SPDIF

[CompKidRRO]

What is SPDIF or PDIF I have an asus a7n266-vm motherboard and well there are these to connectors one is like sumthin on the line 2 for the video and the other is a square input thing i know im not being to good at explaining. Is SPDIF sumthin for showing ur screen on the TV. Please help me.

 

[PrincessGuard]

It's digital audio. You would connect it to a 5.1 receiver, for instance. Some CD-ROMs have S/P-DIF output you can connect to your sound card (it will be a normal 2-pin header) instead of the normal 4-pin analog wire.

 

[yellowperil]

S/PDIF stands for Sony/Philips Digital InterFace. It's used for transmitting audio digitally as opposed to your average red/white RCA cables that carry an analog signal. There are two alternative types of S/PDIF connections - one is an orange RCA jack (coaxial) and the other is a square-ish hole (optical). If you have a receiver that accepts one or both of these connections you can use them for better sound quality, and also for surround-sound (i.e. Dolby Digital or DTS) in movies.

 

[CompKidRRO]

Oh ok i thought it was sumthing to do with video, but if i understand right i can hook up my stereo system to listen to my mp3 and such through the stereo system. Could i put a tape in my stereo system and have it come into my computer through the same jack??

 

[PrincessGuard]

If your stereo system has digital inputs (i.e. you have a Dolby receiver or a Minidisc player), then yes, you can listen to MP3s from your computer though your stereo. Even if you don't, you can always get a stereo mini-jack splitter and a patch cable for a few bucks and split the output of your sound card between your speakers and your stereo for the same effect.

S/PDIF is one-way only. You can't playback and record with the same jack.

 

[CompKidRRO]

Oh ok thanks. i have a splitter so that will work thanks a lot. Now i know SPDIF is not video related. Haha