Where can I get a digital cable for the Audigy ZS?

[Vince604]

I have an Audigy ZS and I want a digital connection to my receiver. On the back of the sound card there is digital out, but I don't know exactly what cable it is. I was thinking it was a mini to fibre optic but I don't see how light would travel through the mini.

Any help?

 

[2_red]

I had this same problem.

Get a good quality composite video cable and a mono mini-jack (3.5mm) to RCA adapter. Pretend the composite video cable is a coaxial cable and plug it into the digital in coaxial jack on your receiver. The mini-jack end obviously goes into the digital out on your sound card. If your receiver has a its own decoders make sure any your sound card has are turned off or it will not work. Remember, you'll only get true dolby digital 5.1 during the playback of either DVDs or AC3 audio files, stopping or even pausing the play will disable 5.1 and give you only stereo sound. The only way to get 5.1 in games with a Creative sound card to HT receiver setup is through a discrete 6CH input, and this gives you ANALOG 5.1.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by 2_red on 05/20/04 05:48 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Vince604]

Hey thanks for the help. Though when I use a mono mini-jack, wouldn't that already convert the sound to analog?

I'm guessing there is no direct digital connection cable to the receiver from the sound card?

 

[2_red]

Uhm, I don't know the exact details, but somehow that IS enough to send an actual digital signal. My receiver will display the dolby digital 5.1 logo which will ONLY come up while receiving digital sound. Also, I directly compared the DD5.1 from my PC (using a composite video cable w/ mono adapter), with the 5.1 coming from my DVD player (using an optical cable) connected to my receiver. The difference was hardly noticeable! Heavy bass and dialogue sounded better with the DVD player ("real" digital cables [optical, coaxial] are probably capable of sending a wider range of audio frequencies), but you have to pay close attention, and flip back and forth between the two source (which I did with the exact same movie), to really notice anything.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by 2_red on 05/20/04 05:52 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Vince604]

Hmmm okay I'll think about this. I was wondering if this cable might work?
http://www.core-sound.com/IMG20A.JPG

I just don't like the idea of the mono-mini part. Anyways if I did pause when playing an AC3 file why would it disable the 5.1??

 

[Crashman]

Composite video cables ARE coaxial.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

OK, here's the deal: What the last guy said. The digital audio transmission is a series of electrical pulses. You send electrical pulses down a conductive cable, and viola, they end up at the other end. The type of connection you have is called Digital Coaxial by the home theater/hifi guys, but computer guys call it S/P-DIF (Sony/Phillips Digital InterFace).

Now, Creative screwed you bad. First off, they used a mono minijack instead of an RCA jack on the card. Second, they didn't include the needed adapter. You see, Digital Coaxial (aka S/P-DIF) uses an RCA jack just like the old analog stereo patch cords used. But the digital signal is fussier, being digital, so you'll want to use a high quality cable. I've heard that Digital Coaxial and Composite Video both use the 75-ohm cable standard.

And that takes us back to what the first guy said. The 1/8 inch mono jack to RCA adapter is simply providing a 2 conductor electrical connection to your Digital Coaxial cable. Ignore the fact it's an "analog" adapter, because that doesn't make a difference, it's a solid metal conductor and that's the end of the story!

Like the old auctioneer said "Call it what you like, use it for the same purpose".

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

BTW, there's no "part" in the 1/8" mono to RCA converter that could possibly convert digital to analog. In fact, there's no internal parts at all. It has two conductors, that's it.

BTW, I'll sell you some nice digital speaker wire if you like, hehehehe, in case you haven't figured it out yet, wire is wire, there are no electronic components (neither analog or digital) involved. There are only standards for what's acceptable to reduce signal loss, and what isn't.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Vince604]

Oh okay. Haha yeah sorry new to all of this. But thanks for all of the info. Will pick up the converter and composite cable! =)

 

[2_red]

If composite video cables ARE coaxial, then why are digital coaxial cables 2-3 times more expensive? No, I think coaxial is, at least, slightly better quality than other RCAs in SOME way. For one, they have more insulation (yipee), and the actual connector, while it looks exactly the same on the outside, is actually made differently than other RCA cables (Monster THX cables all come with a small diagram on the box of the plugs internals, and I've compared them... they're drawn differently anyway). How much a difference these things actually make to the sound is up for debate, however.

 

[Crashman]

Uh, d00d, old RCA patch cords are coaxial, Cable TV signal cable is coaxial, most headphone cords are coaxial...coaxial means one wire goes inside the other, co (same) axial (axis). The signal wire runs down the center and the shield is a sleeve around the outside.

Of course there are different GRADES of coaxial cable, and different grades of cable connectors as well. "Digital Coaxial" cable is expensive because it has the word "Digital" on it, that's a magic word that equates to price in a consumer's eyes. In other words, their more expensive because companies are making more money off them.

In reality you have a low loss copper cable, hopefully with a braided copper shield (rather than an aluminum sleeve), making a good quality cable. Add good ends and you're doing great. I heard that "digital coaxial" is supposed to be 75 ohm cable (TV cable is supposed to be 75ohm also). I suppose the resistance is to kill reflections. High quality ends increase signal strength.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[jclw]

They're 2 or 3 times the price because that's what people will pay.

Digital is Digital. If you get any sound then that sound will be perfect. Otherwise you won't get any sound - that's the beauty of it.

Crashman is correct. Any 75ohm coax cable will work. If fact for short runs you can probably get away with regular twisted pair wire, as the SoundBlasters use a 2v signal rather then the 0.5v signal that a real digital coax source provides.

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