Is there a way to get Digital audio out from Plugable UD-3900?

USB Docking Stations UD-3900
1

I recently purchased the UD-3900 for my new Windows 10 laptop.
My old vista system had a digital audio out into my speaker system.
Is there a way to get digital out from the UD-3900?
The headphone jack appears to be an analog output for standard headphones.

Is there a way to use the USB or HDMI outputs thru a small converter to give a digital audio out?

Thank you in advance for your help.

2

Hi Greg,

Thanks for posting. Unfortunately I don’t expect this issue to be easily solvable.

For several years, PC & sound card manufacturers were implementing the option of digital audio through 1/8"/3.5mm audio jacks, which previously had always been analog only. This implementation never seemed to fully catch on, and I haven’t seen a sound card or new audio output device in many years which supports this. (And I’ve done some looking awhile back, as I have a nice set of Boston Acoustic speakers which are unusable without this type of jack.)

The HDMI port provides digital audio output, but for your needs you’d need some type of in-line widget to plug in between your dock and the monitor which would break out the audio portion of the signal and provide the desired connector type, and unfortunately I don’t believe such a device exists.

Sorry for the bad news, but hopefully this helps shed some light on the situation.

Best wishes,
Gary

3

Gary,
Thank you for the very quick reply.
I took the info you provided and decided to search for a ‘Analog to Digital converter’ and found one on Amazon for under $10 with prime shipping that takes analog (RCA) inputs and gives you both TOSlink and Coax digital outputs (what I needed) .
It arrives Saturday so I’ll add another note to let you know if it works or not. The comments showed it working for my exact situation so my hope is high for success.
$10 is not bad to be able to keep using my existing speaker system with has great sound.
Greg

4

Hi Greg,

Ah, my mistake - I assumed your speakers would *only* accept 3.5mm (headphone style jack). If they take TOSlink or coax, there are various adapter options worth trying like you’ve suggested.

Hopefully it all works as planned once the adapter arrives.

Best,
Gary

5

Gary,
The device works great and for only $9 including shipping.
Makes my Pluggable dock fully functional now.
Thanks for steering me in the right direction,
Greg

6

Actually my speakers do have a two lead 1/8" jack. I used a small adapter to convert that to an RCA jack which works for the coax digital signal.
Have a great day,
Greg

7

Thanks for posting an update about the RCA-coax solution!

Great workaround for those who have speakers which will work with that connection.