[GrumpyWookie]

Hey everyone, I've been searching for a certain cable for quite awhile now to no avail. What I'm looking for is what I believe would be called a Digital 2-pin and Optical SP/DIF cable? Since I received a quick response the last time I came across these forums, I wonder if anyone would be able to help me once more.


I recently bought a new video card ( Gts 250 ) and since my mobo has a labeled area for SPdif out but no pins? headers or anything of that sort to plug in the two pin audio cable that came along. I was going to just settle for using a stereo to rca cable to my tv from the PC but unable to register audio? So I went out and bought a sound card with spdif only to find out it didnt have any internal pins; only a external optical spdif port.


I saw a picture of a 2 pin to coaxial cable but was unable to find where to purchase that cable as well despite not needing it. From what I gathered it comes along with a certain video card. I cant find the picture at the moment but I hope someone knows what I'm talking about and will be able to provide a link to where I may purchase the cable.


Thanks again in advance. :3;

Here is the picture of the 2pin with coaxial attachment rather then both ends being 2 pin spdif. What I'm looking for it the same thing except rather then the coaxial end, I'm hoping to find a 2pin cable with optical sdpif.

 

[Thrillho]

You'd need to convert the Optical to Coax with an active converter box first, optical sends it's info with light, Coax with electricity. What soundcard/motherboard do you have?

 

[SteelWill]

 http://compare.ebay.com/like/3206184...=263602_304662


^Should work.

 

[GrumpyWookie]

My motherboard is a MCP61PM-HM (Iris8), not sure why they decided to make a different version then the nettle which has two additional ram slots installed along with the spdif plug already on it. As for my sound card, I just bought a mere rocketfish 5.1 pci card :S


So would I need a new sound card then? I haven't been able to find one that had internal spdif pin, came across a few on sites newegg but they were discontinued. Or with the above bracket from the link, would I be able to attach it to my vid card then attach the optical cable from there to my sound card's external port?


Thanks again for helping out this audio newb.


Edit: If its any help, my tv is a 26" lcd HDTv sanyo. I just skimmed over the manual, well a "quick and easy" set up guide and noticed that they used a hdmi/dvi adapter to plug a dvd player into HDmi while using two pin ( White and red ) rca cables from the dvd player to audio ports above video input 3 port. I'm using the same layout with a stereo to two pin rca cable from my sound card to the tv but still lack audio. :X I should be getting bose speakers soon in the mail and getting a new big screen later on. Figured I'd get practice with this set up first before making a mistake with the new one; thanks again!

 

[renethx]

1. DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71

2. A coaxial cable

3. FRONTX RCA VIDEO / SPDIF - panel F to 1x3 F (attach it using an empty expansion bracket with a hole [DIY] to the case)


Connect the S/PDIF out of 1. to the RCA port of 3. by 2., then connect the other end of 3. to your card. You may need two HEADER CONNECTOR 1 X 1 .


Selling your GTS 250 and buy a GTS 450/GT 430 (with a built-in audio controller) is a quicker and neater way.

 

[Thrillho]

I agree with just replace your video card. By the time you either replace your sound card or buy an optical to coax converter, you could almost buy a 430/450 or a 54xx/55xx card that not only has an audio controller built in but supports more than two channels of PCM (not a big deal if your hooking it to a TV, but if you upgrade to a receiver is a must).

 

[GrumpyWookie]

Thanks everyone for the help/advice. I believe I may have found a solution though it might be temporary. The hdmi audio was enabled on my card so it wasn't reading the rca connection, and apparently I had my stereo end plugged into the wrong port of the sound card. Its currently using the lime green? port so I have to constantly switch the plugs when I'm either on the PC or using the TV. Though I suppose once I get my wireless keyboard mouse, I wont have to use this monitor anymore.


Does anyone know if its possible to use the other line out ports on the sound card or are those reserved specifically for the full 5.1 speakers connection?


