SOLVED Splitter for Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series

[Chuggowitz]

I wanted to plug both my headset and speakers into my sound card because frankly swapping them out constantly is a pain in the nether regions. Would using a splitter diminish sound quality? If so what are my options otherwise, because plugging the headset into the front sound ports just hooks it up to onboard audio. If there are no other options I will just have to man up I guess.

Current soundcard is this and the rest of my specs are in my sig.

 

[EarthDog]

Why not use the front panel port for the headphones?

 

[Chuggowitz]

The headphones jacks run from onboard audi, not the soundcard. I'm not home right now but I'm pretty sure the front ports cant connect to the soundcard. My other option is to plug my speakers into the onboard 5.1 and plug the headphones into the soundcard since the headset is better quality.

 

[jazon1]

yea my xfi don't have a front panel plug on it ether which i never understood but i thought the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty came with a front header i just have the xfi gamer and thought the front header just came with the higher end ones.ether way i dont think a splitter will be a problem with sound quality you can get one at radio shack for a few bucks.

 

[Chuggowitz]

I'll probably pick one up when I get back to Canada anyway, seeing as they're pretty cheap. I know there's an I/O port upgrade kit for the card but it's not available anywhere as far as I can tell. There is a Fatal1ty kit that comes with the front port, but I bought mine as a shellshocker months ago. I'm mostly just concerned about sound quality deterioration.

 

[EarthDog]

Oops.. Xfi.. forgot it had a special cable... You can buy the special cable for Xfi...

Splitter shouldnt matter, no. Never used one, but I dont think it would matter.

 

[Chuggowitz]

Oooooooh there's a special cable? Special cables sound interesting!

But seriously. Is the cable to connect my front ports? If so, does it even exist anymore?

 

[EarthDog]

Yes... and YES. (Please confirm that adpater works with your model)

Pinout (for DIY)

 

[Chuggowitz]

Whoa ho, thanks a lot. I'll have to check it out when I get home. A splitter is of course cheaper, but this would be more convenient. I have a feeling this should work fine since my card isn't exactly new, nor is this cable.

Big problem, however, is that the shipping to Canada actually costs MORE than the cable somehow, despite its size. That makes about zero sense, but okay. If I notice a problem with sound quality over a splitter I'll consider it.

 

[Pinky]

I don't believe using a splitter will diminsh the sound quality/output.

 

[Chuggowitz]

Outstanding, nothing quite like a cheap solution. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Pinky]

Fwiw (didn't have enough time to explain earlier), the reason the splitter works is because you will only be powering the headphones with that output. The speakers only use the signal as a passthrough, using its own amplifier to power the speakers.