Sending audio from one computer to another via spdif does not seem to work.

[maglev rabbit]

I have an audio setup for active speakers using a headless Raspberry PI 400 running brutefir (FIR filtering), with an Asus Xonar U7 USB DAC providing multiple audio streams to drive three stereo amps and in turn two tweeters, two mid woofers and a sub. The audio feed to this setup comes from a Windows 10 laptop running JRiver MC through a Creative G6 stereo USBDAC. At the moment i feed the audio between the two computers using an analog link, but I always intended to send the audio in digital form somehow. I assumed that SPDIF would be the way to go, but somehow I can never get any sound to come through I have tried numerous USB sound card setups, using the Creative G6, Creative GC7, Creative X6, Asus Xonar U7 MKII, but no sound ever gets through. I have tried different optical cables (for TOSLINK), different coax cables for SPDIF, and of course an optical to coax converter when needed (the ASUS XOnar U7 only has SPDIF coax output).
The only explanation I can some up with is that SPDIF copy protection does not like audio to be sent from one computer to another, where it could be copied, and is preventing the link from working. Can anyone confirm that this is what is happening? If so, is there a way to get around the copy protection? Could there be another explanation for why it does not work?
Is there perhaps another way to send audio from one computer to another?
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[pseudoid]

Obviously you have already tried to setup the RECEIVING pc to use SPDIF for/as input audio, in your Windows' 'Sound Settings' and/or the Control panel.
There is also a troubleshooter in windows. That'd be the best place to start... imo

 

[maglev rabbit]

Afaik, most sound cards offer spdif (toslink or coaxial) as outputs only.

You need a card/USB device that offers coaxial/optical input.

All my Creative cards (G6, GC7 and X4) have both optical inputs and outputs. Only the Asus Xonar has only an output (coax). That's not the problem in this case.
I did forget to mention one likely issue, and that is running Linux on the Raspberry PI. This means I cannot use the Creative software to configure the card and switch the inputs. However, the Linux ALSAMIXER software seems to do a reasnable job of selecting inputs.

 

[dorakeg]

All my Creative cards (G6, GC7 and X4) have both optical inputs and outputs. Only the Asus Xonar has only an output (coax). That's not the problem in this case.
I did forget to mention one likely issue, and that is running Linux on the Raspberry PI. This means I cannot use the Creative software to configure the card and switch the inputs. However, the Linux ALSAMIXER software seems to do a reasnable job of selecting inputs.

Sorry my mistake. I deleted my post after googling more about the sound cards.

 

[MCH]

Maglev, I have tried to use Creative cards (G6 and xfi HD) to capture spdif in Linux (raspberry pi) and it has been difficult (HD) or impossible (G6). I am not an expert but I blame the Creative cards, because with others it has worked just fine.

 

[maglev rabbit]

Maglev, I have tried to use Creative cards (G6 and xfi HD) to capture spdif in Linux (raspberry pi) and it has been difficult (HD) or impossible (G6). I am not an expert but I blame the Creative cards, because with others it has worked just fine.

What other cards are you referring to specifically? I can always buy yet another one. Anything to get this working!

 

[MCH]

What other cards are you referring to specifically? I can always buy yet another one. Anything to get this working!

I have used cheap amazon ones (see my thread below and be aware, others have had problems with those) and also a minidsp 2x4HD (this one resamples automatically whatever it receives, what can come handy. Member Mdsimon has recommended the hifime below, that on the contrary to most cheap ones, reaches 192khz (they also have a cheaper model up to 96khz iirc)

Hifime S2 Digi -Optical SPDIF input and output to USB

The Hifime S2 Digi is an optical in/out device. It has an optical SPDIF input and also an output which can both be used at the same time.

hifimediy.com

Budget Standalone "Toslink > DSP > Toslink" with Camilladsp. Set up instructions for newbies.

Hello team, I wanted to share with anyone interested these easy to follow noob-proof instructions to build something that i think can be a very handy device for very little money. The motivation: Not long ago, and thanks to folks here, i decided to go ahead and do some room correction in my...

audiosciencereview.com

Good luck!