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#1
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Stay away from P5GDC Deluxe for gaming -- audio doesn't work (neither does their tech support)
I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a
microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any level that is usable. The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they screwed up the audio. Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's and have recommended them to others as well. No more. I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was worthless. Anybody else have similar problems. |
#2
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I had the same experience: no working microphone!
"Frank" schreef in bericht ... I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any level that is usable. The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they screwed up the audio. Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's and have recommended them to others as well. No more. I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was worthless. Anybody else have similar problems. |
#3
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Henk, thanks for posting a reply. It looks like the ASUS "Thought
Police" removed my original post. I guess they don't want unsuspecting customers to know about the problem before buying. I wonder if ASUS will send us a free Sound Card as a fix? g Best regards, Frank On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 13:36:51 +0100, "Henk van der Kraan" wrote: I had the same experience: no working microphone! "Frank" schreef in bericht .. . I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any level that is usable. The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they screwed up the audio. Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's and have recommended them to others as well. No more. I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was worthless. Anybody else have similar problems. |
#4
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In article , Frank S.
wrote: Henk, thanks for posting a reply. It looks like the ASUS "Thought Police" removed my original post. I guess they don't want unsuspecting customers to know about the problem before buying. I wonder if ASUS will send us a free Sound Card as a fix? g Best regards, Frank On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 13:36:51 +0100, "Henk van der Kraan" wrote: I had the same experience: no working microphone! "Frank" schreef in bericht .. . I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any level that is usable. The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they screwed up the audio. Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's and have recommended them to others as well. No more. I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was worthless. Anybody else have similar problems. The Intel HDAudio spec is here. There is no mic boost in the spec. ftp://download.intel.com/standards/h...HDAudio_03.pdf See "7.3.4.10 Amplifier Capabilities" on page 162, for how gain is specified. The CMedia datasheet for the 9880 chip is here. Section 5.4.5 on page 22 lists input amp capabilities, using terminology from the Intel spec: http://www.cmedia.com.tw/doc/C-Media...ev%200.99C.pdf StepSize = 05h == 1.5dB steps NumSteps = 1Fh == 32 steps Offset = 00h == implies no attenuation capability - likely wrong! Taken at face value, this says the max gain setting is +46.5dB. If we compare this to a typical AC97 spec, like a Realtek ALC650, that chip has -34.5dB to +12dB, in 1.5dB steps. And, it has a microphone boost, for an additional 20dB. That means the Realtek ALC650 spans -34.5dB to +32dB gain. So, if we believed the CMI encoding for their gain capabilities, the gain setting would have more than enough gain for a microphone (i.e. +46.5dB, as the offset is zero). But, instead, I think the CMI "Offset" value should be a non-zero value, as it is unlikely the CMI9880 gain block is all gain - it likely has a range more like a traditional AC97 chip (i.e. -34.5 to +12dB). To emulate the mic boost, CMI should have designed the chip to use more than 32 steps. It would suggest this is a problem with the CMI implementation of the Azalia spec, and either the Cmedia control panel is being confused by the "Offset = 00h" value, or the chip really only does -34.5dB to +12dB and doesn't have enough gain for anything other than some kind of amplified microphone (like maybe an electret mic ?). It is not likely you would get an answer, but perhaps you could record your displeasure here. Notice how their web form doesn't even admit to a CMI9880 chip: http://www.cmedia.com.tw/etech-re2.asp Try phrasing your question like "How do I get enough gain to use my xxx microphone ? Your chip has no mic boost. What is the actual input sensitivity spec for the chip, for full scale recording ?". HTH, Paul |
#5
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Hello Paul Thank You for your elaborate reply. Henk |
#6
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Frank wrote:
