SPDIF connection from a computer to a Marantz receiver

[xpromache]

Hello,

I'm trying to connect the spdif output of a laptop to a spdif input of a Marantz SR4600 A/V receiver. For some reason it does not seem to work. I have tried with two different laptops: Acer Travelmate 800 and Dell Inspiron 8600.
The Marantz simply says "NO DATA".
I tried with both plain stereo music and a DVD having 5.1 surround sound.
Do you have any idea of incompatibilities between the spdif output generated of sound cards and A/V receivers. The thing is that both these computers are based on a AC97 chipset.

Thanks,
mache

 

[jaxvon]

Are you sure that the computers actually have a SPDIF output? Last Inspiron 8600 I checked out had only analog I/O.

 

[xpromache]

Yes, the output is together with the S-VIDEO ouput on the same jack. I have a cable that splits the S-VIDEO from the SPDIF.

 

[jaxvon]

That seems more like it would be a composite video connection, not a SPDIF. But let's assume you're right. Have you verified that all of your drivers are installed, and that you have the SPDIF is enabled in your sound card settings?

 

[xpromache]

Have a look at this document, page 73: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins8500/en/8500/OM/8600/i8600-om.pdf

Yes, SPDIF is enabled both in windows and in the power dvd software. when I enable SPDIF I don't hear any sound in the notebook's speakers, so something is happening.
I'm a bit confused by the frequency settings. In the Marantz manual it says it accepts input sampled at 96Khz while I've seen on some forums that my sound card can sample at maximum 48Khz. And what if I simply play an mp3 file wich is actually sampled at 44khz???

 

[Reorx]

1. Make sure your drivers and powerdvd software are all up-to-date, and try again.
2. Try a different spdif input on your receiver.
3. Go to a electronics store with your laptop, and try it on a few different receivers.

Dell has diag's on their website, run it to see if you might have a hardware problem.

If none of these work, call Dell tech support.

Reorx