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I've been looking at upgrading to a Haswell system. Quite straightforward I thought but I've been really surprised at the number of motherboards with no SPDIF outputs. What I currently do is use an SPDIF connection that goes straight into the equivalent socket on my hifi, something I'd like to continue doing. Why are so many modern mobos missing an SPDIF? Have these connections been replaced by another optical compatible output?
TIA
Cost cutting I would imagine.
Asus Maximus 6 Hero has SPDIF out, if its a mobo you are considering.
A lot of boards offer it as a header rather than on the backplane, which makes a lot of sense since 99% of people prefer usb ports. A pci bracket to expose it shouldn't be too expensive
The headers seem to be for connecting to graphic cards for output via HDMI. PCI brackets are as rare as hens' teeth so it seems...
Nowadays you're probably better off getting a low end sound card than paying the premium for an onboard SPDIF. Even the £20 xonar's come with one.
These have optical s/pdif out on the back panel, and an s/pdif header on the mobo itself for a separate module.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...hdmi-micro-atx
https://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/co...i-f2a85-m-pro/
As you have discovered, getting the modules in the UK (if you don't want optical out) is hard, you might be able to get it via via Amazon America.
http://www.amazon.com/SPDIF-Optical-.../dp/B003AV944Y
The above mobos are AMD
This one
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...atx-plusfree-d
is Haswell and has optical out on the back panel - not cheap though!
This one is a little less expensive
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...dvi-d-hdmi-atx
Thanks all. I'd no idea that USB sound output was so mainstream which helps explain the lack of spdif outputs. I upgrading my Hackintosh so I'm limited to Gigabyte mobos for maximum compatibility. It seems that the way ahead is to output the sound via a USB/ Spdif convertor. Thanks again for pointing me the right way.
This Gigabyte mobo has back panel s/pdif
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...8vga%29-dvi-d-