digital 1/8" jack

[mike c]

if for example my mac says it has a digital out using the 1/8" jack (some PC sound cards have this as well)

would that 1/8" jack be a MONO or STEREO jack?

i'm thinking mono, but I'd just like confirmation.

 

[MDS]

Mono. Remember the digital bitstream is a serial sequence of bits; therefore regardless of how many logical channels of data are contained in the bitstream it is still a single stream or 'channel'.

 

[mike c]

one more thing, I can use my common RG59 as a "digital" cable, correct?

(never used digital coaxial before)

oh wait. I forgot, the little 1/8" mono jack will never fit the RG59 cable.

 

[sparky77]

Most of the computer soundcards that output spdif through a 1/8" jack use a stereo jack but only the tip and the ground are used, if you use a mono plug and do not have the souncard outputing the digital signal all the time, you may be shorting out part of the cards amplification which could shorten the lifespan of the card. I would recommend using one of these adapters which I believe you would connect to the right channel for most cards, but you may have to one or the other. This way you can use any standard sheilded RCA cable you may have, if you are running more than about 8 ft, I would recommend the rg59 or rg8 cables but are not usually required for shorter runs.

 

[MDS]

Most of the computer soundcards that output spdif through a 1/8" jack use a stereo jack but only the tip and the ground are used, if you use a mono plug and do not have the souncard outputing the digital signal all the time, you may be shorting out part of the cards amplification which could shorten the lifespan of the card. I would recommend using one of these adapters which I believe you would connect to the right channel for most cards, but you may have to one or the other. This way you can use any standard sheilded RCA cable you may have, if you are running more than about 8 ft, I would recommend the rg59 or rg8 cables but are not usually required for shorter runs.

Huh? There is no amplification if you instruct the card to use digital output only. It will do nothing but pass the bitstream to the outputs. By the way 8' is SHORT and will have no affect whatsoever on the signal that is received by whatever device you send it to.

 

[sparky77]

Huh? There is no amplification if you instruct the card to use digital output only. It will do nothing but pass the bitstream to the outputs. By the way 8' is SHORT and will have no affect whatsoever on the signal that is received by whatever device you send it to.

Just to clarify, some cards output the spdif signal through the jack that doubles as the output for the center and sub, and will only do digital, or analog, but not both at the same time. If you turn off the digital, it would be shorting part of the cards circuitry if you use a mono 1/8" plug, that's why I suggested the little y adapter.