Question ASRock motherboards- how do I connect 5.1 speakers?

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Kalik212

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Sep 28, 2015
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I'm looking into building a new system and thought I had all the parts picked out but something is confusing me...how do I connect my 5.1 speakers using onboard audio?...with my current MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk motherboard all the connections were right on the rear I/O panel...I connected the black, yellow and green plugs from my speakers into the RS-OUT, CS-OUT and L-out on the I/O shield

I was planning on getting the ASRock X670E Steel Legend motherboard but the same connections are not there on the I/O panel...the only audio connector is 1 Line Out jack and 1 Microphone Input jack...in the motherboard manual it says that it supports 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)...reading the manual further it shows a chart with different 2ch, 4ch, 5ch configurations but I'm still confused...are they saying I need to use both my rear I/O panel and case front panel connectors to get 5.1 audio?...why?

seems like it might cause issues having to use both my case and I/O panel?...does it actually work without any issues?...do I need to switch to another motherboard manufacturer like MSI or Asus who have all the audio connections on the I/O panel?

I posted some pics to make things easier

1) ASRock X670E Steel Legend I/O panel
2) a pic of the Steel Legend manual where it details the Audio I/O panel configuration
3) my current MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk motherboard I/O panel with all the correct audio connectors
4) a pic of the front panel of my current Fractal Design Meshify S2 case which has a Headphone and Microphone jack

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first time i've seen a higher-end board stating that front panel jacks would be necessary for surround output in 20+ years of building custom systems.

even those that didn't offer the required 3.5mm jacks on the rear I/O would offer an optical port to use.

maybe start a thread on the AsRock.com support forums and ask other users of these boards how it works out..?
 
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JohnBonhamsGhost said:
first time i've seen a higher-end board stating that front panel jacks would be necessary for surround output in 20+ years of building custom systems.

even those that didn't offer the required 3.5mm jacks on the rear I/O would offer an optical port to use.

maybe start a thread on the AsRock.com support forums and ask other users of these boards how it works out..?
Click to expand...

even if I wanted to connect the 3.5mm jacks on both my rear I/O panel and case it wouldn't be possible because the yellow/black/green audio plugs come bunched together and I wouldn't be able to separate it

so the only options seem to be:

1) get an AM5 board from a different manufacturer (ASUS, MSI offer all the audio connectors on the rear I/O)

2) buy a sound card
 
Kalik212 said:
so the only options seem to be:

1) get an AM5 board from a different manufacturer (ASUS, MSI offer all the audio connectors on the rear I/O)

2) buy a sound card
Click to expand...
most onboard audio on higher end boards these days will rival any average retail soundcard.

i wouldn't bother with a dedicated soundcard unless it was for professional audio production and the price wouldn't be justified for those high end cards for any regular home/office use.

i would probably be shopping for a nice MSI board.
ASUS' software(Armoury Crate, etc) has been very buggy for years now.
 
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COLGeek said:
Finding an adapter that moves those front panel connections to the rear would be useful in this case
Click to expand...
yeah, i wouldn't want a bunch of 3.5mm cables running all over the case just to use a default surround setup.

would be much better to have them attached to a PCI plate or something to install at the rear.
and like OP's issue, would allow them to be grouped close together.
 
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JohnBonhamsGhost said:
most onboard audio on higher end boards these days will rival any average retail soundcard.

i wouldn't bother with a dedicated soundcard unless it was for professional audio production and the price wouldn't be justified for those high end cards for any regular home/office use.

i would probably be shopping for a nice MSI board.
ASUS' software(Armoury Crate, etc) has been very buggy for years now.
Click to expand...

at first I thought this might be an issue with ASRock X670E Steel Legend being that it's a mid-range board...but I looked at the highest end ASRock Taichi board and it still lacks the audio connectors on the rear I/O panel

I did some research online and saw that the Asus TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI gets decent reviews...seems like that's the $280 ASUS equivalent of the ASRock Steel Legend X670E board...anyone know what the MSI equivalent is?

any decent sound card recommendations?...or if I was really set on the ASRock board I could also look into good 2 channel speakers as another option
 
Kalik212 said:
if I was really set on the ASRock board I could also look into good 2 channel speakers as another option
Click to expand...
i wouldn't bother buying another set of speakers just to use an AsRock board.
Kalik212 said:
anyone know what the MSI equivalent is?
Click to expand...
you can just check out their main site, msi.com;
Home > Products > Motherboards
and choose the higher end options to browse for your particular chipset.
 
stonecarver said:
This could be a side step solution. Mount this to your rear of computer and don't use the front of your pc cases sound ports use the ones on this add in card. All your surround channels will be at the rear again.

