CD ROM Connector :
Audio system in CD-ROM is completely separate from PC sounds. When the computer tells CD-ROM to start playing audio CD then the CD-ROM starts play in git all by itself. The CD-ROM driver works just like normal CD player and does not need any PC CPU cycles to do the playback one it has been started. If CD playback seems to take up processor time in Windows the reason is the playback program which constantly ask from CD-ROM the current playing position and updates it to screen, the audio playback does not take any CPU processing power at all.
CD-ROM drives have typically a headphone connector with volume control in the front panel. The headphone jack uses the CD-ROM directly you don't need to connect any CD-ROM audio cables to make this headphone connector to work. The audio cable from the CD to the sound card allows you to use the sound card amp and speakers to playback the sound from CD-ROM. The audio cable just connect the line level audio output form the CD-ROM drive to one PC sound card line level audio input dedicated to CD-ROM audio cable.
Audio system in CD-ROM is completely separate from PC sounds. When the computer tells CD-ROM to start playing audio CD then the CD-ROM starts play in git all by itself. The CD-ROM driver works just like normal CD player and does not need any PC CPU cycles to do the playback one it has been started. If CD playback seems to take up processor time in Windows the reason is the playback program which constantly ask from CD-ROM the current playing position and updates it to screen, the audio playback does not take any CPU processing power at all.
CD-ROM drives have typically a headphone connector with volume control in the front panel. The headphone jack uses the CD-ROM directly you don't need to connect any CD-ROM audio cables to make this headphone connector to work. The audio cable from the CD to the sound card allows you to use the sound card amp and speakers to playback the sound from CD-ROM. The audio cable just connect the line level audio output form the CD-ROM drive to one PC sound card line level audio input dedicated to CD-ROM audio cable.
Why there is problems with CD-ROM audio connections:
There is quite much variety in CD-ROM audio connectors used in PC market. Many sound cards and CD-ROM drivers have their own special audio connector. All audio connectors basically carry line level (0.3-2 V pp) analogue audio signals from CD-ROM to computer sound card, but different connector types and pin outs cause too much problems nowadays.
The situation is little bit stabilizing because SPA MAC working group has done standardization on multimedia PCs. They have specified a standard interface connector and pin out which should be used computer sound cards and the audio cables which come with them. If your sound card and CD-ROM (which comes with audio cable) both meet MAC standards then you should not have problems in getting the sound working.
CD-ROM/Sound Card Audio Cable Standard for MAC Components:
The following cable standards apply only to MAC components (CD-ROM drives or sound cards sold separately). Full systems and upgrade kits are not required to observe the following specification:- A Multimedia PC CD-ROM drive component must include a cable to connect the drive's analog audio output connectorto an MPC sound card's analog audio input connector.
- The cable's open sound card connector must be a female 4 pin Molex 70066-G,70400-G, or 70430-G connector with 2.54 mm .