Any reason why Optical S/PDIF input works but Coaxial S/PDIF does not?

[cmay119]

Hi all, I just recently purchased an Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum. I'm

trying to hook up my Digital Turntable (Yes it has S/PDIF Coaxial

Output) to my Front I/O Drive that came with the sound card. Every time

I hook up the Turntable, I get absolutely no sound from it, no matter

which setting I set in the Drivers for S/PDIF or Digital Input. I then

tried my external DVD player with the Coaxial input, and also got

absolutely no sound. I then tried an optical cable with the I/O drive

and the sound worked just fine.

Here's things I've done to troubleshoot this issue:

I tried multiple different Coaxial cables rated at 75-Ohms Resistance

I tried 2 different S/PDIF Coax sources to rule out the possibility that the S/PDIF Coax on the turntable was bad.

I even exchanged this card for a new one, just to make sure that the I/O drive wasn't bad.

I've unmuted both Digital in and S/PDIF in on the sound card and turn the volume up all the way.

I've tried all the S/PDIF input settings: "Dolby Digital/DTS SPDIF-in Decode", "Defualt" and "SPDIF Bypass" all to no avail.

I'm beyond confused as to why Optical would work but Coaxial

wouldn't... There's absolutely no difference between the two except the

medium in which the data travels. If anyone has any suggestions as to

why this doesn't work, or how I can go about resolving this issue, I'd

be very appreciative. Thanks all.

[DrWho]

Is there possibly a setting to choose betwen spdif and optical? That's the only thing I can think of

Actually, now that I think about it....do you have the version with the

front face plate or with a completele seperate box that sits on top? If

the fact plate version, then you should make sure all the cables are

attached on the inside of the computer. I had a similar problem and I

spent hours trying to fix the problem with software, when in fact it

was a hardware issue!

[cmay119]

Yes, I do have the plate. There is only one cable to connect the card

to the I/O drive. Then there are 2 power connectors. One on the card

and the other on the drive. I've connected every thing that I see if

possible to connect unfortunately and am still having issues. Thanks

for the response though.

[Avoura]

... Every time

I hook up the Turntable, I get absolutely no sound from it, no matter

which setting I set in the Drivers for S/PDIF or Digital Input. I then

tried my external DVD player with the Coaxial input, and also got

absolutely no sound. I then tried an optical cable with the I/O drive

and the sound worked just fine...

I'm beyond confused as to why Optical would work but Coaxial

wouldn't... There's absolutely no difference between the two except the

medium in which the data travels. If anyone has any suggestions as to

why this doesn't work, or how I can go about resolving this issue, I'd

be very appreciative. Thanks all.

I am having similar problems. I am trying to connect 1 PC to another via SPDIF coaxial, so that the sound from the second PC can be played through the Audigy card and 5.1 speakers on the first PC. The first PC has an external Audigy box and when I connect a TOSlink optical cable from DVD player to the Audigy, it gives sound okay. In the Audigy software, there is only one option for allowing input of SPDIF, so I assume it is for both coaxial and optical. I have tried all possible settings and scenarios I can think of. Even using an adapter to convert the coaxial output from PC2 into optical, to then put the optical connection into the Audigy.

I have tried the coaxial from the DVD player too into the Audigy on PC1 and still no sound. The cable seems fine, it passes an electrical signal just fine. But I cannot get any SPDIF coaxial inputs or outputs to work, it seems.

Anyone know what to do?

At least I am not the only one with this problem, though.

[mark1101]

I have an audigy 2Zs so I don't have the nice new card. However, there is troublshooting diagnostic SW that is provided in the miriad of disjointed programs.

You can actually run the troublshooting SW and it tests all the inputs/outputs, etc. That might be a means to an end.

Are there hardware jumpers on the board?

I would go to the SW suite and run each program to see what help it can provide. The diagnostics should be in there.

Good luck.

[Gospel]

Yes, I do have the plate. There is only one cable to connect the card

to the I/O drive. Then there are 2 power connectors. One on the card

and the other on the drive. I've connected every thing that I see if

possible to connect unfortunately and am still having issues. Thanks

for the response though.

I don't think this is your problem but, IIRC, you only need to connect the extra power connector to the soundcard itself if you are using the external IO drive that comes with the top level X-Fi card. I only have the power connector going to the front panel drive and it the drive works fine. I've not used the SPDIF connectors yet, so I don't know if both SPDIFs work on mine. JusI ordered an optical cable a couple days ago. You can get a 25 ft. Comprehensive tosslink cable from B&H for US$18.

BTW, I alsp plan to connect my second omputer to the primary computer that has the klipsch PMU 5.1 attached to it. I want to use the second computer as a Linux based media center.

Steven

[DrWho]

Ya, I would double check the wiring/power wires too...there is a diagram sheet that comes with the sound card that details everything.

Another thing I came across this last weekend...open the Audio HQ (which can be found in the start menu). There is a setting to choose the type of digital signal coming into the digital inputs (ie dolby/dts or 2 channel). There are some other settings you might find to play with too.