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Re: Looking for a unique cable

Posted by John Swenson (A) on February 27, 2006 at 16:20:04

In Reply to: Looking for a unique cable posted by ArdRi on February 27, 2006 at 13:27:18:

I'm a bit confused as to what you are trying to do. Do you want to play a CD on the Levinson and haer the sound from the computer speakers or the other way around, play a CD or file on the computer and send that to the Levinson and sound come out of the "stereo system"?

If you are trying to play a file on the computer and get it to the Levinson you can do it in one of two ways: digital which is a single RCA jack which carries bothg channels over the one jack, or analog which uses two jacks, left and right. You can't do both at the same time.

S/PDIF is one form of digital transmission which usually runs over a single RCA jack.

Most of the time if you have an S/PDIF out from the computer its going to be a single RCA jack, this is where you use a single 75 ohm RCA to RCA cable.

The mini to Two RCA is used if you are going through the analog jacks.

I don't know of any computer out that uses a mini jack as electrical S/PDIF, but that doesn't mean sombody hasn't done that.

There is another form of S/PDIF that uses an optical cable, which CANNOT connect to an RCA, it has to use a special optical connector called a TOSLINK connector. In recent years some companies have started using an optical connection that looks just like a regular mini plug, but is actually optical. Just to REALLY confuse the issue some cards actually have a combo jack that you can plug in a regular stereo mini plug to two RCA, just like you already have, OR one of the mini-plug optical connections! If your Levinson has a TOSLINK optical connector you can buy a mini-optical to TOSLINK cable and go from one of these combo jacks to the Levinson. If it doesn't, and all your card has is mini-optical out, then you will need an optical to electrical S/PDIF converter box.

I hope that hasn't completely confused you!

John S.

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