Can you convert 3 x 3.5mm stereo jack plugs to a toslink optical cable?

Question

I've just got a new sound card and the only way it will output true 5.1 surround sound is through the 3 x 3.5mm stereo jack plugs directly to a set of surround sound speakers.

It has a set of optical toslink sockets on the rear but you have to disable the 5.1 setting and run only 2 channel stereo to get them to work and i've been told that the reason for this is to protect copyrights ? Why? All i want to do is connect my PC to a surround sound amplifier so that i can play pc games that i brought in true surround sound, i've no intention of copying anything.

I thought i'd need some kind of Analogue to digital convertor?

My sound card is a Trust SC-5250 and my digital amp is a Sony Sav-S800.

It works at the moment but only in stereo although the optical toslink cable has bad the sound much cripser and a lot louder, well worth it.

Answer 1

The Trust SC-5250 (see link) has an optical (toslink) input and output socket that pass 5.1 sound. I can't find any info on the Sony SAV-S800 -- other than a reference under that name to a DVD player -- so I'm not sure what inputs it has.

However, you may be able to connect the optical output via the toslink cable included with the sound card to the equivalent input socket for the amplifier. If so, you would only need to ensure the appropriate settings are made on both the PC/sound card and the amplifier to enable 5.1 sound. If not toslink try the coaxial digital connection.

The manual is available from the link below. It isn't the clearest, but it appears that if you want to use digital connections you need to install the drivers/software that came with the sound card, then set the mixer for the type of speaker setup you have ... in this case 5.1.

I've had this type of frustrating setup to go through with previous sound cards ... you will get it if you have patience and keep trying the various settings.

Good luck.

Answer 2

get a 3x3.5 to rca and plug in to coax on back or amp