Optical Input To Rca Output Converters!

Crazystick · 11-22-2005, 08:40 PM

OPTICAL INPUT TO RCA OUTPUT CONVERTERS!
Ok . I know alot of people are having issues regarding RCA jacks and their amps. I know some people have blown out their systems out that way. So I wanted to keep my head unit. I wanted to know if there is an optical to RCA converter. So that I may go from carputer .. through optical output. . to a converter... to RCA signal .. to car in dash head unit. .. and then out to amps and system...
thanks

p.s. are there any sound cards that do this?

DarquePervert · 11-22-2005, 08:42 PM

It's called a DSP or Digital Signal Processor.

Crazystick · 11-22-2005, 09:14 PM

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...duct=154&nav=2

would this work?

again im looking for optical to RCA adapter/ converter.
Now ive seen the DSPs but they are a bit pricey. So I would love to maybe not mess with one. but wont hesitate if I have to.
By the way im planning on getting a headunit instead of going the carputer by iitself. and im leaning towards an alpine cd/mp3 player with AUX input in the back. 4.1 system in the car.. nothing special .. just simple

DarquePervert · 11-22-2005, 10:15 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Crazystick

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...duct=154&nav=2

would this work?

again im looking for optical to RCA adapter/ converter.
Now ive seen the DSPs but they are a bit pricey. So I would love to maybe not mess with one. but wont hesitate if I have to.
By the way im planning on getting a headunit instead of going the carputer by iitself. and im leaning towards an alpine cd/mp3 player with AUX input in the back. 4.1 system in the car.. nothing special .. just simple

That's just another sound card, man....
Sure, you could run your optical out from the motherboard into the Creative unit... But why would you? That's completely pointless.

Now, the Creative USB sound device is likely to provide better audio quality than your onboard sound...

Understand this:
The SPDIF out needs to feed into a digital signal processor to process that digital signal into an audio signal. Yes, DSPs are pricey. I can't do a damn thing about that.

I don't mean to bag on you or your plans, but it appears that you don't have any understanding at all about audio signals. I suggest you do some research on that before you progress. You'll save yourself time, money and countless ulcers.

Fenrir · 11-22-2005, 10:37 PM

Digital is expensive. A good DSP that can take output from anything, not just proprietary hardware like CD changers, can run you $300+ easily.

Take a 3.5" Minijack to dual RCA cable, and run it to your headunit's Aux In. PC soundcard outputs are very, very weak. I'd be amazed to see one blow a headunit. A DSP *is* a digital to RCA converter.

A cable might cost you $10, a digital setup could easily cost you $300 onwards. The only major advantages of digital are amazing signal quality and surround sound capability. Unless you're going for a full 5.1 surround sound audiophile-quality system, it's way overrated.

lcaruca97 · 11-24-2005, 09:41 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Fenrir

A DSP *is* a digital to RCA converter.

a DSP is a Digital Signal Processor. Meaning it will digitally process any signal (digital or analog). Allthough most units will offer d/a a/d conversion of some sort.

This man needs an outboard d/a converter. they can be had for about $50 to $900. lots to choose from.

Crazystick · 11-25-2005, 01:29 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DarquePervert

That's just another sound card, man....
Sure, you could run your optical out from the motherboard into the Creative unit... But why would you? That's completely pointless.

Now, the Creative USB sound device is likely to provide better audio quality than your onboard sound...

Understand this:
The SPDIF out needs to feed into a digital signal processor to process that digital signal into an audio signal. Yes, DSPs are pricey. I can't do a damn thing about that.

I don't mean to bag on you or your plans, but it appears that you don't have any understanding at all about audio signals. I suggest you do some research on that before you progress. You'll save yourself time, money and countless ulcers.

Ok yes I do know a bit about audio signals. I used to work at a car shop installing tvs and vcrs.. dvd players.. and what not. I know some people go the crappy way of installing a rf modulator and thats what we would do @ the shop. But always hated the quality. Hence that isnt going to happen in my setup.
Ive yet to buy any parts and all I have is 1 4 channel amp. It will power my highs and a pair of 6 x9's. and have another amp for one sub.
now.
Sound quality. In my experience with indoor speakers. I know that the 3.5" Minijack carries audio output. But what most people fail to understand is that it also carries a voltage with it(duh all signals do) and thats how you control the audio level on your headphones.Controlled through windows volume setting or whatever OS your running. But with certain indoor speakers Ive managed to have blown out a pair already. Alot of people here in these forums have issues with that and how their setups dont work anymore. How did this happen?
Well,
The higher the volume set on your computer, the higher voltage(signal) going to your speaker(s) setup. So when the signal is amplified with the Its own speaker volume control, It tends not to be friendly on your setup.
Which brings us to RCA's.
RCA's dont carry extra unnessary voltage like the headphone jacks. Hence if I am to go with an easy carputer setup like a ..carputer >> headphonejack to rca adapter >> into my Head unit. I am assuming the same situation would occur where the HeadUnit is taking in excessive Voltage and the amps in turn would not be friendly to my speakers. And that is why I require a converter from optical to RCA. I think that would be to be on the safe side of things.

