Audio Cable on DVD drive

[John A]

I have a general question about the 4-pin audio cable that is connected
between a DVD/CD drive and one of the CD-In connectors on my motherboard on
a recent (my first) build. What is its purpose? I did not have this
installed until recently and the drive appeared played DVDs and music CDs
fine without it. I suspect its useful for something. Could someone please
enlighten me?

 

[JAD]

analog vs digital the 4 /3 wire cable is an analog source...there is a digital connector also and the Rom will use the ribbon
cable for digital also

 

[John A]

Ok, I did read the analog vs digitial previously , but I still don't
understand when it is used. When I put in a music CD, thats analog right?
Why could I play music CDs just fine without the cable? I guess players
(e.g. Windows Media Player ) convert to digital and deal with it digitally.
If this is the case, when would the analog path ever be taken?

analog vs digital the 4 /3 wire cable is an analog source...there is a

digital connector also and the Rom will use the ribbon

cable for digital also

 

[JAD]

As digital CD inputs are still a relatively new way to connect the CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drives to the sound card, Manufacterers have
thoughtfully included a digital CD audio cable. Most CD-ROM drives do have the 2-pin digital outputs, but still come bundled with an
analog cable because nearly every other sound card out there still uses analog. A standard analog CD audio cable is also included
for older drives.

Go with the digital cable if your drive supports it as this reduces the possibility of interference, as audio from the disc is
passed digitally to the digital soundcard before being converted to analog. Many users said that connecting digitally is a world of
difference from the crappy analog outputs from many CD-ROM drives.

Ok, I did read the analog vs digitial previously , but I still don't
understand when it is used. When I put in a music CD, thats analog right?
Why could I play music CDs just fine without the cable? I guess players
(e.g. Windows Media Player ) convert to digital and deal with it digitally.
If this is the case, when would the analog path ever be taken?

analog vs digital the 4 /3 wire cable is an analog source...there is a

digital connector also and the Rom will use the ribbon

 

[John A]

Great info. Thanks. However, I still have questions. My drive (Liteon
DVD+R/+RW) does have both a 4/3 analog connector and a 2-pin digital. My
motherboard, AN35N Ultra, has integrated sound with two analog CD-in
sockets. Originally I did NOT have the 4/3 analog OR the 2-pin digital cable
and I could play music CD's fine. This is what is puzzling me. I now have
put on the analog cable but I don't know what functionality I now have that
I didn't have before.

As digital CD inputs are still a relatively new way to connect the CD-ROM

(or DVD-ROM) drives to the sound card, Manufacterers have

thoughtfully included a digital CD audio cable. Most CD-ROM drives do have

the 2-pin digital outputs, but still come bundled with an

analog cable because nearly every other sound card out there still uses

analog. A standard analog CD audio cable is also included

for older drives.

Go with the digital cable if your drive supports it as this reduces the

possibility of interference, as audio from the disc is

passed digitally to the digital soundcard before being converted to

analog. Many users said that connecting digitally is a world of

 

[JT]

Great info. Thanks. However, I still have questions. My drive (Liteon
DVD+R/+RW) does have both a 4/3 analog connector and a 2-pin digital. My
motherboard, AN35N Ultra, has integrated sound with two analog CD-in
sockets. Originally I did NOT have the 4/3 analog OR the 2-pin digital cable
and I could play music CD's fine. This is what is puzzling me. I now have
put on the analog cable but I don't know what functionality I now have that
I didn't have before.

You don't need either cable as current OS's and CD Drives can extract the
audio digitally over the IDE channel. All CD/DVD information is stored
digitally. Reading it directly as bits over the IDE channel eliminates a
D/A conversion in the drive before it goes to the sound card, and
eliminates the A/D conversion in the sound card before it is mixed and D/A
converted to something you can feed speakers. Eliminating the 2 conversion
steps and the cable can improve quality and reduce noise.

JT

 

[Shep©]

I have a general question about the 4-pin audio cable that is connected
between a DVD/CD drive and one of the CD-In connectors on my motherboard on
a recent (my first) build. What is its purpose? I did not have this
installed until recently and the drive appeared played DVDs and music CDs
fine without it. I suspect its useful for something. Could someone please
enlighten me?

As per other posts it's the analogue output from a Cdrom/DVD drive.
Later versions of WMP(windows media player" and the version installed
with winXP by default set to,"Digital" output from the CDrom/DVD
drives but this then means that the Cd music volume is controlled by
the same.wav fader and the sound data comes down the IDE cable.
I prefer the analogue out when playing audio Cds as this
then allows me to set the volume via the windows mixer Cdrom fader
separate from the window's .wav .mp3 etc volumes.
I have noticed no difference in quality with either.
Note:
If you choose the digital option the error correction should be on.
HTH





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[John A]

Thanks, that makes sense.

You don't need either cable as current OS's and CD Drives can extract the
audio digitally over the IDE channel. All CD/DVD information is stored
digitally. Reading it directly as bits over the IDE channel eliminates a
D/A conversion in the drive before it goes to the sound card, and
eliminates the A/D conversion in the sound card before it is mixed and D/A
converted to something you can feed speakers. Eliminating the 2 conversion
steps and the cable can improve quality and reduce noise.

JT