"Jeff Hansman" said:
To expand on the OP's question, is it possible to use the J-Panel to
'override' the speaker output on an SB Live, or must you use the onboard
audio to accomplish this? I ask because I am trying to do the same thing.
I've ordered the J-Panel from Newegg, but I'm assuming my SB Live is coming
out of the system in favor of the onboard sound so I can achieve the muting
of speakers in favor of a headset.
--
I guess I missed the mention of the SB
Some sound cards have four
pin headers on the surface of the PCI sound card, but I've never seen
the muting feature on them. The muting feature that comes with the
Asus motherboard exists because the audio path on the motherboard is
routed through the 2x5 header. This makes it possible to break the
audio path when desired, such as when you plug in a headset. On a
sound card, there is no breaking of the audio path, as the connectors
come out straight to the faceplate.
The manual for the Live Value is here, and a lousy manual it is,
because it doesn't document all the connector pinouts:
http://files.americas.creative.com/manualdn/Manuals/2386/AudioSBLive!Value.pdf
There is a MB_PRO connector on the Live Value, and it is 2x5 with
9 pins. There is a post in Google with the pinout, but the signals
don't look interesting, in terms of getting a case front panel audio
connection out of them. The Google post says this is the pinout,
without giving a reference as to where the info came from:
Pin Description
1 AGND
2 KEY
3 LINE_IN
4 AGND
5 LINE-OUT-L
6 AGND
7 LINE-OUT-R
8 MONO-IN
9 AGND
10 MIC-IN
There are line_out signals but no line_out_return signals. No
painless muting solution can be constructed that way.
I could draw you a schematic for a way to hack up your SBLive,
but that is going too far. This product, while being ugly
and external to the computer, will allow you to do what you
want - you just have to figure out a way to mount it:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.a...y_name=CTLG_004_002_007_000&product_id=26-204
The manual gives a much clearer picture:
http://support.radioshack.com/support_accessories/doc70/70815.pdf
If you want to try your hand at soldering, buy two of these connectors
from Digikey. The Digikey part number is CP-3535-ND and this audio
connector comes with a retention nut so the connector can be mounted
in a hole you cut in a convenient location.
http://rocky.digikey.com/WebLib/CUI Inc/Web data/SJ-3535.pdf
http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T033/0251.pdf
You would start by identifying which of the possibly five pins on
the bottom of the SB Live/Value Lime connector, connects to Tip,
Ring, and Sleeve of an audio jack. (You could also use the
LINE-OUT-L, LINE-OUT-R, and AGND from the MB-PRO, as your Tip,
Ring, and Sleeve signals respectively...) You can leave the Lime
Connector in place, if you can find somewhere to mount a panel
mounted connector on the back of the computer. This
could include using a PCI slot adapter bracket and drilling a hole
large enough to hold the SJ-3535.
Next, solder three wires from the Tip, Ring, and Sleeve copper
pads or pins on the SB Live/Value, to pins 5, 2, and 1 respectively
on the first of the two SJ-3535 or equivalent connectors you bought.
This first connector you wire would be placed on the front of
the computer and is your headphone jack. Next, get three pieces
of wire and pick up the daisy chain Tip, Ring, and Sleeve
connections from pins 4, 3, and 1 respectively (yes, pin 1 now has
two wires soldered to it). The wires from 4, 3, and 1 from the first
connector go to 5, 2, and 1 on the second connector. The second
connector is mounted on the back of the computer. You could, for
example, have removed the Lime connector from the SB Live/Value,
which would leave space for the second SJ-3535 to be mounted.
Since unsoldering can be difficult if the hole clearance is small,
I don't recommend doing this, because the chances of damaging the
PCB are high. (You'll need a roll of Solder Wick copper braid
or a pump action solder removal tool to do the de-soldering.)
To leave the SB Live/Value undamaged, you could even make the
connections from your new cable assembly, to the MB_PRO header,
using some crimp pins and a shroud -
http://www.frontx.com/order_c.html
http://www.frontx.com/cpx075_4.html (2x5 shroud)
http://www.frontx.com/cpx076.html (10 pins to fit shroud)
If you are made of money, one of the Audigy products with
a drive bay mounted interface, might also solve the problem.
HTH,
Paul
