S/PDIF optical cable

[olds442]

hello ,i im trying to hook up a 5.1 surround sound system and am trying to use opticle cable, my 5.1 surround sound system has DTS and DOLBY digital. i pres the auto find butten on my surround sound system and it detects the opticle cable. i test it and it works on both DTS and DOLBY but as soon as i leave the test in windows it goes back to pro logic 2 and opticle mode turns off.

the system is a ONKYO HT-R8230

[Stoney]

I use one on the connection between my DVD player and Sony receiver.  I've never had any problem with it.  The only thing is that mine auto-recognizes the available format, so, if I switch from a DVD to regular TV, it will automatically switch from 5.1 DTS to Dolby stereo.

[Bizman]

I'm not sure if I have understood you right, but apparently you're trying to get your computer sounds through your Onkyo.

You don't tell about your soundcard, so this is just guessing, but at least my integrated Realtek has a specific Sound Manager program, which should show if and how your optical jack has been configured. On the Audio I/O page there's a wrench symbol under which you can tick whether or not you'd want a pop-up window every time you plug something in to choose the new device's function.

Also I'd recommend you to take a look at Windows' sound settings for choosing the right sound device and output.

[olds442]

I'm not sure if I have understood you right, but apparently you're trying to get your computer sounds through your Onkyo.

You don't tell about your soundcard, so this is just guessing, but at least my integrated Realtek has a specific Sound Manager program, which should show if and how your optical jack has been configured. On the Audio I/O page there's a wrench symbol under which you can tick whether or not you'd want a pop-up window every time you plug something in to choose the new device's function.

Also I'd recommend you to take a look at Windows' sound settings for choosing the right sound device and output.

i dont have a sound card my old one craped out. but my mother board has built in 7.1

ok ok. i got the problem fixed i can use optical cabel now, well so i thought all the options in windows say only 2 channel? thought opticle could carry 5.1? and the system is now useing a 6 channel RCA cabel set up so i still have 5.1 right now but digtle cabel is needed for surround off my tv (giving my out put RCA's broke)

[Getback]

I have never understood that connection. What's it for?

[Bizman]

I have never understood that connection. What's it for?

It's a full digital cable made of glassfiber, working with light pulses. You know, the speed of light is among the fastest known, so transferring data takes place in virtually no time, making it possible to send more complex data - in this case digitized sound - to another device. Speaking of sound, the digital sound data is sent as flashing light to an amplifier, where a D/A circuit transforms it into audible sound. If you use the regular green jack of your sound card and plug a cord from it to an amplifier, the D/A transforming takes place in your soundcard, which is vulnerable to the magnetic fields whirling all over your computer case. The digital data can as well be transferred via a copper wire, but as you can induce from the aforementioned, light pulses suffer far less from magnetic distortion compared to electric ones. Additionally, an external D/A transducer is likely to be of much higher quality than the one in a relatively cheap sound card.

[Bizman]

i don't have a sound card my old one crapped out. but my mother board has built in 7.1

OK OK. i got the problem fixed i can use optical cable now, well so i thought all the options in windows say only 2 channel? thought optical could carry 5.1? and the system is now using a 6 channel RCA cable set up so i still have 5.1 right now but digital cable is needed for surround off my TV (giving my out put RCA's broke)

With a sound card I meant any kind of device inside your computer having a sound circuit and various outputs. I should've been more accurate in my first post. My sound devices are integrated on the motherboard, too.

Optical cable should carry 5.1, both of my DVD players hooked into my amplifier take full use of it. My Windows' sound settings is set to 5.1 through the three jacks in the back panel. The Realtek HD Audio manager program, which came with my motherboard, has a specific I/O settings tool for digital outputs, both optical and RCA. If such a program doesn't show in your Task Bar, look into Control Panel with detailed view on. IMO any brand of built in sound circuits have some kind of control software installable from the motherboard's driver CD.

[zack1234]

The Realtek driver site is very poor