SPDIF passthrough

[tuckster]

Are most PC's capable of digital passthrough or only certain motherboards? I have an intel 845 board with the standard earphone 3.5mm jack. I have seen miniplug -> optical adapter cables. If I connect my PC to my receiver with one of these cables will I be able to pass digital from the PC to my receiver? Aside from buying a cable and attempting this, is there a way to know if my mb is spdif capable?

Assuming the mb is not capable, what is least expensive way to gain this capability? My receiver (htib actuall) only supports optical connection.

Also, is all passthrough the same? I.E. do better sound cards or cables pass through a better signal or is it all the same? I thought digital was all the same in pass through, but dependent on the receiver to do its thing. Is that correct?

[stustunz]

most boards will do digital out (orange rca plugs)
if it doesnt have that you may have to change a setting to output through the normal in/out audio plugs (only one cable needed for digital)

if your motherboard doesnt have it a usb sound card(rare as)
a pci sound card
new motherboard
are you sure there are no orange rca plugs on your receiver not many dont have at least one

digital is digital so cables dont change the data bits
passthrough means not decoded so the pc should be not changing it in anyway
yes the receiver does the decoding

[tuckster]

Thanks for the reply. My receiver isn't really a receiver, it's a home theater in a box system, so it lacks the variety of inputs of a real receiver. It has analog RCA in, but the only digital in is optical.

Here's a link to the receiver http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/conten.../main.html

The motherboard has just two audio ports. One is a blue microphone port and the other is a green headphone port. Neither is RCA. Will I need to get a separate sound card?

[JonnyCam]

arrgh. Stupid board ate my reply.

Anyway, check your MB manual for SPDIF out, if there is no port, there will most likely be a 3 pin header on board.

I made a fan connector to RCA socker which works fine for coax (just data + gnd) and you could add a converter to get the optical out.

Check also if your MB manafacturer supplies an SPDIF rear bracket which will probably have both coax & opt on it.

Converter like this: http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-Coaxial-...718&sr=1-2

Not as pretty as an integrated solution, but might be cheaper for you.
EDIT: the converter I linked was the wrong way around.

[tuckster]

After reading other threads, I think the cheapest/easiest solution for me is to get a Dynex 5.1 PCI card of ebay for $10 - $15.

I'm not skilled enough to alter my motherboard. That would turn into $100 for a new motherboard, $40 for RAM for the new motherboard, $100 for a new processor for the motherboard and $65 for a new graphics card for the new motherboard. Then I would be in trouble with the Mrs.

Thanks for all the help.