3.5mm v. TOSlink optical connectors

[normanstrong]

There appear to be 2 standard optical connectors. One is the popular
TOSlink and the other is a 3.5mm. The 3.5mm fits into a round hole
that is approximately the same diameter as a 1/8" minijack. From what
I can see, it should be able to make a jack capable of accepting
either the 3.5mm optical or the 1/8" coax connector, and possibly even
an analog signal using the same input.

Has any manufacturer made such a jack? It would allow the use of
either coax or optical digital input. Finally we could get rid of
this ridiculous necessity to pick one or the other.

Norm Strong

[John L Rice]

Yes, my Sony TCD-8 DAT has one of those.

John L Rice


"Benjamin Maas" > wrote in message
news:1zZMa.29313$Xm3.6233@sccrnsc02...
> Sony already makes something like this for some of their smaller Mini Disc
> (and DAT?) players...
>
> --Ben
>
> --
> Benjamin Maas
> Fifth Circle Audio
> Los Angeles, CA
> http://www.fifthcircle.com
>
> "normanstrong" > wrote in message
> news:3pZMa.95954$R73.11429@sccrnsc04...
> > There appear to be 2 standard optical connectors. One is the popular
> > TOSlink and the other is a 3.5mm. The 3.5mm fits into a round hole
> > that is approximately the same diameter as a 1/8" minijack. From what
> > I can see, it should be able to make a jack capable of accepting
> > either the 3.5mm optical or the 1/8" coax connector, and possibly even
> > an analog signal using the same input.
> >
> > Has any manufacturer made such a jack? It would allow the use of
> > either coax or optical digital input. Finally we could get rid of
> > this ridiculous necessity to pick one or the other.
> >
> > Norm Strong
> >
> >
>
>

[Mike Rivers]

In article <3pZMa.95954$R73.11429@sccrnsc04> writes:

> There appear to be 2 standard optical connectors. One is the popular
> TOSlink and the other is a 3.5mm. The 3.5mm fits into a round hole
> that is approximately the same diameter as a 1/8" minijack. From what
> I can see, it should be able to make a jack capable of accepting
> either the 3.5mm optical or the 1/8" coax connector, and possibly even
> an analog signal using the same input.

That's exactly what my Jukebox 3 has. There's an optical receiver
behind the electrical contacts, and a lightpipe plug fits the jack and
shines on the receiver. I'm surprised that it works.

> Has any manufacturer made such a jack? It would allow the use of
> either coax or optical digital input. Finally we could get rid of
> this ridiculous necessity to pick one or the other.

I suppose that as long as your were going to have one *******
connector format (the only place that optical connector seems to be
used is in portable MP3 or Minidisk devices) you could have two and
send electrical S/PDIF thorugh the jack's electrical contacts.

I've never taken my Jukebox apart to see if that jack is really one
piece, or two pieces mounted on the same circuit board. I'll tell you
this though - electrically it's a ****ty jack, and optically it's a
****ty implementation of a mediocre jack. I wouldn't (and don't) trust
it. I have a Lightpipe with one of those funny connectors on one end
so I could see how and if it works, but it doesn't feel like something
I'd trust to a recording that I didn't care about losing.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )

[Len Moskowitz]

John L Rice > wrote:

>Yes, my Sony TCD-8 DAT has one of those.

No, it doesn't. The Digital I/O on the -D8 is via the 7-Pin jack. The
3.5mm jacks on the -D8 are analog only.

--
Len Moskowitz PDAudio, Binaural Mics, Cables, DPA, M-Audio
Core Sound http://www.stealthmicrophones.com
Teaneck, New Jersey USA http://www.core-sound.com
Tel: 201-801-0812, FAX: 201-801-0912

[Len Moskowitz]

normanstrong > wrote:

>There appear to be 2 standard optical connectors. One is the popular
>TOSlink and the other is a 3.5mm. The 3.5mm fits into a round hole
>that is approximately the same diameter as a 1/8" minijack. From what
>I can see, it should be able to make a jack capable of accepting
>either the 3.5mm optical or the 1/8" coax connector, and possibly even
>an analog signal using the same input.
>
>Has any manufacturer made such a jack? It would allow the use of
>either coax or optical digital input. Finally we could get rid of
>this ridiculous necessity to pick one or the other.

We use a jack like that on our PDAudio-CF card (see
http://www.core-sound.com/HighResRecorderNews.html). A few variations
are available from Sharp.

PDAudio-CF accepts both optical and coaxial 3.5mm plugs. We manufacture
both types of cables.

--
Len Moskowitz PDAudio, Binaural Mics, Cables, DPA, M-Audio
Core Sound http://www.stealthmicrophones.com
Teaneck, New Jersey USA http://www.core-sound.com
Tel: 201-801-0812, FAX: 201-801-0912