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PC audio output, or "oh my god why are there so many jacks"
Ledneh
shinesquawkRegistered User regular
shinesquawkRegistered User regular
Seriously, I'm confused!
I just got a digital receiver (a yamaha HTR-3063), and since I had an optical audio cable laying around I decided to try to get my PC to output by that since the receiver doesn't have any minijack inputs.
Lo and behold, I'm getting no sound even though I have the receiver set right and Windows shows the Digital Audio (S/PDIF) Device levels peaking when I play audio.
Now, I just put in the above as some background--this thread isn't a support request, I'll get this figured out. Rather, this thread is a "what the fuck?" thread. My motherboard, being a Gigabyte P55M-UD2, has three audio options: three or four minijacks, a coax digital (orange), and optical digital. My question is, which one should I be using, why, and what do all the options gain and lose over each other?
I just got a digital receiver (a yamaha HTR-3063), and since I had an optical audio cable laying around I decided to try to get my PC to output by that since the receiver doesn't have any minijack inputs.
Lo and behold, I'm getting no sound even though I have the receiver set right and Windows shows the Digital Audio (S/PDIF) Device levels peaking when I play audio.
Now, I just put in the above as some background--this thread isn't a support request, I'll get this figured out. Rather, this thread is a "what the fuck?" thread. My motherboard, being a Gigabyte P55M-UD2, has three audio options: three or four minijacks, a coax digital (orange), and optical digital. My question is, which one should I be using, why, and what do all the options gain and lose over each other?
Ledneh on
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Here's what the control panel looks like for me right now
I am playing a video in the background and have the digital output device selected, and the volume bar there is moving up and down. The only thing that's got me confused is that the Jack Information thing in the properties says it's the Combo Jack (which I guess refers to the coax); why doesn't it say the optical?
Oh well!
(edit) And thanks for all the background info, that really helps my understanding of this asinine thing.
Optical cables break if they bend sharply but otherwise they should endure just fine.
A simple check is to see if there is light coming out of the connector on the PC and secondly light coming through the cable - this check can be done with simple looking by holding a finger in front of the cable (Don't point it into your eyes). I suppose even if there is light there could be a signal problem but if then it's more likely you send fx. 48 Khz from the PC and the receiver is not accepting it (unlikely).
There is a big upside to optical cables when connecting computer gear to music gear - there is no electrical connection. PC's are not the best environment for clean electrics and there can also be a difference in voltages causing death to your gear. It's sounds to me as if you're okay but it does happen.