Sad we have to take extra steps to make it normal again. Just an idea. :)

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805185524462.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt
Click to expand...

so I would connect that to the HD Audio header on my motherboard?...so the microphone and headphone jacks on my case would no longer work and it would come through that adapter?
 
stonecarver said:
Yes.

And just an FYI Amazon has these as well that was just the first one I see I listed.
Click to expand...

so I would connect that to the 'HD Audio' header on my motherboard?...seems like a decent workaround, especially since the adapter only costs a few dollars...any issues bypassing the case jacks and using the adapter as far as sound quality etc?
 
Asus boards are pretty good in my experience, if that might help make decision for traditional audio jacks easier. Their support is apparently not up to par these days but haven't had to deal with them to make my own judgement. Armoury Crate has it's uses with drivers if OS is lacking but not forced to use and can disable in bios if want.

---

We have soundbars and avrs with Hdmi passthrough, 2.1 capabilities with high refresh rates and vrr support... I wish companies made PC speakers like that. Can have your usual analog inputs as well but give us an option to use audio from the graphics card.
 
boju said:
Asus boards are pretty good in my experience, if that might help make decision for traditional audio jacks easier. Their support is apparently not up to par these days but haven't had to deal with them to make my own judgement. Armoury Crate has it's uses with drivers if OS is lacking but not forced to use and can disable in bios if want.

---

We have soundbars and avrs with Hdmi passthrough, 2.1 capabilities with high refresh rates and vrr support... I wish companies made PC speakers like that. Can have your usual analog inputs as well but give us an option to use audio from the graphics card.
Click to expand...

I used to go with ASUS in the past and never had any issues but for AM5 I hear that ASRock is the hands down best board manufacturer...the Asus TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI seems to get pretty good reviews so I'm seriously considering that

what is Armoury Crate?...is that some ASUS software that people use with the motherboards to see temps, overclock?...do I have to install it with my ASUS board or can I just use 3rd party software?...I'm not an overclocker and just use the BIOS to tweak XMP etc
 
Kalik212 said:
Armoury Crate?...is that some ASUS software that people use with the motherboards to see temps, overclock?
Click to expand...

It can install and update drivers, sync rgb, aio functions, not sure about overclocking and monitoring. It'll ask to install after Windows installation if enabled in bios which you can refuse.

I used it to install network driver when Win10 installer version at the time didn't have driver for a newer board, z590. Like an injector. Win10 editions since have it do so don't need AC anymore. I could have just transferred driver from another computer i guess but didn't know if Win10 would support driver or not so when AC asked to install i just went with it. Don't use it for anything else so haven't experienced any issues with it but uninstalled it and disabled in bios anyway after reading about the sort of bloatware it is.
 
boju said:
It can install and update drivers, sync rgb, aio functions, not sure about overclocking and monitoring. It'll ask to install after Windows installation if enabled in bios which you can refuse.

I used it to install network driver when Win10 installer version at the time didn't have driver for a newer board, z590. Like an injector. Win10 editions since have it do so don't need AC anymore. I could have just transferred driver from another computer i guess but didn't know if Win10 would support driver or not so when AC asked to install i just went with it. Don't use it for anything else so haven't experienced any issues with it but uninstalled it and disabled in bios anyway after reading about the sort of bloatware it is.
Click to expand...

why do they put it in the BIOS?...usually these types of motherboard software are optional downloads...is it needed for the functionality of the board itself?

any downsides to disabling it in the BIOS in terms of performance etc?...doesn't seem like anything I would need to use...I never use RGB, only use air cooling and I always update the BIOS and drivers through the official manufacturer websites like AMD for the chipsets, Realtek for audio drivers, LAN drivers etc
 
Kalik212 said:
why do they put it in the BIOS?...usually these types of motherboard software are optional downloads...is it needed for the functionality of the board itself?
Click to expand...

It allows you to install drivers, if OS doesn't support, like it's own computer with it's own connection to get you running. Could call it a hardware virus.
 
boju said:
Won't run in background until you download Armoury Crate.

Did see this though https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUSROG/s/zYIUxTiuX9

That was 6 months ago. Hopefully network drivers are available with fresh Windows install. Probably have driver on usb stick just in case if choose to disable.
Click to expand...

why are people using that Armoury software to download motherboard LAN, audio drivers etc?...you can get the drivers directly from the Realtek website (or whoever the manufacturer is)...sounds like software designed for people new to building computers who think they need to download all the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer website...the only thing I download from the motherboard manufacturer are BIOS updates

Windows installs generic updates for your devices after a fresh install...you don't need to have the latest drivers ready before a fresh install...just install them after Windows loads up
 
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