Sound card with front-mounted controls

[Adcadet]

I'm planning on building a new computer in the next 2-6 months. I would really love a front-mounted headphone jack with controls, similar to what some of the over-priced Creative cards have. Is there any way to get the front mount on a decently-priced sound card?

Also, if I'm building a new system, what sound card should I look for? I mostly stream MP3s, play a few MP3s, a few CDs, and watch some movies. I don't have speakers, I use my trusty Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones.

 

[Mercutio]

Most new motherboards and cases support front-mounted audio ports. That's not the province of Creative Labs any more.

Many new motherboards support onboard sound hardware that would've been on premium add-in cards a couple years ago. Midrange and better Intel Branded motherboards do Dolby Prologic II, for example.

Auzentech's line of add-in PCI cards are probably the only ones that're worth money at this point. I've raved and raved about how awesome they are, but they're only worth it if you're going to have a 5.1 digital speaker set or use a home theater receiver (plus real speakers) as a peripheral.

If you're truly after fidelity and only care about stereo, you might be better off with a USB2-based audio device. The Creative Extigy is the best known example, but Yamaha RP-U200 is one I'd be more than willing to trust.

WRT computer speakers... even Logitech's low-end 5.1 set sounds pretty good considering the ~$60 price tag. Wearing headphones is no way to go through life.

 

[Adcadet]

Wearing headphones is no way to go through life.

I prefer to listen to music through my headphones. It blocks out what my wife and neighbors are doing .... er, that sounds bad....It blocks out noise made by others and I feel I get pretty good sound quality with little money spent (about $100 for my Senns). Sure, it's a little bit of a pain to have to throw on the headphones for just listening to little clips and whatnot, but I'd prefer not to spend money on speakers. Am I the only one doing this?

 

[Mercutio]

I can't stand wearing headphones myself. The earbud type aren't noted for sound quality and closed-ear 'phones are REALLY uncomfortable with my glasses. Plus I hate to think what headphones might do to my hearing - I'm still able to hear a 19.5kHz test frequency at age 30, and I'd prefer to keep it that way...

 

[Adcadet]

Merc (any anyone else) - two more questions:
1. Using just stereo headphones, what hardware should I be looking for? Whatever is cheapest and has a decent CPU utilization and SNR? Anything else? I thought Prologic and other names I don't understand are various systems for setting up surround sound.

2. I see with newer cases that you can setup front-mounted ports fairly easily, but how do I get volume control, preferably from a front-mounted rheostat/potentiometer/twisty do-hicky? I suppose a sliding one would be neat, too. If it's not hard to do, I might be willing to actually build that little part of my computer (carve out a front 5.25" bay cover, add in a potentiometer, etc, etc).

 

[Mercutio]

1. That's basically it, man. Decent CPU utilization and SNR. It's not going to be perfect if you're using an analogue connection like a headphone jack and an internal sound device, but you're obviously not an audio snob so I doubt you're going to care very much.

2. There are USB-based software-controlling front panel doohickeys that can act as your volume control + front audio. I've seen them around. No handy link at the moment, though.

 

[Adcadet]

It sounds like the USB ones are software-based. I was hoping for a hardware solution so it would work without having to screw around with any software/drivers in Windows, Linux, and whatever else I decide to play with.

I used to use a Boston Acoustics speaker setup that included a knob. But I don't use speakers anymore.