Remapping Xonar DX Outputs

denyerec · 13 Oct 2009 at 14:13

Hey chaps!
I just received a Xonar DX from OC, and want to know if it's possible to remap the output ports on the back of the device.

Why?

Well, my PC-180b case has a header for the front connectors, but it seems to be non-standard so I can't connect it to the frontpanel header on the Xonar.

What I want to achieve is this:

2-Channel Stereo Speakers plugged into the standard Xonar Speaker output

Microphone plugged into the standard Xonar mic input

Headphones plugged in to one of the remaining ports

The reason for this is I don't want to crawl under the desk every time I switch between headphones and speakers, and due to there not being a compatible cable supplied to connect the frontpanel with, I can't use the front ports on my case (Thankyou, Antec...)

I used to be able to do this with my onboard sound, it's kinda depressing that so far I have been unable to replicate such a simple task with the dedicated soundcard

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Additional: Should I enable anything to help with virtualised speaker / positional audio stuff? Right now all settings system wide are just set to "Stereo Speakers".

Many thanks in advance!
Denyerec

alexx · 13 Oct 2009 at 16:59

why not just get a jack splitter? or the right cable?

denyerec · 13 Oct 2009 at 17:08

I tried a jack splitter, but it hammered both the output level and quality.

As for cables, I could make a cable up quite easily if I can find the pinout of the header on the Xonar documented anywhere.

Given that I could remap the ports with a single mouseclick on the Realtek, I'm somewhat surprised that the Xonar _seemingly_ cannot perform such a simple task

(That said, the audio quality is mindblowingly good compared to the Realtek, so whatever I do I'm keeping the Xonar!)

VaderDSL · 13 Oct 2009 at 17:09

I'd love this as well

denyerec · 13 Oct 2009 at 22:53

Well, I rewired my case to fit to the header on the Xonar, and now I'm getting the same crappy digital noise I was getting with my onboard sound. Lots of scratching, low level humming and a lot of activity when I use anything USB, especially the mousewheel.

On the backports, no noise, which is of some relief.

However I can't now switch easily between headphones and speakers. I am forced to toggle between then in the sound control panel, and even then I cannot plug speakers AND headphones into the soundcard anyway, I have to use the front panel inputs which, as stated, are plagued with terrible noise presumably picked up as EMF from within the case. I'm going to try wrapping some donut toroids into the hookup cable between the front ports and the soundcard in an attempt to mitigate the presumed EM interference.

Not happy with the flexibility one bit.

Blown away by the sound.

denyerec · 14 Oct 2009 at 16:00

Update:
Unplugging the frontpanel USB and Firewire ports (Antex P180 case) has reduced the noise on the front input to *near* zero. It's still there in the "hearing test" sense, that is one can hear it if one listens intently, but it's nowhere nearly as disturbing as it was.

So...

Either the USB/Firewire ports share a common earth on the front plate that's causing some bleedover, or the ports are just *that* noisey that even with a separate earth they're inducing dirty signals into the audio lines. Given that I have a couple of USB ports in my monitor I'm not too fussed about losing the frontpanel USB, though I'm still contemplating fabricating a backpanel for the PC for the audio jacks, to see if properly grounded and shielded interconnects will cut out the remaining noise.

Reconfiguring the Xonar sockets, though, remains so far impossible.