S/PDIF connector on motherboard

[mdonovan]

I want to use the S/PDIF connector on my HTPC motherboard to connect to my receiver. I already have an optical cable, so I want an adapter like this:

http://www.vidabox.com/shop/images/large/s...bracket_LRG.jpg

I looked on the vidabox page but couldn't track this part down. It didn't look like they were a parts place.

I can't seem to find anywhere that sells the adapter. Can anyone tell me where to get it?

Thanks a lot

Matt

 

[gatchel]

What is the brand and model of your motherboard? Usually these types of connectors come with the motherboard and can be difficult to find.

 

[BLH]

Try your motherboard manufacture as mentioned. Some of my motherboards has the adapter and bracket in the box when I assembled the computers.

 

[jwilson56]

Actually double check your motherboard. Many have TOS and sometimes they are not quite so apparent unless you look as they sometimes have a rubber boot cover.

 

[mdonovan]

What is the brand and model of your motherboard? Usually these types of connectors come with the motherboard and can be difficult to find.

It's a Foxconn A7GM-S. I had looked at FoxConn's web site but couldn't find one there. I really didn't think it would be this difficult to find

Matt

 

[gatchel]

Good old Ebay.

Not the same brand but looks like it will work. You may have to rearrange the pins at the most. Check around

http://cgi.ebay.com/MSI-Motherboard-S-PDIF...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[mdonovan]

Good old Ebay.

Not the same brand but looks like it will work. You may have to rearrange the pins at the most. Check around

http://cgi.ebay.com/MSI-Motherboard-S-PDIF...1QQcmdZViewItem

The motherboard has a 4 pin connector with the third pin missing. I would need to rig something with this connector. I am strongly considering getting a sound card with the optical output on it. It just gripes me to do that because I bought the motherboard to use the onboard sound card.
Hmmmmm

Matt

 

[CollinR]

A. It's a Foxconn, they actually make many of the mainboard connectors used by other manufacturers. You might call the customer service I have no doubt they make a slot filler for your app.

B. You could get a video card with HDMI and use the internal jumpers, now you got both in one cable!

 

[gatchel]

Good old Ebay.

Not the same brand but looks like it will work. You may have to rearrange the pins at the most. Check around

http://cgi.ebay.com/MSI-Motherboard-S-PDIF...1QQcmdZViewItem

The motherboard has a 4 pin connector with the third pin missing. I would need to rig something with this connector. I am strongly considering getting a sound card with the optical output on it. It just gripes me to do that because I bought the motherboard to use the onboard sound card.
Hmmmmm

Matt

The 4 pin is similar to the asus mobo connector. You could take an old CD rom sound cable and probably use the end off that. CollinR has the right idea. Try calling the manufacturer and claim you didn't get one. They may even send it for free, who knows.

 

[mdonovan]

Well, I emailed support at Foxconn, and as expected, they ignored it. There is no phone number anywhere I could find (guess that's so you use email and they can ignore it). So I emailed NewEgg yesterday to see if they can find the thing. That's where I am now with this (in case anyone was slightly interested)

 

[beelzerob]

Well, I emailed support at Foxconn, and as expected, they ignored it. There is no phone number anywhere I could find (guess that's so you use email and they can ignore it). So I emailed NewEgg yesterday to see if they can find the thing. That's where I am now with this (in case anyone was slightly interested)

My foxconn board also came with pins for coax s/pdif on the motherboard, but no connector.

What I ended up doing was taking a 2-wire cable connector and wiring that to a female RCA connector. The motherboard manual indicated which pin was signal, and which was ground, so I just connected them that way (signal on the pin, grnd on the sleeve). I'd imagine 4 pins is to support both coax and optical.

There was a guide to do this I believe at htpcnews.com forums, if it's still there.

 

[mdonovan]

I FINALLY found one. gatchel pointed me towards ebay, so after not finding them anywhere else I searched on ebay and found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-SPDIF-Out-Coaxial...id=p3286.c0.m14

It looks like the right pinouts and everything. Needless to say I placed my order right away.

Thanks to everyone for your assistance.

Matt

 

[scottlindner]

I FINALLY found one. gatchel pointed me towards ebay, so after not finding them anywhere else I searched on ebay and found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-SPDIF-Out-Coaxial...id=p3286.c0.m14

It looks like the right pinouts and everything. Needless to say I placed my order right away.

Thanks to everyone for your assistance.

Matt

Matt, I just purchased the same motherboard and intended to use the advertised SPDIF. Just as you quickly learned, the SPDIF out should not be advertised since it is not readily available for use. I am curious, did this product work as you expected? Have you tested both optical and coaxial interfaces?

Cheers,
Scott

 

[mdonovan]

I FINALLY found one. gatchel pointed me towards ebay, so after not finding them anywhere else I searched on ebay and found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-SPDIF-Out-Coaxial...id=p3286.c0.m14

It looks like the right pinouts and everything. Needless to say I placed my order right away.

Thanks to everyone for your assistance.

Matt

Matt, I just purchased the same motherboard and intended to use the advertised SPDIF. Just as you quickly learned, the SPDIF out should not be advertised since it is not readily available for use. I am curious, did this product work as you expected? Have you tested both optical and coaxial interfaces?

Cheers,
Scott

It worked great. I only use the optical, never tried the coax. The only thing I found is you can't adjust the volume using the HTPC when watching a movie. It will mute, but you have to adjust the sound on the receiver. I read the reason for this, and it had something to do with the fact the SPDIF port bypasses the sound processing on the MB and is just raw data. Live TV volume works though, which confuses me a bit. So while it's not 100% seamless as I wanted it to be, it's 99%. I just set the receiver volume to the volume I normally watch movies at, which is a little louder than TV, then use VMC to lower it to TV volume. It works out for me.

Matt

 

[scottlindner]

It worked great. I only use the optical, never tried the coax.

That's great news. Did you have to modify the pinouts to match the motherboard or was it truly plug and play?

The only thing I found is you can't adjust the volume using the HTPC when watching a movie. It will mute, but you have to adjust the sound on the receiver. I read the reason for this, and it had something to do with the fact the SPDIF port bypasses the sound processing on the MB and is just raw data. Live TV volume works though, which confuses me a bit. So while it's not 100% seamless as I wanted it to be, it's 99%. I just set the receiver volume to the volume I normally watch movies at, which is a little louder than TV, then use VMC to lower it to TV volume. It works out for me.

If it means anything. Both of my CD players support both optical out and coaxial out and they both state that you cannot adjust the volume with optical out. They don't say that you can with digital coaxial out though, so who knows. Maybe it's an optical thing, maybe it's an SPDIF thing.

You found a good solution that is cost effective and I greatly appreciate finding this forum and post. I wish Foxconn had this product linked on their website so we could find a reasonable option. I probably will build my own coaxial connector and not bother with the optical. I think I prefer upgrading my receiver to one that supports HDMI and switches multiple input sources... like at least 6 HDMI sources. I haven't decided where I'm going to put my money yet, but this little doodad you found is still on the table of options for me.

Cheers,
Scott