SPDIF out from MB header to optical?

[DebB]

Can you use Gigabyte Audio Combo Kit for 8 Channel Sound with SPDIF (12CR1-1SPAUD-21) with a Foxconn G45M motherboard to gain an optical out port from the on board Sound's SPDIF header?

Any clues whether the wiring would be different? The G45M's SPDIF connector looks like a 4 pin socket.

[Willosy]

HI,

yes you can do this I did it with my Q965 chipset based Foxconn motherboard.

There are sellers of these units on eBay whom just either change the plug from or to 4 pin or 3 pin or re-assign the wires.

If you already have the plug, look on your manual for the pin-out wiring and change the wiring on the plug. You may have 1 pin overhang, but it shouldn't be an issue.

Cheers

Willo

EDIT: - Actually not with this one.

You can use THIS one from an eBay seller e-speedy. He is whom I brought mine off and will change the pins or plugs as required. It's basically three wires standard across the S/PDIF output whether optical or coax.

You could actually use the one you have but you would have to source a 4-pin plug (one of the pins is blank on your connector) and then move three of the wires over from the 5-pin plug to match the pin-out on page 15 of your motherboard manual

[DebB]

Thanks Willo! The same seller has a 4 pin plug version on there too, which looks just like the socket on my motherboard. Will that allow passthrough of 5.1 surround to the stereo amp? That is my goal here, so that I don't have to fork out for a new sound card! At the moment I am only getting 2 channel sound out of the beastie no matter what I do.

[logifuse]

Forget optical & just go with RCA coaxial SPDIF - see my post in your other thread.

Justin

[Willosy]

Thanks Willo! The same seller has a 4 pin plug version on there too, which looks just like the socket on my motherboard. Will that allow passthrough of 5.1 surround to the stereo amp? That is my goal here, so that I don't have to fork out for a new sound card! At the moment I am only getting 2 channel sound out of the beastie no matter what I do.

Yes, it will pass S/PDIF. You don't need any more drivers, but you may need a codec pack eg:- FFDShow or Shark007 which has FFDShow in it.

Forget optical & just go with RCA coaxial SPDIF - see my post in your other thread.

Justin

As for what Justin said, COAX Cable or Optical is just the means to carry the S/PDIF signal. What you use is dependant on what inputs on your AMP.

As far as I know there is no technical benefit from OPtical over COAX eg:- one doesn't make the sound any better than the other.

But as Justin said COAX is better in the fact that the cable can be bent futrther and it secures onto the connector better. I didn't listen at first and used optical but it kept falling off. I eventually went back to COAX, it works a treat.

Willo

[DebB]

I only have an optical in available on the receiver, so that's what I'm after. I am mainly concerned that the MB sound will still be 2ch. It is meant to have 7.1 channel audio... will it pass through 5.1 to the receiver? THe receiver has Dolby Digital and DTS. I only need the surround for DVD and Bluray and am not worried about games as it is purely an A/V machine.

[Willosy]

I only have an optical in available on the receiver, so that's what I'm after. I am mainly concerned that the MB sound will still be 2ch. It is meant to have 7.1 channel audio... will it pass through 5.1 to the receiver? THe receiver has Dolby Digital and DTS. I only need the surround for DVD and Bluray and am not worried about games as it is purely an A/V machine.

Yes, it will pass through 5.1. Get the cable off eBay and then come back here!

[DebB]

Righto, Willo! I have the cable and have installed it. I now have optical out from motherboard SPDIF to amp. In control panel I selected this SPDIF device and now have sound from the PC to the amp via optical cable....

Now...

It seems I can still not get 5.1, only 2 channel. In the control panel I have tried to set the outputs, and it does dolby digital but not DTS. My receiver is meant to be DTS capable (sticker on front). All the frequencies play OK. In the other menu tab I can only choose 2 channel 48khz. There are no 5.1 options.

In MC I can still select 5.1 speakers. (I could before)

In Power DVD I can now choose 'use SPDIF', but it will not let me select any output type.

