24 Oct 2011 at 17:17

yashiro said:
You have the rear port set as speakers and the front audio set as headphones. This is why the volume is different. Just re-assign the ports in the Realtek audio program.

This might be a stupid question but how do you actually do this?

This is what I have

Many thanks,

Marc

yashiro · 24 Oct 2011 at 17:42

Right click the back panel green port.
Select connector re-tasking.
Change it to Headphone.

The headphone virtualization ticky box may also lower the total perceptive volume. You could also try un-checking that.

If it's still too quiet go into Sound Effects and create an equalizer setting that increases the volume slightly.

marc69 · 24 Oct 2011 at 18:01

Cheers for the help mate but right clicking those jacks doesn't give any option to change anything.

The headphone virtulization seems to make it 'slightly' louder so I've left that one on.

Cheers,

Marc

Tealc · 24 Oct 2011 at 18:47

Ah so its a headset and not proper headphones. 32ohm headsets like yours should be fine on a motherboard headphone output. Not sure why you have issues.

Do you have some iPod type earphones to see if they are the same.

And +1 on the Xonar DX, great little card and half good at driving high impedance proper headphones too.

marc69 · 25 Oct 2011 at 01:32

I think I'm going to keep my trusty sennhieser pc 155s. It's an old headset but all these other headsets just don't feel right for me