Spdif cable connection Trouble

[madamx]

Hello,

I am having a bit of a issue with 1 darn cable, I just bougth a new video card, http://www.zotacusa.com/geforce-gts-250-1gb-256-bit-gddr3-738mhz-2200mhz-zt-20103-10p.html and it came with a spdif cable that has a 3 pin connector and 2 spdif/gnd single connectors. My PC is a HP, I looked up the info for my Mobo and found its a Asus M2N68-LA. I went to Asus found no kind of layouts etc, went to hp and their layout looks like a child drew it lol. Anyways my problem is the spdif connection on my mobo is 3 pins, and it has no markings to whats the ground or which of the 3 i use. My question is where in the world do i plug the 2 in choosing from the 3? I included pictures of the mobo's connectors and the cable i have. My video card also has 3 and its says spdif In. heres the link to the motherboard from hp. (worthless imo)

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00906129&lc=en&cc=de&dlc=&product=3397528

and heres the links to the pics i took,

cable i have http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr249/xxfree2romexx/IMG_2555.jpg

mobo connector http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr249/xxfree2romexx/IMG_2554.jpg

Any help would be awesome. I tried to fit the little black ones into the mobo in no particular order but they seemed to be way loose. Again thank you for your time it is much appreciated. Hopefully the links work correctly, if not let me know i will be watching this thread like a hawk while my pc sits open lol. Merry Christmas and ty again.

 

[photonboy]

In case it's not completely clear, the purpose of the video cards SPDIF cable is to pass the digital audio signal in this way:
Motherboard audio chip-> SPDIF cable -> video card (passthrough, unprocessed) -> HDMI adapter -> HDMI cable -> receiver or HDTV

From what I can see, the white end of the cable goes into the motherboard and the other black end plugs into the Zotac card so look at the Zotac manual.

Note:
SPDIF is disabled in software by default. You need to enable it with whatever video player you are using. I highly recommend you get the latest K-Lite codec pack and using the included MPC-HC player for most video (even DVD-Video). You can enable DXVA and have video processing offloaded to your Zotac card.

If confused, google "mpc-hc dxva" or similar.

 

[madamx]

So i only need this cable if connecting to a hdtv? headphones, surround sound and all that other good stuff will still work ? My old card that i took out was connected to it when i took it out, but it had two white ends and fit correctly. I would take it out of my old 1 but the end that connects to the video card seems to be permenantly attatched. This new cable that i have has the two black single ends as pictured above. The zotac manual is as about as helpful at staring at the box. It pretty much says take old video card out connect dc plug install drivers period, lol no pics/diagrams or any kind of instruction about this cable or spdif. Both the mobo and video cards white connection that the cable would go into look identical, both are 3 prong inserts. K thanks again.

 

[madamx]

New problem, i turned on my 360 and now have no sound ><, i am assuming this has to do with having not put in that spdif cable... Being it worked on my old card.. I have a Rca to male jack that connects the red/white cord of the 360 to the little headphone looking jack which i plug into the back of my pc. So do i need to buy a sound card? Do i need to buy a 3 prong cable on both ends? Please someone offer some ideas or solutions.. Thanks again, Merry christmas.

 

[shovenose]

well try just hooking up the cable with the big white connector to the mobo. in the pic, are the other two black thingies the other end of the cable or on the same end?

 

[madamx]

the two black things are on the other end, and i tried putting the black connectors in the mobo's spdif slot and the video cards slot and its extremely loose, i think my mobo is crap lol. Just to throw this out there but if i do get another motherboard would i have to get another windows? I hope not cause i just upgraded to windows 7 like a week and a half ago lol its a retail upgrade edition. k thank you all!

 

[shovenose]

?

 

[photonboy]

**Correction to my previous reply:

I made two major mistakes in my reply:

1. The S/PDIF signal would NOT come out the HDMI adapter. It comes out the S/PDIF output connector on your video card

2. Your TV can't decode this signal directly. It must go to a Receiver that supports it.

Unless you have a good audio card, using S/PDIF likely offers no quality advantage over other audio outputs.

I'm not sure what TV you are using so I'll just throw in some points:

- one method to use is VGA video and 3.5mm audio. My HDTV supports this and it works great.
- some 1080p HDTV's support VGA @ 1366x768 but not VGA at 1920x1080 (even if it did support full resolution via VGA you might need a special high quality VGA cable)
- my dad watches 720p and 1080p BluRay rips that I created (AVC/MKV/DTS or AC3) from his laptop via HDMI. He uses the K-Lite Codec Pack which has MPC-HC as a video player. Enabling DXVA for AVC, VC-1 (and sometimes MPEG-2) enables hardware support from graphics cards (like yours). The CPU usage drops a lot (as does fan noise). You can Google for more info. Your video will work fine. I'm unsure whether your HDMI audio will work.

- My dad's laptop is setup specifically to work with his audio chip so it uses software decoders and converts to the HDMI audio format (LPCM I believe). I'm not quite sure how your video cards HDMI output works. You would need to read your manual and experiment (I couldn't find your manual on the internet). You may have an audio chip on your video card that converts different formats and you may not, they're all a little different which adds to the confusion.

- If you have different audio sources (like an audio card and a video card audio chip) you need to switch between them. You do this usually by going to the lower-right (the System Tray) and right-clicking your audio icon. Select "Playback Devices" and then change the default source.

- If you only use HDMI, then some audio sources might not work. For example, if you select your audio card (i.e. "ATI HDMI") you can probably watch an inserted movie or one on the hard drive but Windows sounds and games will not work. When you toggle back to your onboard or sound card Windows sound will be processed but you don't have movie sound support. Additionally, the Windows sounds and game audio might not even be sent out the HDMI connection.

Sorry to make this more confusing. I don't have the hardware to experiment with nor am I certain what you are using.

Regardless of your setup, I highly recommend you use the K-Lite Codec pack ( www.free-codecs.com ). Enable DXVA in Options -> Internal Filters. If you don't watch a lot of high-def video don't bother.

Here's a link (jump to "Personal Computers"):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

 

[shovenose]

my sound card has a location labeled spdif. it consists of 2 pins.

 

[photonboy]

It's likely very common to have S/PDIF outputs on a sound card however Madamx who started this post only has onboard sound.

Most HDMI computer solutions have a lot of issues when working with HDTV's. They really shouldn't have come out with HDMI on the computer until people could simply connect a cable, install a driver and have full audio support from Windows, games, video etc.

Even my dad's HP laptop which has HDMI requires him to toggle between Windows sounds (through the laptop speakers) and HDMI sound output which is rather odd considering he's still using the same audio chip.

Wouldn't it make more sense for laptops with HDMI to simply MUTE the laptop speakers when the HDMI cable is inserted and enable the speakers when it is removed as opposed to changing the audio source to watch a movie then changing it back again after to get laptop speakers working again?

 

[Lurkie01]

Your HP motherboard more than likely does not support the Sony-Philips Digital Interface for audio. This is so typical of badged computers not to have any extras. I would never be seen dead with one. The Zotac Card has its own Video plus Audio and takes control of both. However, audio travels to the motherboard internally for later model motherboards from Intel i5 onwards. The HDMI Interface carries both video and audio to a monitor with that connection. Then that monitor with inbuilt speakers will possibly have an 'audio out' connector wich in turn can be connected to your speakers. Zotac are not particularly helpful are they? Anyway, by now you will have bought a new computer. I hope you went to a proper computer builder rather than a washing machine salesman.