S/PDIF to RCA conversion

[InNewtonITrust]

This may be a very, very basic question...
My sound card decodes digital audio in 'DTS Audio' and 'Dolby Digital' formats. Also something about 48kHz...

Now, if I feed a cable from the S/PDIF outlet into a Digital-Analog audio converter (in order to get a traditional L/R analog output), will the converter device have to specifically support more than 2 channels of input?

Illustration: of the two following products:
1) Digital to Analog Audio Converter
2) Digital Audio Decoder

will the first type suffice in producing two channels of output (by virtue of whatever is meant by 'DTS Audio')? Or will i have to use the second type because my sound card outputs many channels?

It's clear, I guess, that my technical knowledge of hardware here is preeettty low. Do enlighten me.

Thanks!

 

[soundguruman]

http/www.meritline.com /usb-sound-adapter-789---p-35243.aspx?source=fghdac
yes there are adapters to covert to 2 channel analog or 5.1 surround, etc...

 

[InNewtonITrust]

http/www.meritline.com/usb-sound-adapter-789---p-35243.aspx?source=fghdac
yes there are adapters to covert to 2 channel analog or 5.1 surround, etc...

Hah! Excellent link!

So this particular product is of the second type (of the ones i had attached links to). The price, of course, is a sensation!

Thanks a lot!


Next step:
What kind of cables can i use for the s/pdif connection? RCA male-RCA male? Are there any special characteristics for this cable, like max. voltage limits...? And the pictures on the link kinda' scare me- do the s/pdif ports have caps covering them??

 

[InNewtonITrust]

Crap. That 'S/PDIF in' port is optical. No coax anywhere.
My machine only has a coax s/pdif out (it's a pc, mind). So this particular device won't be of any use to me... Unless there are adapters for that too...! (who am i kidding. Or are there?!)

That second product i had previously linked to does have a coax in. But have you seen that price??
Which brings me back to my original question- will a 2-channel-only converter have any trouble accepting my 5.1 channel digital audio as input?