The Only reason I want a DSP is that people seem to preach it but I think I could go without it. And again I am trying to avoid the excessive voltage into my headunit. So I am looking for an optical signal converter to RCA signal. Has anyone seen that or can They post something that would help guide me and maybe others .And I would as many here would appreciate a fair technical answer and not opinion. thanks

lcaruca97 · 11-26-2005, 09:53 PM

most sound cards dont have headphone preamps. They have a line out that is designed to go into a amplifier.

Nic · 11-27-2005, 07:45 AM

"RCA's dont carry extra unnessary voltage like the headphone jacks."

This is completly untrue, in fact that entire paragraph is misguided. Most people are concerned with the audio signal not being high enough for their amps, not the other way around.

ScrapMaker · 12-21-2005, 03:47 PM

this solution will do absolutely nothing for surround sound... you'd have go the DSP route for that...

nate@s-curves · 12-21-2005, 04:12 PM

On a similar note does anyone know how to 'balance' the unbalanced audio coming out of our mother boards? Balance may not be the right term but it was a term we used when I worked in a post production house, it was used to take audio and bring it to the right voltage, and it made it so it didn't distort. Am I making sense? Does something like this exsist? Thanks.

BassBinDevil · 12-21-2005, 05:11 PM

The Creative Labs Extigy is fairly cheap, and will turn S/PDIF (optical) into analog.

As for unbalanced to balanced.... "balanced" means instead of signal and ground, you have 3 wires, where one is signal, the other is -signal (the opposite polarity), and ground. This means there's a bigger signal being transmitted, even though the voltages aren't any higher, which puts the noise down lower. And it also helps reject "common-mode" noise, since if noise is added to +signal and -signal, it cancels out later on. I can't describe it very well here. Balanced is common in pro audio, and there's some high-end car audio that uses it.

So, to convert unbalanced (RCA) to balanced (XLR), there's two main ways:
1) Transformer. This comes with the added bonus of complete isolation from ground loops. The problem here is that for decent frequency response you need a "broadcast quality" transformer, which is costly.
2) Op-amps. Use a pair of opamps, one wired inverting (x-1) and the other non-inverting (x1); put a small resistor (33 ohms?) on the output of each amp for stability in case of long cable runs. Cheap; can be done with an 8 pin dual opamp and a handful of precision resistors. No isolation from ground loops. There may be a dedicated chip that does this from Analog Devices, part of the SSM (solid state music) line of audio chips.

Nic · 12-21-2005, 07:13 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by nate@s-curves

On a similar note does anyone know how to 'balance' the unbalanced audio coming out of our mother boards? Balance may not be the right term but it was a term we used when I worked in a post production house, it was used to take audio and bring it to the right voltage, and it made it so it didn't distort. Am I making sense? Does something like this exsist? Thanks.

thats what the gain knob on your amp is for

Nic · 12-21-2005, 07:14 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by BassBinDevil

The Creative Labs Extigy is fairly cheap, and will turn S/PDIF (optical) into analog.

As for unbalanced to balanced.... "balanced" means instead of signal and ground, you have 3 wires, where one is signal, the other is -signal (the opposite polarity), and ground. This means there's a bigger signal being transmitted, even though the voltages aren't any higher, which puts the noise down lower. And it also helps reject "common-mode" noise, since if noise is added to +signal and -signal, it cancels out later on. I can't describe it very well here. Balanced is common in pro audio, and there's some high-end car audio that uses it.

So, to convert unbalanced (RCA) to balanced (XLR), there's two main ways:
1) Transformer. This comes with the added bonus of complete isolation from ground loops. The problem here is that for decent frequency response you need a "broadcast quality" transformer, which is costly.
2) Op-amps. Use a pair of opamps, one wired inverting (x-1) and the other non-inverting (x1); put a small resistor (33 ohms?) on the output of each amp for stability in case of long cable runs. Cheap; can be done with an 8 pin dual opamp and a handful of precision resistors. No isolation from ground loops. There may be a dedicated chip that does this from Analog Devices, part of the SSM (solid state music) line of audio chips.

this post is completly correct but i dont think thats what he ment by balanced

edit: actually i dont get what you mean by a bigger signal being transmitted so the noise is lower. My understanding is that the differance between + and - carries the signal, if noise gets induced it effects both wires and thus the differance between + and - is still the same so the signal is largely uneffected (ethernet networking works on this same principle i believe)

caduceus · 12-22-2005, 01:37 AM

http://store.topmicrousa.com/dav-2100.html

I searched high and low for something simple to convert optical to RCA, and found this some time ago. I use it with my PVR box but it could potentially be used in a car application. Been using it for a year, and it works for me.

=caduceus=

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