tb said:
I'd like to purchase this Klipsch wireless headset for my girlfriend but
her laptop does not have the optical audio port matching the audio
connector cable (Toslink) that comes with it.
Would a USB/Toslink adapter be better than connecting the transmitter
(KG-300) and the laptop with a 3.5 mm audio cable?
There are subtle differences between the two signal paths.
The differences are due to the audio drivers involved.
The USB to TOSLink adapter, may do less "digital mutilation"
to the sound. Some analog drivers add reverberation (echo), to
add fake "depth" to the content. With rock music, this can
lead to muddy sound (you can't make out the vocals).
The analog driver may also do things like bass boost. Without
a user setting to stop it.
On the other hand, if you have cheap speakers or headphones,
they might need boost and cut in different bands (graphic
equalizer), to give them a pleasing response. The USB path
probably won't have that, while the analog one might.
(Someone doing bass boost with the equalizer...)
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d186/jennymanda/soundmax.jpg
Depending on your budget, you might want to test both
methods. If the analog path costs you no money, test
it and see how well it performs. If you think the sound
stinks that way, go and get your USB to TOSLink adapter.
And hope that a vanilla USB audio driver does a good
job of not mutilating the signal.
If you got hooked on the idea of the headphones, but
there was no way to adjust the frequency response or
other settings, you always have the option of doing DSP
on the source files, and "adjusting" the files so they
sound nice on the headphones. But that's a lot of work.
Maybe something a nerd might do. You might even need
to do something like that, if the digital path doesn't
seem to give you enough volume. You might need to
compand or normalize your musical selection, to get
the levels you want.
You can really make this a lot of work, if you
put your mind to it
Paul
