Cable for internal audio on AiW Card?

[Zentraleinheit]

Due to moving to a new motherboard I can't no longer use the external
connection between my AIW 128 Pro and the sound card's Line-in plug.

Now the manual states that an internal connection can be made between the
AIW's CD Out and a audio card's CD Audio-in connector.

But, it don't state the type of cable/connection necessary.

Does anyone know what kind is needed, and where to get it?

 

[Ted F]

Here's what you need, take a from the picture of the cable. Buy it from ATI
website or you also can get this at Bestbuy, radio shack, ect.

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2538001

 

[Mercury]

Due to moving to a new motherboard I can't no longer use the external
connection between my AIW 128 Pro and the sound card's Line-in plug.

Now the manual states that an internal connection can be made between the
AIW's CD Out and a audio card's CD Audio-in connector.

But, it don't state the type of cable/connection necessary.

Does anyone know what kind is needed, and where to get it?

Very nice big picture of what you need is here:

http://www.national-tech.com/popupspecs/11a1-11418.htm

 

[Zentraleinheit]

Thanks for the answer.

Tho it seems a bit too much greed for ATI asking $12.00 for the same cable
that National Tech sells for 75 cents.

I hope that when I go to radio shack/comp USA or some local store the price
is nearing to National Tech then ATI ;-)

 

[Bill Kraski]

Thanks for the answer.

Tho it seems a bit too much greed for ATI asking $12.00 for the same
cable that National Tech sells for 75 cents.

I hope that when I go to radio shack/comp USA or some local store the
price is nearing to National Tech then ATI ;-)

ATI's site indicates that you need two cables -- one from CD drive to the
card, one from the card to the mobo connection. Both supposedly supplied
with my TV Wonder, but I don't recall the cables being in the box. If the
original system cable is clamped/glued in place, it may be easier to buy
two to run them the way you need to.

Bill K

 

[Zentraleinheit]

-- one from CD drive to the card, one from the card to the mobo connection.

My new motherboard (Chaintech S1689) has 2 CD audio connections on its
board. So I hope that one can be used for the CD drive, and the other for
the AIW card.

Both supposedly supplied with my TV Wonder

They weren't in my AIW box neither!

Of course it would be simple if the connections on the AIW were the same
that the CD drive uses, but, they are not. If you have a look you would see
that they are "white" with the pins somewhat hidden. The CD dive I have uses
a "black" connector, the pins are exposed, and is listed as "Sony" on my old
sound card. While the connectors that the AIW card uses are listed on my
sound card as "mitsumi" and "panasonic."

So, to be on the safe side, I found a CD audio cable at CompUSA for $4.99
that has both the "white" and "black" connectors.

Yet, untill I get my main computer assembled and tested who knows what will
and will not work!

 

[Mercury]

ATI's site indicates that you need two cables -- one from CD drive to the
card, one from the card to the mobo connection.

What?! There is absolutely no reason to connect a CD drive to an ATI card.
Are you sure you read it right?

You connect the AIW card to either a sound card or to your motherboard (only
if your motherboard has onboard sound).

The CD drive can be connected to either the sound card or motherboard the
same way, but I can't think of how it would make any sense to connect a CD
drive to and AIW card.

Actually, most peple don't need an audio cable coming from their CD drive at
all. Windows XP turns on "digital audio extraction" by default. This means
the sound is read digitally and sent along the IDE cable, making the little
analog sound cable totally useless. Few people seem to know/realize this.

 

[Bill Kraski]

My new motherboard (Chaintech S1689) has 2 CD audio connections on its
board. So I hope that one can be used for the CD drive, and the other for
the AIW card.

Same on my HP. But it has both a DVD burner & a CD reader in it, so both
are used. I wonder if a "Y" adaptor (if there is such a thing for this
type of connection) at the motherboard connection would get me the same
result, without having to burrow inside to get to the drive-end
connections. I don't ever use both at the same time & I don't forsee any
likelihood that I ever would, except for duplicating CDs, which should be
done strictly as a data transfer, anyway.

So, to be on the safe side, I found a CD audio cable at CompUSA for $4.99
that has both the "white" and "black" connectors.

That's where I bought the computer & the TV card. So, it's likely they'd
have the right cables.

Yet, untill I get my main computer assembled and tested who knows what
will and will not work!

Well, maybe I can let you know, if I find the right cabling to try.

Bill K

 

[Gordon Scott]

Due to moving to a new motherboard I can't no longer use the external
connection between my AIW 128 Pro and the sound card's Line-in plug.

Now the manual states that an internal connection can be made between the
AIW's CD Out and a audio card's CD Audio-in connector.

But, it don't state the type of cable/connection necessary.

Does anyone know what kind is needed, and where to get it?

you need a typical cd audio cable, some come with dual ends, to cover
both analogue and digital connectors

 

[Bill Kraski]

What?! There is absolutely no reason to connect a CD drive to an ATI card.
Are you sure you read it right?

