USB to Optical-out

[gbharani]

If we use a laptop to playback movies on a Plasma, I believe we can use the vga connector to achieve that but with regards to sound, is there a usb to optical out solution ?

If there is an existing thread, please merge this or point me to the same

 

[hydra]

I don't think there is a USB to optical-out solution out there.

To get audio output through your laptop's USB port, you'll need a DAC or an external soundcard. Some DACs and most soundcards do let you take the audio output from them in digital form via optical out.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Yes you get such adapters
I have one I'll post pictures.
BTW I can see the red light but my DAC did not recognize any input.I think it is setting issue.

On ebay a no of converters available
Also some USB sound cards give digital output.

YOu want optical out to give input to AVR right?

 

[gbharani]

Yes you get such adapters
I have one I'll post pictures.
BTW I can see the red light but my DAC did not recognize any input.I think it is setting issue.

On ebay a no of converters available
Also some USB sound cards give digital output.

YOu want optical out to give input to AVR right?

Yes

Thinking of using a spare laptop as a media player.

 

[TechHead]

Does your laptop have an HDMI out?

 

[gbharani]

Unfortunately no but it has a display port

 

[theironhorse]

does it have a spdif out.... u can use it with mini optical cable..

what laptop is it ??

also if the audio onboard is realtek HD audio and not the ac97 it will be able to transmit the digital signals however it does not work properly with xp

win7 detects it perfect and works well..

 

[sivakuru]

Like Hemant mentioned there are USB to digital out (S/PDIF and optical) or
external sound cards that give you this option. You can also look at uDAC
which gives spdif out and also acts as a DAC (Note that if you use the
spdif option, the internal DAC of uDAC will be bypassed).

 

[dotMac]

Unfortunately no but it has a display port

Just curious. Is it a Mac laptop?

Edit:
Display ports are standard on Mac and hence the doubt.
In case it is a Macbook/pro, it does have optical out in the regular 3.5 mm audio output.

Edit2:
Display port(DP) is HDMI compatible. So whether you have a Mac or not, there is a chance that when DP->HDMI adaptor is used(these are cheap as no signal conversion is required), you would get multichannel audio via HDMI.
Audio over DP is part of the "DisplayPort++" spec which is optional for manufacturers. So if you see the "DP++" logo in your laptop, you might get audio in it.
DP++ is a relatively new technology. So if you laptop is before 2008, there is little chance that it will do audio. Though not very sure.

 

[gbharani]

No it is a dell E6400. Previous model had a hdmi, no idea why they jumped to this.

UDAC - Is there any link I can check out.

 

[anm]

there are a lot of them out there. I got one from the person in HK who sent me the lampucera dac kit. It was cheap - I think 25usd. I have tested it for stereo output, not for dolby etc. I had ordered 2 of them - one of them is kind of lost during shifting to a new house.
This one is with RoC on our forum - http://www.hifivision.com/cd-players/7482-m2tech-hiface-usb-spdif-converter.html

 

[spirovious]

A USB soundcard/DAC can output it.

 

[cooltoad]

Creative xfi sb has optical out

 

[spirovious]

Only may be issue,if it supports 5.1 out OR stereo only.
Certain USB chips dont support high resolution sound.

 

[hemantwaghe]

If we use a laptop to playback movies on a Plasma, I believe we can use the vga connector to achieve that but with regards to sound, is there a usb to optical out solution ?

If there is an existing thread, please merge this or point me to the same

@ gbharani
Please first find price in advance and act accordingly
If cost is coming to 2.5 to 3 k ,involve importing then IMHO a low end media player will be better

Really if any chinese media player is avilable for 4 K buy it as being a dedicated device output will be better, also you will get HDMI connectivity and 1080 P output!