Optical cables on Soundcards?

Moose777

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Benefits of optical cables for your sound card?

I have an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro.

And I've noticed that it has optical cable inputs and outputs (fiber optic cables) and I was wondering.

What are the benefits of it?

I'm asking because whilst going through some stuff yesterday I ran across some optic cables and was thinking about using them on my soundcard but don't actually know how they work or what they'd do.
 
The Optical output is used to transmit compressed audio streams, such as Dolby Digital and DTS, from your computer to an external recevier or processor. This would be most beneficial in an HTPC setup like mine. Basically your sending the stream out compressed so that your home theatre receiver can do the decoding, which is usually much better than what your card can do. It's also a cleaner signal over any length run (so long as it's within optical spec) whereas analog cables can suck up noise and other interferance. In addition, running an analog 5.1 stream from PC to Receiver requires 5 cables, whereas only 1 for the optical.

If your not streaming compressed audio than optical will only output a down converted PCM (2-channel stereo) signal. That's fine for system sounds and audio, but not gaming. That being so, you cannot enjoy 5.1 surround sound in your games using optical out as it will be down converted to 2 channel stereo. That is unless you have a X-Mystique with Dolby Digital Live or an nForce2 board with Soundstorm :D
 
Thank you. I had no idea what it did. Not only do Creative's updates and software suck but so does their documentation that comes with their cards.

So, I guess its safe to say I can sell these cables since I won't be needing them.
 
DonMega2k said:
If your not streaming compressed audio than optical will only output a down converted PCM (2-channel stereo) signal. That's fine for system sounds and audio, but not gaming. That being so, you cannot enjoy 5.1 surround sound in your games using optical out as it will be down converted to 2 channel stereo. That is unless you have a X-Mystique with Dolby Digital Live or an nForce2 board with Soundstorm :D

Are you saying that even if you have a full home theatre setup hooked to the optical you will still only get 2 channel sound in games?
 
Xaeon said:
Are you saying that even if you have a full home theatre setup hooked to the optical you will still only get 2 channel sound in games?

Exactly. This is because your soundcard decodes the 5.1 data from the game prior to it hitting the output stage (Analog or Digital) So when that goes out over optical, it's in an uncompressed analog format which SPDIF does not support. If you want 5.1 surround from games to go through your HT receiver than you need to run the 6 analog cables from the soundcard to the 5.1 Analog Inputs on the back of your receiver. Creative makes this set of cables for that purpose. That of course works with their soundcards which use their proprietary 3x multi-pole analog outputs.

Your other option is the DTS-610. This is an external box that upconverts the analog signal to DTS and outputs it via optical.
 
Thanks for that answer. Seems kind of dumb that there is no way to stop it from doing that. I guess you gotta hook the computer to the receiver twice so you can get surround from movies and games. Way to make it easy, eh?
 
DonMega2k said:
Exactly. This is because your soundcard decodes the 5.1 data from the game prior to it hitting the output stage (Analog or Digital) So when that goes out over optical, it's in an uncompressed analog format which SPDIF does not support. If you want 5.1 surround from games to go through your HT receiver than you need to run the 6 analog cables from the soundcard to the 5.1 Analog Inputs on the back of your receiver. Creative makes this set of cables for that purpose. That of course works with their soundcards which use their proprietary 3x multi-pole analog outputs.

Your other option is the DTS-610. This is an external box that upconverts the analog signal to DTS and outputs it via optical.
So, is that what that box does that came with my soundcard? I have it sitting on top of my monitor and the only thing I have hooked to it are my headset and mic.
 
I may be wrong, but I thought the only thing that breakout box did was provide exterior connections.
 
It could be. I find it to be quite useless actually. It came with a remote control too but its never even worked. Dunno why but ti just hasn't.
 
Xaeon said:
Thanks for that answer. Seems kind of dumb that there is no way to stop it from doing that. I guess you gotta hook the computer to the receiver twice so you can get surround from movies and games. Way to make it easy, eh?

Yeah that's pretty much it. I wasn't happy about it either when I found out that's how it needed to be done. Like I said, you can use a Dolby Digital live soundcard (X-Mystique) which will convert the analog stream to a compressed DD signal and output 5.1 game sound directly though SPDIF. You can then software switch the SPDIF output to pass-through for movie viewing and let your receiver do the decoding. This is all done with a single Optical cable. That's the setup I'm running right now and I'm quite happpy with it. I'll eventually go X-Fi with both optical and Analog outs because it has superior sound quality, this is just my temporary solution.

Xaeon said:
I may be wrong, but I thought the only thing that breakout box did was provide exterior connections.

That's correct. The breakout box does have Optical In and Out, but it does not encode DTS. You can only buy the DTS-610 as a standalone unit, and it can only be purchased from Creatives web store - no retail sales at all. Check it out
Here
 
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