Question Armoury tower case audio problem

[dsmith43]

Hi, this might be an unanswerable question and may be "just how it is now" as times have changed, so it's more of a concern than anything particularly "wrong" with my new case. I bought my new Armoury case (C802B Tempered Glass Mid-Tower) a few weeks ago, and I decided to transfer my old motherboard to the new case tonight, and hook it all back up again. All is well, except the case has a new audio connector, where the old case had an AC97 connector wire that the new case does not have. I was able to plug the audio cable into the audio header with no issue. I thought, ok, well if this is the new way of doing things, this is what I have to do in order to hear audio.

Now, the only way I can listen to audio using my Cambridge Soundworks sound system is to plug the green RCA jack into the top "SPK" plug, but then there's no RCA jack to plug the woofer into and I can't hear any base now. Why is there is no AC 97 audio connector on new cases? If I plug in the RCA jacks (1 green, 1 black) into the mb where they were on my old system, I can only hear the sound out of one of my monitors and it sounds very tinny because there is no place for the sound to go except to the monitor. I could never be satisfied with that, after all these years of listening to audio from my Cambridge system. It's almost like I'm being forced to go out and spend hundreds on some sort of equivalent of the Cambridge system to hear sound clearly now because this is the only way it works now. Desktop speakers will definitely not do.

 

[popatim]

Check in your bios to see if you can change the audio type to HD instead of ac97.
Otherwise you might just need to pick up an adapter cable, such as:
https://www.moddiy.com/products/AC'97-to-HD-Audio-Adapter-Cable.html?gad_source=4

unless you are willing to rewire your case's connector...

 

[dwd999]

Huh? Let's back up here. The audio cable inside the case only affects the connectors on the front of the case. It has nothing to do with the motherboard audio output jacks unless you're shorting something out. So you should be able to connect your Cambridge system to your motherboard jacks the same way you did when it was in your old case. Does it not work this way? Meanwhile, it would be nice if you told us the specific make and model of your motherboard and the specific model of your Cambridge equipment so we would have an idea of what jacks and connections you have available.

 

[dsmith43]

Ok, my motherboard is a B450 Aorus Elite V2, and my Cambridge SoundWorks sound system is the white 4-speaker+sub-woofer. It has a black subwoofer jack and a green speaker jack, that normally I would plug into the back of the motherboard for correct audio connection. If I do this, (horrible) sound only comes out one of my two monitors.

I followed the AC97 cable inside my old case, and it connects to the two audio jacks on the front panel of the box, but I can find no cable in the new box that goes to my motherboard to support the Cambridge system. This wire appears to be connected as part of the manufacturing process for that type of tower case.

There is however a header on my mb that is called F_AUDIO, I have one of the cables that comes in the new case already attached to it but I get no sound out of my Cambridge system when I plug it in the back of the motherboard. This is only to control the audio cable that is plugged into the top of the box. If you go to the motherboard site you can download the manual and you can see exactly what I'm talking about.

I wish I could attach screen captures for this, but unfortunately I can't because T.H. doesn't allow pasting.

 

[dwd999]

OK, for the moment the cable in the new case that connects the front panel jacks to the motherboard is not relevant. At this point it might be better if you do not connect it. If I understand you correctly you had the speakers connected to your motherboard when it was in your old case and everything worked well. But now if you connect your speakers to the motherboard in the same way as before either nothing happens or the sound is not acceptable. If so, you may have shorted or damaged your motherboard's audio circuit when you connected the cable in the new case to the motherboard. If this continues after you disconnect the cable in the new case from the motherboard the damage may be permanent.

 

[dsmith43]

Problem solved! I had the wrong audio source selected. D'OH! Thanks @dwd999 and @popatim for your continued patience with me.