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Need advice on cheap sound card for my laptop

  • 06-09-2008 12:54am
    #1
    phalaris
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32 ✭


    Hi guys, I would appreciate some advice on this

    I need a cheap external sound card for my laptop, mainly for music listening and making.

    I was looking at this thing: http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/amigo/home.aspx

    Looks perfect. Small and cheap. But I'm a little confused because it's advertised to give analog output from the minijack or SPDIF output when using their magical TOSLINK converter.

    Whereas I need an SPDIF minijack output because this will be going through my Meridian DAC 263 from decades of yore into my hifi proper. The problem with this old and weathered DAC is that (despite its legendary awesomeness) it only has coax digital input, no optical.
    When my desktop worked I used a 3.5 to coax adapter from my Creative SB with DAC, but I'm not at all sure if this will work with that USB thing.

    So if anyone has used any of the Audio Advantage series before, I would love to know if it works.
    Or if you can think of any other external sound cards (USB is ok, 4-pin firewire is even better..). The cheaper the better since all I need is digital out.

    Thanks a bunch,
    can't wait to unleash some flacs on my new speakers :D


Comments

  • #2
    phalaris
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32 ✭phalaris


    OK apparently a minijack-to-coax adaptor will not work, according to Turtle Beach sales and tech staff. Yet a minijack-to-toslink adaptor DOES work.

    I find this extremely hard to believe since all the toslink adaptor does is convert an electrical digital signal into an optical digital signal. There is no ADC in the adaptor itself, right? Or maybe I'm wrong? Would it not be stupid to output analog into the adaptor, convert it to digital and then convert it back to analog at the receiver?

    So surely the signal must be digital when it coming out of the minijack? I see absolutely no reason why the coax adaptor shouldn't work then.
    And yet they defiantly claim that it will not work.

    I'm totally ****ing confused. This goes against my intuition as an engineering student and against my previous experience with soundcards that have similar specifications. What gives?


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