Luna II Hardware questions

WayneSim · Post by **WayneSim** » Tue Aug 27, 2002 11:22 pm

Sorry for my noob questions.....

On the Luna II card i can only see one Sp/dif connecter. However I thought that Sp/dif on the Luna II was I/O capable making me think you need one connecter for In and one for Out. Where's the second connecter?

Also I assume that the Jack plugs on the card are stereo jack plugs(one stereo jack for In and one for Out).

Also I heard that the quaily of these I/O are not that good. Is that true?

Round1 · Post by **Round1** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 2:48 am

There is indeed s/pdif in AND out, the mini socket on the back plate is stereo, requires you to buy (or make, like I did) a simple 'Y' cord...stereo mini plug-->2 x female rca's.
The Luna's stereo analog is fine, although I found the A16's AD/DA covertor's to be nicer, so I just use them now.

Dave

Round1 · Post by **Round1** » Wed Aug 28, 2002 2:49 am

.....and yes, the analog i/o's are stereo.......

WayneSim · Post by **WayneSim** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 3:27 am

On 2002-08-28 03:48, Round1 wrote:
There is indeed s/pdif in AND out, the mini socket on the back plate is stereo, requires you to buy (or make, like I did) a simple 'Y' cord...stereo mini plug-->2 x female rca's.
The Luna's stereo analog is fine, although I found the A16's AD/DA covertor's to be nicer, so I just use them now.

Dave

Thanks for the info. However I'm still a little confused. Assuming the Sp/dif is a digital stereo interface. How can we have a mini stereo Sp/dif and make it into I/O in stereo. That would require a stereo plug to somehow make two Stereo plugs, one stereo for IN and a stereo plug for OUT. Sorry I just don't understand. I'm a noob.

I'm thinking of getting a Luna II just to add to my I/O of my classic Plusar II. And as well as getting three extra DSP's. But I question the quailty of the I/O's on the Luna II card. I was hoping not to have to spend more money on a I/O box as I don't need a great deal of I/O's.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 5:09 am

the mini stereo has 3 pins: tip, ring and shield.
The 'Y' cord has the mini-stereo on one end and spdif/in and out as RCA female connectors on the other two ends.
One of the RCA centers is connected to tip, the other to ring. One is for input, the other for output.
Shield is common for all three.
Digital stereo is a serial data stream needing only one connector, the channel info is in the coding.
May that's what caused the confusion.

happy soldering, Tom

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2002-08-29 06:11 ]</font>

WayneSim · Post by **WayneSim** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 5:33 am

Thanks Astroman,
Ok, I finally understand, it all makes sense.
Creamware really tried to cut costs, hey. Well in fact they just make things more expensive for thier customers. Anyway I'm sure i'll be able to get the shop where I buy the Luna II from to make the cable up as I don't have the time or the tools at home.

Cheers

orbita · Post by **orbita** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 8:51 am

For short lengths, <1meter you can probably get away with a reasonable quality minijack -> phono cable as used to connect a walkman to a normal hifi amplifier.

If you find you get digital glitches, clicks and stuff then get a proper spdif cable made for up. The only real difference is type of cable that needs to be suitable for a different ohm value.

more info in these posts

http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 64&forum=1

http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 01&forum=1

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 11:50 am

Don't you have a Radio Shack or some type of convenient electronics supply store near you? A simple adapter cable is all you need. I made my own but an off-the-shelf cable worked just as well.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Thu Aug 29, 2002 3:58 pm

yeah, that's it: a regular mini-stereo to cinch. Just plug 2 gender changers on the cinch ends and off you go. No trouble, no soldering, every hifi shop has them.