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S/PDIF S-Video output possible for headphones?

post #1 of 6
4/8/09 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone,
I've got a standard Dell Inspiron 6400 and have recently got into Amateur DJ-ing. Unfortunately, my laptop only has one headphone output, which I use to feed the system, so it is impossible to preview tracks on separate headphones to get samples etc... to feed them in. The only way to do this is to play this part of the track to everyone in the room. Basically, I need two audio outputs.
Looking at my Sound Config page, I can see that I do, indeed, have two playback devices; The standard headphone out socket/laptop speakers and a digital output device (S/PDIF). This is for the S-Video output, which supports digital audio.

THE CRUX OF THE QUESTION IS: is there any way I can use some kind of adaptor to convert the digital audio output from the S-Video to some kind of headphone?
I've looked around at adaptors and found one that seems to have a digital audio output from an S-Video slot, but I don't know whether I would be able to plug a 3.5mm jack into that. I don't know whether you can convert straight from digital to analogue systems like that.

Any advice anyone could give on this would be greatly appreciated.

With thanks,
Jack.
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post #2 of 6
4/8/09 at 10:57pm
Ok some terminology for you...

The connector you are referring to is a 7 pin mini-din connector. 4 pins of which are used for S-Video in most cases. Yes you can get an adaptor that will split this and the audio, in fact one should have shipped with the computer most likely.

However you will need a D/A convertor if it is truly outputting just S/PDIF audio. In which case you are probably better off spending your money on a cheap audio interface instead and going your audio through that for various reasons.

Seablade
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post #3 of 6
4/9/09 at 12:18pm
I posted in your other thread that I recommended a splitter to solve your problem instead of a breakout cable to S/PDIF and a D/A converter. However, if you are cheap, I just posted an ini (for XP?) to enable triple output (speaker, mic, and headphone). This triple output is not independent but its what you seem to need. I will be updating this later.
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post #4 of 6
4/19/09 at 12:01pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the help

Thanks guys, sorry I'm such a tech newbie, I'm really just getting into the business. I'd often wondered if there was a device that could output audio through a USB slot, but didn't know what to call it. Big help there.
I've found a couple of devices for around £10 that just give a simple headphone-style audio output (and mic input to boot), but I wasn't sure that these would actually act as a separate channel, or just double up the normal speaker/headphone output.
I was looking at something like this:
http://www.lambda-tek.com/components...&prodID=B95228
Does anyone know whether this would operate on a different channel? I've looked into the specs of such devices, and it doesn't seem very clear.
Thanks for all the help,
Jack
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post #5 of 6
4/19/09 at 6:21pm
USB Audio Cards? Most of theses will just give you another "audio" device for your comp without doubling the amount of the output connectors. To have more output connectors, a splitter cable is more likely working for you.

cheers ...
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post #6 of 6
4/19/09 at 9:45pm
You need a 3.5mm splitter. So something that looks like either of these:

http://www.buy.com/prod/3-5mm-splitt...206443883.html
http://www.pccables.com/05004.htm

The first one will cause less stress on your jack if something hits it but I'm guessing the second one is sturdier. I don't know anything about these brands, I'm just showing you what you're looking for. Don't get the color coded splitters (red and white) because they will split the audio channel into left and right respectively.
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