spdif cable question

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theTIK

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Someone told me that if I want to use the spdif out 3.5mm on my audigy 2 card with a receiver I can just take a 3.5mm to rca Y splitter and just connect the White side to the receiver cause spdif only uses the white side anyway. Is this true?
 
theres a tip / ring / shield on a standard stereo headphone plug

the shield is the biggest contact oposite of the tip, the ring is well, the middle connector.. get it ;)

the tip and the shield make up the left channel (white)

the ring and the shield make up the right channel (red)

the digital signal might only be decoded as stereo by your receiver but it should work
 
omegatotal said:
theres a tip / ring / shield on a standard stereo headphone plug

the shield is the biggest contact oposite of the tip, the ring is well, the middle connector.. get it ;)

the tip and the shield make up the left channel (white)

the ring and the shield make up the right channel (red)

the digital signal might only be decoded as stereo by your receiver but it should work
Click to expand...

So if I want it to be capable of digital 5.1 sound I need a cable with a 3.5mm male on one end and a single rca on the other?
 
its more dependant on the soundcards capabilities im not totally up to snuf on the creative products :/

you will get 2ch or more sound out using said cable but i dont know if it will be 5.1 (dolby digital or dts )
 
theTIK said:
Someone told me that if I want to use the spdif out 3.5mm on my audigy 2 card with a receiver I can just take a 3.5mm to rca Y splitter and just connect the White side to the receiver cause spdif only uses the white side anyway. Is this true?
Click to expand...
Yes. (If its not the white side, then it will be the red part).
 
SLee said:
Yes. (If its not the white side, then it will be the red part).
Click to expand...

Now I am confused, if I use the Y splitter and use the side that works will it be capable of digital 5.1 or just stereo?
 
You will only get multichannel audio via the S/PDIF interface when the material is already encoded as such (hence the term pass through).
DVD's (for example) are already encoded but games are not so.....
 
theTIK said:
Now I am confused, if I use the Y splitter and use the side that works will it be capable of digital 5.1 or just stereo?
Click to expand...
The Audigy 2 can out uncompressed digital stereo audio, or 5.1 that has been pre-encoded using Dolby Digital or DTS compression, most commonly found in movie DVDs. It can't output surround game audio using SPDIF, it can only do so with the analog outputs.
 
SLee said:
The Audigy 2 can out uncompressed digital stereo audio, or 5.1 that has been pre-encoded using Dolby Digital or DTS compression, most commonly found in movie DVDs. It can't output surround game audio using SPDIF, it can only do so with the analog outputs.
Click to expand...

Ok I see... so if I am playing an xvid video with ac3 surround sound and the spdif connector to my receiver then I will get surround to the speakers? And if so... this will work with just using a 3.5mm to rca Y splitter using the white or red end whichever works?

Also is the sound quality better with the SPDIF or should I just get Y splitter to RCA and connect to the receiver that way?
 
Can anyone chime in on whether it matters if that 3.5mm to RCA adapter be stereo or mono?
Click to expand...
That should work just fine.
In fact I used to use that same inline adapter when I had an Audigy2 ZS and never had a single issue.
And I used it with my X-fi for a minute as well.
 
Yes, I use that Radeo Shack gold series 1/8" mono plug to RCA jack; and it works fine! Don't know why you would want to use the Y splitter recommended by another.

In response to your question (Should the mini-plug to the card be mono or sterio?), I would say that it does not matter; however, I have not seen it in the gold except for that particular mono one referenced above.
 
I hate to to be a spoilsport, but using anything but a S/PDIF cable will cause an impeadance mismatch, regardless of the plugs used.
 
SpasticTeapot said:
I hate to to be a spoilsport, but using anything but a S/PDIF cable will cause an impeadance mismatch, regardless of the plugs used.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that the introduction of the RCA-to-miniplug adapter causes an impedance mismatch? Is that a problem?
 
I decided to just use 3 Y splitting 3.5mm to stereo RCA cables and connect to the receiver with 5.1 analog... From what I can make out the SPDIF will just be in stereo when playing an avi using a AC3 surround sound codec and that is what this will mostly be used for... the analog should most likely still be decent quality since it is THX certified even with analog... I also found the following thread very helpful for my Audigy 2 ZS. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=377573&page=1&pp=30
 
Just wondering... do those X-fi cards encode multichannel audio via SPDIF? Such as games?
 
theTIK said:
I decided to just use 3 Y splitting 3.5mm to stereo RCA cables and connect to the receiver with 5.1 analog... From what I can make out the SPDIF will just be in stereo when playing an avi using a AC3 surround sound codec and that is what this will mostly be used for...
Click to expand...
If you enable SPDIF passthrough in the Creative Audio Console, the A2 will pass the AC3 audio directly to the receiver and you'll get 5.1 audio.

theTIK said:
Just wondering... do those X-fi cards encode multichannel audio via SPDIF? Such as games?
Click to expand...
No.
 
SLee said:
If you enable SPDIF passthrough in the Creative Audio Console, the A2 will pass the AC3 audio directly to the receiver and you'll get 5.1 audio.
Click to expand...

Do you think there will be a noticeable difference in sound quality by using SPDIF instead of analog?
 
theTIK said:
Do you think there will be a noticeable difference in sound quality by using SPDIF instead of analog?
Click to expand...
Hard to say, may depend on your receiver. Probably just try both methods and see which one you like better.
 
Badger said:
Are you saying that the introduction of the RCA-to-miniplug adapter causes an impedance mismatch? Is that a problem?
Click to expand...

Actually, RCA ("line level") cables have a different impeadance for wire and connectors than S/PDIF - I think the former is 65 ohms and the latter is 75 ohms. Impeadance should not be confused with resistance...they're different.

Mismatched cable = signal loss. Digital interfaces will work just fine if half the data's getting to the other end, but you'll get decreased quality - think of the blocky squares you see on digital cable or dish reception. It's exactly the same thing.

Yes, this is not just audiophile hoodoo. It's good science - ask a HAM radio operator to explain it, because I'm a little fuzzy on it myself.
 
Well I guess I can understand that, but without that adapter how else are we suppose to get a digital out from our Audigys?
 
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