Why don't reviews mention or test forward I/O panel audio quality?

[Gloomy]

Seriously. I want to build a PC for my mom that doesn't go BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ when she plugs in her headphones, and doesn't require external accessories. On a budget. But it's impossible to know how good the audio quality is going to be ahead of time.

Does such a case even exist?

 

[_Rick_]

I'm not even sure there's a way to get this right, simply because the plug is so awkward, with regard to EMI resistance.
Otherwise, you can occasionally see the cabling in shots from reviews. If it's unshielded not-really-twisted-pair, you pretty much know it's not going to work.

Protip: usb headset. Plugs in the front, without any potential hassle. I don't think the price is that much higher.
Alternatively you could attempt a soldering and shielding job, and route a connector out the back panel. I really don't trust the onboard pin-out to be interference resistant.

 

[lehtv]

I don't think my R3 front panel header buzzes. But my Antec 900 did. As you said, it's impossible to know ahead of time

 

[ss284]

There are ground loop issues, which become an even bigger problem when the front panel is used with onboard audio. I'm using a xonar DX that doesn't seem to have these issues with the antec 300 and corsair 350D cases I've most recently used.

Are you using onboard audio? Rick's suggestion of a USB dac would fix your problems for cheap.

 

[Zap]

Protip: usb headset.

:thumbsup: You can also buy a USB audio adapter for under $10. Works with any recent version Windows machines. Just plug it in and it works. Heck, sometimes you get better audio quality than even the rear jacks!