On the amp, when I use Power DVD I see the dolby digital indicator light up and also the prologic. I don't get this with MC.

Sooo.... are there any other settings I need to change (eg in BIOS) or codecs needed to get the motherboard to output 5.1?????

Also, can I have both the SPDIF and the HDMI sound outputs active so I can use the TV speakers when the amp is off?

Thanks again, I can see progress now!

Deb

[Willosy]

Righto, Willo! I have the cable and have installed it. I now have optical out from motherboard SPDIF to amp. In control panel I selected this SPDIF device and now have sound from the PC to the amp via optical cable....

Now...

It seems I can still not get 5.1, only 2 channel. In the control panel I have tried to set the outputs, and it does dolby digital but not DTS. My receiver is meant to be DTS capable (sticker on front). All the frequencies play OK. In the other menu tab I can only choose 2 channel 48khz. There are no 5.1 options.

In MC I can still select 5.1 speakers. (I could before)

In Power DVD I can now choose 'use SPDIF', but it will not let me select any output type.

On the amp, when I use Power DVD I see the dolby digital indicator light up and also the prologic. I don't get this with MC.

Sooo.... are there any other settings I need to change (eg in BIOS) or codecs needed to get the motherboard to output 5.1?????

Also, can I have both the SPDIF and the HDMI sound outputs active so I can use the TV speakers when the amp is off?

Thanks again, I can see progress now!

Deb

Hey Deb,

Sorry for the delay.

You can use FFDShow or Sharks codec pack for getting the 5.1 sound to the AMP. I'm not sure why you can't use native Windows codecs to output the sound.

I use Sharks Vista Pack v5.1.5 as it was easier to configure and understand than the latest version.

I used the basic configuration in VLAD's old thread to get it all going.

Basically set all DTS and AC3 for S/PDIF pass-through. If you have .mkv movies then on the same page select S/PDIF encode mode and encode for 5.1 streams only as most .mkv have AAC and most AMPS don't decode AAC.

If you don't use Sharks pack I think you may also have to install Matroska media splitter as well.

More help can be given when you have given this a go.

[DebB]

Thanks, Willo. I have tested a bit more and there is 5.1 sound there I think..... I hear the speech coming from the centre speaker and music/effects from the rear. Or is it still only prologic simulating 5.1. How do I tell? I have ffdshow and will look into that next.

[Willosy]

Deb,

My AMP has two ways of showing me it is getting a signal from the HTPC. One says connection source is digital. The other says it's a digital signal. Then if it's true AC3 or DTS the AMP also shows Dolby Digital audio stream. Most AMPs have some way, usually a light on the front like the purple light on Sony AMP's or an indicator on the LED display panel that would be a different colour from the main display like my Pioneer.

Sometimes my AMP shows digital signal but Pro Logic shows up on the display which usually means two things;

1) The original source is only 2 channel even though it's a digital signal and the AMP is upscaling to 5.1 (Pro Logic II)

2) The source is encoded in the incorrect format eg: .mkv files usually encoded in AAC and the AMP can't decode it natively, treats it as a 2 channel source and re-encodes as Pro Logic II. ( To overcome this in FFDshow, select S/PDIF encode mode and also "Only encode 5.1 source" this will re-encode AAC in .mkv and send it out to AMP as AC3 digital 5.1 which the AMP will then use.)

I'm sure you will need Haali media splitter if you have .mkv videos, DivX also have a H.264 decoder and I use that, I don't install any other DivX codec just the H.264 bit (can be set in setup process)

PS:- Don't forget to thank useful information, it's how we earn points.

Cheers

Willo

[DebB]

That was a great help, thanks Willo! I don't watch many divX things so don't need to bother with AC3 etc. It is only for DVDS and Bluray that I want the 5.1. If I see the Dolby Digital without the Prologic Indicator that should indicate a 5.1 signal, if the source is known to be 5.1 right?