I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any level that is usable. The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they screwed up the audio. Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's and have recommended them to others as well. No more. I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was worthless. Anybody else have similar problems. No not yet - Ihave other problems tho' during initial set up. As to the microphone question, if one knows the sensitivity the system is designed for then presumably one could match a microphone to it. Since there is a 3 pin hookup, V+ , Signal, Ground, this sounds like they are looking for a 3 terminal electret microphone. Most 3 terminal electret's have similar sensitivities and I imagine ASUS has designed to cover this range. If you check digikey.com for "Knowles", you will see that all the "Integral FET Amplifier" mics (AKA Electrets" have sensitivities between -42 & -32 dB re 1 microPascal. Bruce Murray A new P5GDC deLuxe Owner. |
#8
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Frank wrote:
I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any level that is usable. The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they screwed up the audio. Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's and have recommended them to others as well. No more. I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was worthless. Anybody else have similar problems. I have my board set for AC97 audio. I have three different microphones, and all three of them "work". The catch is, everything I capture, whether via mics or via line-in (from a perfectly good sounding cassette tape), whether with Sound Recorder or the Audacity application, has a terrible ECHO added to the audio. It sounds like the source is in a giant cave. Oddly enough, if I turn on the "Monitoring" function and play line-in audio, the pass-through audio coming out of my PC speakers is perfect; no echo at all. If I turn on audio capture while still listening in that situation, the resulting audio capture has the echo added! I've updated the motherboard BIOS from 1002 to 1006, with no change at all. I'm using the current CMI audio drivers (CMI9880-51201000736). I too have to look at adding a cheap soundcard, but I shouldn't have to! -- tsnyder at datamirror dot com |
#9
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FWIW, I have 2 a7n8x-dlx both with crummy audio from the mic input, 2
different mobos, both have lots of noise in the mic circuit, no fix available. Basically, I think the mic input circuit for onboard audio is one of the last design considerations in mobo design. -- Best regards, Kyle wrote in message ... | Frank wrote: | I have spent over 5 hours with Asus tech "support" trying to get a | microphone -- any microphone -- to function with a P5GDC Deluxe | motherboard. The answer from tech support is that It won't at any | level that is usable. | | The problem is the C-Media chipset on this MB "does not support" a | 20dB microphone boost (It took them 5 hours to come up with that | answer). That means that every microphone I am familiar with won't | work (including a $200 Sennheiser 845S). | | The board is designed for gaming with a PCI Express 16X AGP, yet they | screwed up the audio. | | Asus has always been high on my list ( Ihave bought many of their MB's | and have recommended them to others as well. No more. | | I am waiting back for a call from a supervisor. Tier 2 ("Nick") was | worthless. | | Anybody else have similar problems. | | | | I have my board set for AC97 audio. | | I have three different microphones, and all three of them "work". | The catch is, everything I capture, whether via mics or via line-in | (from a perfectly good sounding cassette tape), whether with Sound | Recorder or the Audacity application, has a terrible ECHO added to the | audio. It sounds like the source is in a giant cave. | | Oddly enough, if I turn on the "Monitoring" function and play line-in | audio, the pass-through audio coming out of my PC speakers is perfect; | no echo at all. If I turn on audio capture while still listening in | that situation, the resulting audio capture has the echo added! | | I've updated the motherboard BIOS from 1002 to 1006, with no change at | all. I'm using the current CMI audio drivers (CMI9880-51201000736). | | I too have to look at adding a cheap soundcard, but I shouldn't have | to! | | -- | tsnyder at datamirror dot com | |
#10
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Thanks for the additional info. Perhaps all the sites that review MB's would do well to include the audio input in their reviews instead of just the output. I ended up having to use a USB microphone just to be able to use a microphone on the Asus board. My other system is used for voice recognition, so now I will stay away from Asus and all other MB using the new Intel HD standard if it means that none of them will work with a conventional microphone. On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 11:43:45 -0500, "Kylesb" wrote: FWIW, I have 2 a7n8x-dlx both with crummy audio from the mic input, 2 different mobos, both have lots of noise in the mic circuit, no fix available. Basically, I think the mic input circuit for onboard audio is one of the last design considerations in mobo design. |
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