airport express connection

[tildesley]

hi all,

just looking at the airport express, it says you can connect a 3.5mm phono jack or a 3.5mm toslink.

im confused as to what it means my the toslink part...
is it a standard toslink cable? (surely u cant fit it?)
the monster cables? (expensive for what it is!)
a 3.5mm phono adaptor? (loss of quality?)

suppose im asking, what connector is it? and are there any cheaper options than the apple cables too.


thanks for the help

JT

[waw74]

yeah, don't go with monster. for most people they are a complete waste of money. and for digital cables (toslink, HDMI, etc...) they are unnecessary.

there is a special adapter so you can use a regular toslink cable (that i haven't been able to find separately, got some with a cable a few years back), or you can get a cable with a mini plug built in.

check out monoprice (http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229) middle of the page has what you need.
the cable you need is under $5, unless you want it really long (over 25 feet), then it's under $10.

[ZMacintosh]

For the standard 3.5mm jack, any 3.5mm cable should do.

Toslink needs a mini-adapter 72cents or a TOSLink to Mini-Toslink cable

here:

Mini-Toslink Adapter: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042301&p_id=2671&seq=1&format=2

Toslink to Mini-Toslink:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=mini+toslink&x=0&y=0


probably best to get a regular TOSLink cable (also known as Optical Cable) then get the Mini-Toslink adapter so you can still use the optical with other devices that use it.

[tildesley]

waw74, ZMacintosh

thanks to both you; i now know what to look for! :)