A Toslink Cable can be purchased through Staples, both in their physical stores and online. Amazon and Ebay also offer a wide range of Toslink Cables.
They are capable of running 5.1 surround sound in one convienient pin. Toslink cables are capable of 7.1 and also run on one pin.
TOSLINK was created in 1983.
SPDIF can carry stereo (2 channels) of audio.
S/PDIF is the domestic digital audio standard, developed by Sony and Philips. It is normally carried on a copper cable using RCA (phono) connectors or with an optical fiber using TOSLink connections. Both interfaces carry the same data and can be considered equivalent to each other. One does not offer better quality than the other.
Cabling will vary depending on your specific stereo and soundcard -- analog RCA, digital COAX, and SPDIF are most common.
Yes...get a toslink (male) to a 3.5 mm (female) adapter. Easy as pie.
Toslink switch specifications can usually be found on product descriptions on most websites that sell computer products. Sewell Direct is an example of a site that sells Toslink switches and also provides their specification.
A Toslink IS a Fiber Optic Digital Interconnect cable
A toslink cable has a round connector that provides digital audio data using small pulses of light instead of electricity. It is manufactured by Toshiba.
can do trefoil to the same phase cables
It's not straightforward to convert between SPDIF and a stereo pair of RCA plugs. SPDIF is a digital standard (SPDIF is an acronym for Sony Philips Digital Interface) and a pair of RCA plugs is analogue. It is possible to buy adaptors that convert from one to the other; if you search for SPDIF to analogue (or analog) convertor with google, you'll find a selection.