Absolutely! See http://www2.ati.com/manuals/tvwonder.pdf for the
instructions (page 10). If I understand what they're doing, here, the
connections to the TV Wonder act like a "Y" cable would -- allowing sound
from the CD to go through the TV card as a "splitter" or pull audio right
off the TV card, with only one connection to the soundcard or motherboard
required to handle both. Since most people will never use both CD & TV
card at the same time, it's a reasonable solution.

You connect the AIW card to either a sound card or to your motherboard
(only if your motherboard has onboard sound).

The CD drive can be connected to either the sound card or motherboard the
same way, but I can't think of how it would make any sense to connect a CD
drive to and AIW card.

See above.

Actually, most peple don't need an audio cable coming from their CD drive
at all. Windows XP turns on "digital audio extraction" by default. This
means the sound is read digitally and sent along the IDE cable, making the
little analog sound cable totally useless. Few people seem to know/realize
this.

I agree. Linux does the same. And, interestingly enough, neither the DVD
burner nor the CD have the extra audio cables connected. But there is a
connection to one of the two CD connectors on the motherboard. What's
really odd, though, is that the above instructions indicate that the cable
going from the TV Wonder has the white connector attached to the TV card.
The motherboard also seems to require a white connector. But all the
connector cables I've found (CompUSA, ATI's store, etc.) all may have one
or more choices on one end, but always the thin black connector on the
other end. ;-)

Bill K

 

[Mercury]

Absolutely! See http://www2.ati.com/manuals/tvwonder.pdf for the
instructions (page 10). If I understand what they're doing, here, the
connections to the TV Wonder act like a "Y" cable would -- allowing sound
from the CD to go through the TV card as a "splitter" or pull audio right
off the TV card, with only one connection to the soundcard or motherboard
required to handle both. Since most people will never use both CD & TV
card at the same time, it's a reasonable solution.

Well I'll be damned. My 8500 AIW only has the "out" connector, and it was
only mentioned in the manual on one page, *and* no cable was included. It
just seemed like they threw it on as an afterthought.

I guess they put a lot more effort into the TV Wonder. It seems the card can
act as a passthrough for an audio signal going from the CD drive to the
sound card/mobo. Pretty nice solution, though it's still quite useless for
most people.

 

[Bill Kraski]

Well I'll be damned. My 8500 AIW only has the "out" connector, and it was
only mentioned in the manual on one page, *and* no cable was included. It
just seemed like they threw it on as an afterthought.

Maybe they realized the "in" connection was unnecessary? But, if your
manual is like the one I cited, it seems a lot of cards were missing the
cabling to do that.

I guess they put a lot more effort into the TV Wonder. It seems the card
can act as a passthrough for an audio signal going from the CD drive to
the sound card/mobo. Pretty nice solution, though it's still quite useless
for most people.

Maybe needed if installed in more legacy boxes? But, since all the "normal"
cables I've seen have only the thin black connector on at least one end &
even ATI doesn't offer one with white on both ends, you'd think that ATI's
engineers would be bright enough to use the black connector on the TV card
"CD out" connection to allow using the multiplug end to match whatever the
soundcard/mobo "CD in" might be. As Artie Johnson used to say on Laugh-in,
"Interesting, but very stupid."

Bill K

 

[Mercury]

Maybe needed if installed in more legacy boxes? But, since all the
"normal"
cables I've seen have only the thin black connector on at least one end &
even ATI doesn't offer one with white on both ends, you'd think that ATI's
engineers would be bright enough to use the black connector on the TV card
"CD out" connection to allow using the multiplug end to match whatever the
soundcard/mobo "CD in" might be. As Artie Johnson used to say on
Laugh-in,
"Interesting, but very stupid."

That is true, I don't understand it either. It was a good idea (the internal
sound connection) but someone didn't think it through completely it seems.
But for what it's worth, you *can* get a cable with the small white
connectors on both ends:

http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=1745

Or make one yourself, of course.

 

[Zentraleinheit]

See http://www2.ati.com/manuals/tvwonder.pdf for the instructions (page
10).

Where in the heck did you find this? I have the printed manuals for my AIW,
and it is nowhere as detailed at this PDF file!

In the manual only one page (51) is given over to this, and it only covers
going from the CD OUT of the AIW to the sound card CD IN.

Plus the "cable" is shown as 2 lines with arrows pointing to the sound card
CD IN!!

Of course we all know what this means.

More money being spent to do what the old cables could have done if just
everybody used the same connectors and stop "improving" everything just for
the sake of technology!!!!!!

And yes, I still use Windows 98 (1st edition!).

 

[Bill Kraski]

10).

Where in the heck did you find this? I have the printed manuals for my
AIW, and it is nowhere as detailed at this PDF file!

The pdf is the manual for the TV Wonder, which is what I have. Both the AIW
& its manual probably are quite different.

In the manual only one page (51) is given over to this, and it only covers
going from the CD OUT of the AIW to the sound card CD IN.

