Front and rear panel audio whats the difference ?

[Jason_169]

I have a gigabyte h110m s2ph motherboard and I dont have a sound card and when I use the rear panel audio the sound quality is muddied and bad but the front panel audio is much much better my case is cooler master 912 HAF and it has 2 front panel audio inputs one for headphone and one for mic but the rear has three (Green,Red,Blue) I dont know what the blue one is for I tried using it but I cant recall if there any difference between it and the green one also do you think I should buy a soundcard or DAC what will be the benifits I get from doing so?

 

[clutchc]

If you are using headphones, the front panel jack is the one to use. The rear panel (green) jack is for speakers. They require loads of different impedance. Unless there's something broken on your motherboard, you shouldn't need a sound card.

 

[Jason_169]

Okay well what's the blue one do then?

 

[clutchc]

Okay well what's the blue one do then?

It is explained on page 10 and 11 of your motherboard manual.

 

[Jason_169]

Thank you

 

[ssddx]

not just that but the rear ports are generally low level output since speakers are generally self powered. the most they have to handle are generally 5w unpowered speakers. the front connection generally has a little stronger amplifier meant for headphones so you will get more volume and better performance by using the front jack.

as far as a dac or soundcard... that depends on if you are happy with sound quality out of the front panel or not (its motherbord onboard sound). a dac or soundcard would certainly be an improvement but whether or not it is worthwhile depends on if you experience problems and what headphones you are trying to use.