When I bought my shiny new Acer Aspire 5750 back in early Feb this year, I have to admit that it was something of an impulse buy. Usually, I do some research. But on this occasion the OH was buying a notebook to replace the Dell laptop purchased at the same time as mine, and I got a bit carried away by the allure of those sleek modern beauties in the shop and bought myself a new toy, too. At the time my principal thought was that the 1Tb HDD could contain one heck of a lot of photos and maybe some of my music.
Subsequently I have thought a bit more about laptop-based music and decided to experiment. One thing I was keen to try out was the benefits of coax/optical vs USB. The other day I did a search on the interweb and came across a site that said the output jack of the Acer Aspire 5750 is spdif compatible. Marvellous! I had read various discussions about the spdif and toslink cables and got the general gist that they are pretty much the same thing bar the connection. I bought a long optical toslink cable and a 3.5mm adaptor. This evening I tried them out - nothing, nada, zip. No signal reaches the Dacmagic. The laptop registers the jack and that's the lot. Silence.
Have I misunderstood something? Was the website completely wrong about the headphone socket or is a 3.5mm adaptor to toslink cable the wrong way to go about it? Well, at least it's only 12 quid, I suppose.
Since I have successfully played music via USB, is there any advantage at all in buying a USB to toslink adaptor? It's my understanding that USB can limit the sound quality received at the DC, whereas spdif/toslink technology is more capable of delivering the goods.
Anyone care to explain to a simple soul (and without starting any arguments
) please? Thanks.
Subsequently I have thought a bit more about laptop-based music and decided to experiment. One thing I was keen to try out was the benefits of coax/optical vs USB. The other day I did a search on the interweb and came across a site that said the output jack of the Acer Aspire 5750 is spdif compatible. Marvellous! I had read various discussions about the spdif and toslink cables and got the general gist that they are pretty much the same thing bar the connection. I bought a long optical toslink cable and a 3.5mm adaptor. This evening I tried them out - nothing, nada, zip. No signal reaches the Dacmagic. The laptop registers the jack and that's the lot. Silence.
Have I misunderstood something? Was the website completely wrong about the headphone socket or is a 3.5mm adaptor to toslink cable the wrong way to go about it? Well, at least it's only 12 quid, I suppose.
Since I have successfully played music via USB, is there any advantage at all in buying a USB to toslink adaptor? It's my understanding that USB can limit the sound quality received at the DC, whereas spdif/toslink technology is more capable of delivering the goods.
Anyone care to explain to a simple soul (and without starting any arguments
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