what is spdif ?

[Eddie N]

friends ,

what exactly is spdif ?. i know its stands for sony blah something interface ... but what does it do ? im gonna guess , and if im wrong ..correct me.. spdif in/outs are used to send a digital signal to another device capable of receiving a digital signal with out transfering the signal to analog.. ie. a sequencer into your soundcard... but.. how will the sending audio device know to send the signal in digital format and not analog ? is a spdif output used only for sending out a digital signal and not analog ? and does the same hold true for the receiving device's inputs ?

pardon my ignorance... but i dont have much hands on expierience with higher quality audio equipment...

-eddie-

 

[drstawl]

That's Sony Philips Digital Interface for those that really give a $&%*.

>me.. spdif in/outs are used to send a >digital signal to another device capable of >receiving a digital signal without >transfering the signal to analog..

Exactly! Digital transfer equals zero loss.

>ie. a sequencer into your soundcard...

Again- zero loss, but that's a whole different digital language. A sequencer sends performance commands to a synthesizer.
S/PDIF send the actual sounds in a digital format to another device that can use it.

>but.. how will the sending audio device know >to send the signal in digital format and not >analog ?

Sound cards with both types of outputs can send both types of signals to the appropriate output jacks during playback from the same source. The actual sounds being sent are the same. The digital one arrives without being ruffled by the trip. Kind of like S/PDIF is Scotty beaming you up and analog is a bus trip.

>is a spdif output used only for sending out >a digital signal and not analog ?

Yes.

>and does the same hold true for the >receiving device's inputs?

Yes.

>pardon my ignorance... but i dont have much >hands on expierience with higher quality >audio equipment...

Hey man- don't feel too bad. I bought a card with S/PDIF I/O and I don't even have a way of using it yet! So who's the newbie?