P.S: Thanks once again. :3

 

[Andrew Hornfeck]

Glad you found a means of producing Optical SPDIF output from your PC! Generally speaking, a PCI card uses its drivers to route the audio into it without using any wires. Older video cards require the 2-conductor wire to connect the SPDIF from a mobo header. If you only want to watch TV then using a simple $2.00 3.5mm Stereo Male to 2 RCA Male Cable you can connect the soundcard or the SAME L+R (usually Green) output from your PC to your TV's Red/White RCA Stereo inputs. But you asked about Optical SPDIF in this thread! As far as using this I don't believe the TV even has an Optical (SPDIF) INput... usually the optical jack on TVs are an OUTput to pass a SPDIF stream (from its internal ATSC tuner) to an external A/V audio receiver to decode the soundtrack.


I also would mention the latest audio hookup is to use the HDMI audio route whereby the video card would pass the digital stream WITHOUT needing any soundcard! Whether you have to use a mobo header or the driver does it via the mobo's buss is dependent on the model. The poster mentioned buying a GTS 4xx while it's a fancy card it is in the $100 range... whereas an ATi HD4xxx or HD 54xx can be had for $15-50 and they'll give you DVI, HDMI, VGA and will pass HDMI audio flawlessly to your TV. Of course, if you NEED an Optical SPDIF for your Bose then you already have that with your new rocketfish 5.1 pci card.


I'm not sure you'll find many believers in Bose on this forum as their products are so focused on a BASIC TV-watching consumer... I find their products far too limiting - it works with the TV but how do you play a DVD, Blu-Ray, connect your HTPC? See my point? Of course, the BEST fit is play EVERYTHING on your HTPC... get a BR ROM drive and front-end s/w to do it all and use the Bose for audio and the TV as a DISPLAY only... oh, and add a tuner card to your PC... but do you have a satellite or cable box? Hmmm.... more complecation using Bose.


Let us know how you settled on this...

 

[GrumpyWookie]

Ah I see now. Thanks for the thorough response. I've been searching for help and was only able to find bits at a time or people saying otherwise so I was getting confused. I suppose I'm a stubborn nvidia fan while my friend uses ATi cards, I didn't realize until recently that ati has audio built into their cards so they don't need to use an audio loop cable of sort to use their dvi-to-hdmi ports.


As for the bose speakers well I'm getting them for free and they're going to be my first speaker system. I've read about the mixed opinions about bose but since they're free and new may as well try them. :S Normally I wouldn't care much for sound quality but I've started getting back into watching sporting events along with movies at home so I decided to start working and getting familiar with audio systems and their layouts. Oh and the bose speakers are the companion 5 set which I read are actually 2.1 speakers that just emulate/virtual 5.1 surround sound that just plug into a PC's usb slot but can be attached to a tv/other devices with a rc adapter of sort. And for the same price of these speakers, you can get an actual 5.1 system.


I originally bought the video card just for gaming but started looking into the tv connections and one thing led to another. I think I may stay with the current set-up while continue looking for a pci sound card with internal spdif pins so I can stick with using both the tv and monitor without having to switch cables every time. Though I must say these forums have quickly became my favorite place to seek information, I'll be sure to read up more on the guides located here for future references.


Thanks a lot again everyone.

Oh before I go for now, is there a difference between blu ray software for pc and an actual blu ray player, if so can anyone recommend one?

 

[Andrew Hornfeck]

A player has hardware to pass not only the 1080p image but various audio formats. Audiophiles will have elaborate sound systems capable of handling not only the 5.1 (DD or DTS) but the BR high-def audio formats (7.1) which can't pass through the SPDIF stream (too high data rates) but can pass via LPCM across HDMI assuming you have a capable video card (ATi HD5xxx and above) and audio system... again, a system ABOVE the 5.1 we've been using for years.


The BR hardware necessary is often already in a modern HTPC so buying a stand-along player doesn't make sense.