PS3 with s/pdif

[jamhai]

Hello.

I just bought a PCI sound card with a S/PDIF plug. I have a TOSLINK cable plugged from my PS3 into the S/PDIF plug hoping I can get sound out of my computer speakers (my television speakers are weak). Nothing seems to happen, I get no sound from my PS3. I have set the sound settings on my PS3 to Digital Out. Is there something I'm missing?

Thanks.

Heres the link to the sound card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118103

[turboLAZER]

Originally Posted by jamhai

Hello.

I just bought a PCI sound card with a S/PDIF plug. I have a TOSLINK cable plugged from my PS3 into the S/PDIF plug hoping I can get sound out of my computer speakers (my television speakers are weak). Nothing seems to happen, I get no sound from my PS3. I have set the sound settings on my PS3 to Digital Out. Is there something I'm missing?

Thanks.

s/pdif on the sound card is probably for output of sound only, not input

[Kaldaim]

the default for s/pdif is 'muted' for me

did you check that?

I had my ps3 running through TOSLINK into my computer today so it's possible

what sound card do you have? what operating system?

[jamhai]

Heres the link to the sound card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118103

Its a very cheap card. I'm not really aiming for super quality sound, but i just need a way to output louder sound out of my PS3 without having to spend a bazillion dollars on audio equipment.

[red_5ive]

The specs on the link show that it's s/pdif out only. Doesn't look like there's an s/pdif input.

[jamhai]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

The specs on the link show that it's s/pdif out only. Doesn't look like there's an s/pdif input.

Well, that sucks. Is there any other way I can connect my PS3 to my sound card so that my speakers could output sound simultaneously for both my PS3 and computer? Having to unplug and replug cables whenever i want sound for my PS3 is a little annoying.

[Ectoplasm]

Your SOL.

You'll need to find one of these:

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/...cal-switch.asp

[Kaldaim]

Originally Posted by Ectoplasm

You'll need to find one of these:

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/...cal-switch.asp

That actually wouldn't do anything for him.



A new sound card would be your cheapest (and best) option

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829271001

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by jamhai

Well, that sucks. Is there any other way I can connect my PS3 to my sound card so that my speakers could output sound simultaneously for both my PS3 and computer? Having to unplug and replug cables whenever i want sound for my PS3 is a little annoying.

Sorry, not that I can see with your current sound card since the analog connections are all for output as well. Your only other option would be to pick up another sound card with s/pdif in. If you decide to go this route, I just thought I'd mention to stay away from Creative cards. I'm using a Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum that has s/pdif inputs that my 360 is connected to on my game pc. It's over-all a great card, but long story short, there's a lot of crackling over the s/pdif input since game consoles don't output line-level out and there's no s/pdif volume input control on the Creative driver/console. I've solved the issue which took a lot of tweaking, but for the price of their cards I'd expect better driver support.

[jamhai]

Originally Posted by Kaldaim

That actually wouldn't do anything for him.



A new sound card would be your cheapest (and best) option

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829271001

I notice the SPDIF ports on that card say "Optical and Coaxial". Will my TOSLINK cable work for these ports? What exactly is the difference between Coaxial and TOSLINK cables? Aren't they both optical cables?

A little off topic question, Whats the difference between DTS and DTS-ES? Or Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital EX for that matter? What do the ES and EX mean? I notice some soundcards support Dolby Digital/DTS and some support Dolby Digital EX/DTS-ES. Its kind of confusing.

Thanks for everyone's responses so far. You guys have been a great help.

[Kaldaim]

Originally Posted by jamhai

I notice the SPDIF ports on that card say "Optical and Coaxial". Will my TOSLINK cable work for these ports? What exactly is the difference between Coaxial and TOSLINK cables? Aren't they both optical cables?

TOSLINK is optical, coaxial is not.

Both carry digital signals, and it's best to keep optical cable as short as possible.

From my experience coaxial sounds a tad better, but I'm sure some will disagree with me.