Help

[cooldude22]

Well people i have finally setteled down to buy a new cd writer
but the thing is today i opened up my pc cabinet to see if i have all the wires required i have all the wires for the writer i.e the y type data cable and the power cable but there is one wire i.e the audio cable this one is connected to my samsung cd rom to my sound card
my question is do i need to have another audio cable for my writer as iam gonna keep my cd rom i wont be able to use its wires so what do i do
and is it neccesary to have a sond cable attached to the writer
thank you

[Reg-da-Ripper]

Well, if you plan on listening to audio from your burner, then yes, you will need another audio cable that's attached to your burner and connected to your sound card.

One question: Does your sound card have additional inputs for multiple devices (e.g., one for your burner, another for your CD-ROM drive)?

[cooldude22]

well no i dont seem it has an additional jack for another cable but it has one which is connected to my cd rom
but hey can i get an y type audio cable just like those data cables

[cfitz]

Well, if you plan on listening to audio from your burner, then yes, you will need another audio cable that's attached to your burner and connected to your sound card.

No, that's not true. You can set up the drive for digital audio playback and then you won't need any audio cable at all. The audio data will pass through the same IDE cable that all the other data does, in digital form, and your sound card will do the conversion to an analog signal for your speakers.

The traditional audio cable one connects to his or her CD-ROM drive carries an analog signal that the drive's internal digital-to-analog (D/A) converter has converted from the digital data on the CD. If you have a good quality sound card, you probably don't want to use this analog signal, since the sound card's D/A converter is probably better quality than the drive's.

Modern CD-ROM drives also have a dedicated digital audio output that can be connected directly to the sound card in much the same way that the traditional analog cable is connected. This dedicated digital audio output doesn't provide data that is any different than that obtained through the IDE cable. It just takes a little load off the IDE bus since the data goes directly to the sound card.

If you are using Windows Media Player or any other player that shows those fancy visualizations, you are already using the digital audio output through the IDE cable.

cfitz

[cfitz]

By the way, cooldude2002, since I've gotten on your case about posting in all caps and making multiple posts, I wanted to also say thanks for changing your ways and complying with our requests. It is appreciated.

cfitz

[coolestnitish]

Yah the caps are gone but you should still explain your problem briefly in the topic. That way people will be more interested in replying.

[cfitz]

Good point, coolestnitish. I'll let you do the prodding for now...

cfitz

[jase]

Of course if you do want both drives working off the analogue cable there is nothing stopping you hacking two cables up and linking them back together with some help from some insulation tape

[cfitz]

Of course if you do want both drives working off the analogue cable there is nothing stopping you hacking two cables up and linking them back together with some help from some insulation tape

That will likely reduce the volume by 6 to 10 dB since the output impedance of each drive's output amplifier will appear as an additional load to the other drive's output amplifier. It could even damage one or both of the drives' output amplifiers, although that isn't likely given the power levels involved. Still, based on the signal level (volume) reduction alone, I wouldn't recommend doing it.

cfitz

[Ian]

You can buy Y cables that don't have that problem. cyberguys.com sells one for about $7.95 (item #1200270)

[cfitz]

It appears to be an active device (requires power):



No doubt they have a high-impedance summing op-amp circuit in there to isolate the two drive outputs while at the same time summing their signals together to present to the sound card. That is how they get around the problem. There is no getting around the problem by simply soldering the wires together.

Nice to know there is a solution for those who want to combine their analog signals, but I personally would just enable the digital outputs.

cfitz

[Reg-da-Ripper]

I learn something new every day.

I was under the assumption that the question involved using the analog cables.

I have each burner on my PCs on a separate analog audio cable, and it works fine. I haven't gone the digital route...yet.

My bad.

[cfitz]

My bad.

Not a bad. Like you said, just learning something new.

cfitz

[Ian]

You could always get a sound card with two inputs. Most of them have an AUX input now you can use for a second CD-ROM.