Coaxial S/PDIF-out from X-Fi XtremeGamer SPDIF_IO header

The low-profile X-Fi XtremeGamer is devoid of connectivity; but hey, which consumer soundcard isn't.

Apparently the connections of some newer high-end soundcards are becoming more bare than that of on-board sound, but I digress.



The SPDIF_IO header on my XtremeGamer has always interested me. I've been using this card's optical out but would prefer coaxial, and I needed a coaxial in for testing purposes.

This is my actual card.


And this is the connector:


A bit of poking with the multimeter reveals this:


Considering the alignment of the +5V, Ground and 10k to ground pins, those are probably for the optical SPDIF-in. Or the 10k to ground pin could be something to connect to +5V to activate the other ground pins which are otherwise too numerous. Perhaps I should call them "mystery pins". At any rate, it does not work as coaxial SPDIF-in.

EDIT: After looking around other Creative cards with this connector, I came to a conclusion that, the unknown 10k to ground pin, is indeed SPDIF-in. However since it has a 10k load it will not work well with a 75-ohm coaxial cable source. A buffer or a source that can handle the load, like the electrical signal generated from the optical-in, Creative's drive-bay console whatever things, even SPDIF-out from the motherboard and CD-ROM drive should work - I haven't confirmed it myself yet but you can always try.

I didn't get the first prize but at least got the consolation prize. So all that's needed for coaxial SPDIF-out is pins 7 and 9. Digging through the box-o'-rubbish I came up with this contraption:


Fixed onto the card, center (signal) wire to pin 9, outer shell (ground) to pin 7.


Installed it into my com. Viola, it works.