[John Williamson]

On 05/01/2019 19:50, wrote:

Let me know if you have any other ideas how to test spdif optic or spdif coax... without breaking the bank.

Perhaps a some little cheap device of some sort ?

The simplest way to check optical is to look at the end of a cable
connected at the sending end only. If the hardware at the sending end is
working, you will see a red light.

If you point a video camera (Say, the one in your phone) at it, it will
appear to flicker as data is sent.

Chatting with a local hifi shop owner, he found an old optical SPDIF
connector box that plugs into a USB socket and magically appears in
Windows as an extra audio interface. I paid a tenner or so for it, as he
considered it as junk.

To check a cable, you can use any receiving device, which should show
"no signal" unless it gets a valid signal from the source. Check with a
multimeter for continuity of core and screen, and that there is no
connection between core and screen. If the cable is okay, then you have
a problem somewhere else, and an oscilloscope such as one you can get
for a hundred bucks or so will let you look at the signals, if any.

Try another cable.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.