How can I output digital audio from a computer via S/PDIF 1/8" mini-jack port?

Question

So many computers and laptops these days feature full-blown "5.1 HD audio" but I am quite perplexed as to how I would be able to get around to hooking up a computer/laptop to a audio/video receiver while maintaining full digital audio (e.g. so I can watch a DVD via my laptop outputting audio to a receiver and video to a TV yet maintain 5.1 Dolby Digital sound).

Is there some kind of 1/8" mini-jack to TOSLINK or digital-coaxial adapter that I am missing somehow? I'm pretty certain that a 1/8" to RCA adapter would not preserve digital audio.

EDIT: This is assuming that you are trying to output audio to a receiver which does not have S/PDIF 1/8" mini-jack input.

Answer 1

My computer has an RCA jack on the back for digital coaxial out for that. There isn't any 1/8" to toslink or digital coaxial that I'm aware of that would preserve the surround sound. I've seen other cards that had separate 1/8" outputs for the centre and rear surround speakers. Maybe there's an adapter that could take all these inputs and convert it back into digital. Are you sure there isn't a spot on your sound card/motherboard for a S/PDIF or coaxial output header? How about giving us the model number of your motherboard or sound card...
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EDIT: Aha! Upon doing some further research, it seems that when Sony came out with the MiniDisc player they developed a jack that would support standard 1/8" analog stereo AND would do optical digital as well. Turtle Beach also incorporated this into their sound cards. I had never heard of this before. I guess you learn something new every day! Anyway, you just get a special Toslink cable with the 1/8" optical end on it and that'll do the trick. Here's a link to one:
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/audio_toslink_cables.html#mini

Scroll down further on that page and you'll see adapters to turn it into a standard Toslink connector.

Answer 2

Hi, while I have never tried doing this as I have a full blown home theater setup. However the 1/8th S/PDIF jack is in fact just a two a mini-rca plug, and a co-axial wire is just that 2-axial or two wires. So yes you could use an adapter to connect the mini-rca to the Co-axial cable. Which by the way is just a very high quality RCA cable.

I do not know how they can send 5 channels of sound across two wires but I also do not know how they can send 5.1 channels of sound across a beam of light either. I suppose that is why they decode the signals eh?

Give it a shot.

Answer 3

i know at least for the Dell laptops, there is an s-video type jack on the back that comes with an adapter that has the s/pdif audio and s-video rca plugs on it...once all thats hooked up, just enable s/pdif in your audio controls and you should be shiny.

Answer 4

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