Later in this thread, Mercury indicates that his AIW indeed has only one
connection -- to the soundcard connection. So, by the time ATI came out
with the AIW, they probably figured out that the systems that can handle it
don't need the connection from the CD drive.

Plus the "cable" is shown as 2 lines with arrows pointing to the sound
card CD IN!!

I haven't looked at the AIW manual. Is it a similar diagram to the TV
Wonder connection to the soundcard? Or is it a different cabling setup
altogether?

Of course we all know what this means.

More money being spent to do what the old cables could have done if just
everybody used the same connectors and stop "improving" everything just
for the sake of technology!!!!!!

Yup. BTW, when you were at CompUSA, did you look at the Belkin
multihead cable for $9.99? The way it's shown on the website, I wasn't
sure if they were displaying the connectors on the multihead end or if
those were adaptors for the end with the black connector.

And yes, I still use Windows 98 (1st edition!).

It worked for me. Although, I'd at least grab a copy of SE & upgrade.
There were some notable improvements. The primary one that comes to mind
is usb handling.

Bill K

 

[Bill Kraski]

That is true, I don't understand it either. It was a good idea (the
internal sound connection) but someone didn't think it through completely
it seems. But for what it's worth, you *can* get a cable with the small
white connectors on both ends:

http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=1745

Thanks. But even the lowest shipping cost is more than 600% over the part
of the price of the part. There's a local place in Towson called
Baynesville Electronics that's pretty well known in the ham radio world.
They do pretty good at stocking some pretty uncommon cables. I think I'll
try them first. Even if they charged a couple of bucks for white to white,
the 5% sales tax would still cost less than the shipping from
axiontech. ;-)

Or make one yourself, of course.

You *DON'T* want to see what that'd end up looking like.

Bill K

 

[Zentraleinheit]

So, by the time ATI came out with the AIW, they probably figured out that
the systems that can handle it don't need the connection from the CD drive.

But my AIW card has BOTH a CD in and CD out "white" connectors!

But, the manual only shows the connection from the AIW to the sound card.

Is it a similar diagram to the TV Wonder connection to the soundcard?

The TV Wonder diagram is more detailed. Not only showing the card with the
CD drive and Sound card, but, showing which type of connector (black or
white) goes to which plug. And the AIW manual has very little written
instructions, yet it does show what pin does what!

did you look at the Belkin multihead cable for $9.99?

If you are talking about the CD audio cable the only one I saw at my local
CompUSA was a "store brand" and cost $4.99. And it seems that it had various
types of plugs (black, white) on both ends.

However, in the end I purchased 2 multi plugs cables for $1.50 each from a
site called Compuvest. Usually the cost of buying something so cheep by mail
is not worth it due to S&H, but, since I was able to combind it with a
replacement SCSI card and Modem (my new MB has no ISA slots) it was worth
it.

Now, I just have to assemble it.

And pay for it ))))))))))))))))))))

 

[Bill Kraski]

But my AIW card has BOTH a CD in and CD out "white" connectors!

So, we match, on that one. Although the CD to card is irrelevant.

But, the manual only shows the connection from the AIW to the sound card.

Guess it's a good thing I have the TV Wonder, so that could be found.

The TV Wonder diagram is more detailed. Not only showing the card with the
CD drive and Sound card, but, showing which type of connector (black or
white) goes to which plug. And the AIW manual has very little written
instructions, yet it does show what pin does what!

You'd think that's information that should be fully explained in both
manuals. Probably different writers & one assumed people would understand
the CD to card connection. And we all know what happens when we
assume. ;-)

If you are talking about the CD audio cable the only one I saw at my local
CompUSA was a "store brand" and cost $4.99. And it seems that it had
various types of plugs (black, white) on both ends.

That sounds exactly like what I need. And $4.99 is better than $9.99. The
pictures of both, on the website, looked like only a black connector was
available on one end.

a
replacement SCSI card and Modem (my new MB has no ISA slots) it was worth
it.

Now, I just have to assemble it.

And pay for it ))))))))))))))))))))

Now *THAT* sounds familiar!

Bill K

 

[T Shadow]

10).

Where in the heck did you find this? I have the printed manuals for my AIW,
and it is nowhere as detailed at this PDF file!

Look in the disc that came with your card \online\english or search the disc
for "*.pdf" w/o the quotes. I noticed yesterday they were on the discs that
came with all of my cards. The ones on my discs for my AIWs shows the
detailed connector info. Just a picture of the card with install at the
front of the pdf but pin assignments near the end of the file. Now I can
delete the ones I've D/L and save some HDD space.

 

[Zentraleinheit]

I took a look at the pdf version of the manual that came with the CD and
found 2 differences over the printed manual.

1: The PDF manual states that "not all versions of All in wonder cards have
this feature" while pointing to the CD In connection.

2: The drawing is more detailed, yet still does not show what type of plug
goes where.

That sounds exactly like what I need

Glad to know that I prevented CompUSA from making another $5.00 in profit!