Hi im a new member and would like to ask if anyone can help with a problem i have.firstly my system is a philips 42inch plasma,yamaha dsp-ax757se amp,acoustic energy ae120 fronts,acoustic energy ae109 rears and ae107 centre, cambridge audio 540c cd player linked to a beresford dac,overall im satisfied with my setup and sound but listen to most of my music through my pc which is mp3,s mostly just for convenience,ive just installed a new soundcard called an xfi with great spec but with no digital or should i say no coax or optical outs, only a 2.5mm jackplug.i want to link it up to my yamaha amp via some digital way,i know i can use a jackplug lead that splits into two phonos to link to my amp but can anyone think of any way i can get it digitally as the soundcard does put out mp3,s sound much better,and even close to dedicated cd players.Thanks guys.Neilo

Why not use an Apple Airport Express? You can go wirelessly or with a network cable from your PC to the apple and then in to your Beresford using a 3.5mm to toslink optical cable. You don't have to use the soundcard.

One thing to note; if this is the X-Fi that you mean, it actually does have a digital out. Some of the socketry, as with the Apple, has dual purpose.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=15855&nav=1

Thanks chris for the reply,what i omitted was that i store my mp3,s on my harddrive which i listen to through my amp from my computer which then plays the music through my soundcard to amp on creative software not windows media player as the sound from the soundcard which is an xfi extreme music soundcard sounds much better.yes you seem to be right with my soundcard having a digital i/o from the card but its only a 3.5 jackplug socket and not coax or optical.maybe i need something that goes 3.5mm jackplug to coaxial as a cable.as the jackplug on the soundcard wont connect to my amp other than 2 x rca which is analogue.can you see where im going here.Neilo

Are you sure that the socket isn't optical? Many of the Sony 3.5mm sockets carry conventional audio and an optical signal as does the 3.5mm on the Airport Express. I wonder if your Creative is the same. If it is, all you need is a 3.5mm optical to Toslink cable for the Beresford. The places that I'd try for it would be www.maplin.co.uk or www.turnkey.co.uk. Maplin do an adapter for about £2-£3 wich will convert the Toslink cable that you got with the Beresford to 3.5MM optical. Clearly the latter is your cheapest route.

There's also this breakout device http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=1780 that Creative make (and say that it's compatible) that would also solve the problem. I don't know how much it is, but these accessories are never cheap! Looking at the design also gives me reason to believe that that 3.5mm socket will give you an optical signal directly.

The Creative stuff that they've been manufacturing recently, does some interesting things which to me look like upsampling but I'd be inclined to think that a good solid DAC, connected by USB should be superior because USB offers less jitter than optical or SPDIF connections.

I've got an upsampler at the moment - makes a small difference but not as much as attending to the basics. I find it smoothes things out a bit & gives me a sweeter top..

Thanks again Chris for the reply and Happy New Year.The creative accessory you mention was actually on my list.It is approximately £26 which is quite expensive and feel your comment on Maplins is the way to go.I do intend to try just putting a digital coax lead straight into the socket of my soundcard now that you mentioned it.Maybe im getting confused looking at it as to me it just looks like a headphone socket.Thanks again my friend.Neilo