Home Theater Gurus...What equipment do I call for to use spdif, and to filter out clamour from my laptop?

My laptop has a Microsoft High Definition Audio Controller, and when I check the control panel, I see that it lists Digital Output Device (SPDIF). Only problem is it appears that my merely audio out option is the 3.5 mm headphone jack. I use a cable with the headphone jack on one come to an end, and the other end plugs into the right and left channel on my Onkyo receiver. If I am correct, SPDIF is a digital signal, but how do I utilize that? Is there an adapter or trick to this?

Also, when I own my laptop plugged into my AV receiver, I get a tremendous amount of humming pandemonium. This only happens when the laptop is plugged within, regardless of whether it's plugged into a surge suppresor or not. However, considering how cruddy laptop batteries are, if I don't want to be infuriated by the laptop cutting stale in midsong, my only choice is to depart it plugged in. How do I get rid of this loud humming?
Answers:
If you post the make/model of your laptop, I could enlighten you exactly, but many laptops have an optical SPDIF nouns that is built into the audio output jack. When you enable SPDIF, do you acquire red light from that jack?

If so, you just stipulation a TOSlink optical cable and an adapter like this:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/produc…

You should definitely use digital audio, much better nouns and no hum problems.


Edit: Yes, the Gateway M-6880 has a combination headphone/SPDIF audio out jack. Get the adapter I linked above and a male-male optical cable:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdep…

Connect the laptop to an optical input on your Onkyo beneficiary and select that input. Select the SPDIF output option on the laptop. You'll have great nouns. You could try to debug the hum problem on the analog cable, but using a digital connection will solve it completely.
1. If your laptop do not have SPDIF port, later you should forget about using this digital output option.

2. To troubleshoot the humming problem. First plug surrounded by a headphone to the the 3.5mm port, play a music and make sure you can hear the music on both L and R side. If you don't hear any humming on the head phone, your laptop should be upright. Be careful, there are usually three 3.5mm ports, one for mic(blue), one for record(red) and the 3rd one for headphone( usually green). Makesure you plug the jack into the right hole, a headphone port.

3. Plug surrounded by the 3.5mm to RCA cable to any mp3 player and insert the RCA R/L end to Aux-in of the receiver. If no humming hear, cable is okay. Else try another cable. If problem remains, likely the reciever is malfuction.

4. To further debug the problem, try to use any other inputs of the receiver, example: line-in or AV inputs.

p/s: humming usually result in by broken ground wire. Likely the cable is bad.


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