DIY breakout cable

Following a satisfying TNT-shoestring attempt, I'm in a DIY cable mood.
I'd like to make a superior breakout cable for my PC soundcard. The card O/P socket is a 9 pin DIN. At the moment it's got three mini jacks on the end (for 5.1).
I'm only interested in the front (main) outs so I'll only put a couple of DINs on the new one. I plan on using a multimeter to work out which pins to connect to. But I can't find anywhere to buy a 9 pin DIN plug, anyone any ideas?
And is this a waste of time? IS a 9 pin ever going to be decent?

On a completely different note, could I get away with running my soundcard through a passive preamp into the power amp (Quad 306)? Would the soundcard output enough volts (guessing .5 ish)? Getting interested in building a DIY passive linestage you see...

 

look here

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/c60f3e82dd1c685586256be40079c013?OpenDocument

thats going to be a nightmare to diy .....I'd suggest an adaptor to a larger plug type [don't if there are any ]

Then build a decent cable from that point.....use solid core conductors.


It should have sufficient output check the specks ...

 

ok, i'll try maplins for an adapter. How about solid core CAT5e?

And what am I looking for in checking the speeds to see if a passive pre is compatable? Voltage input sensetivity for amp and max ouput for SC?
Thanks Zanesh

 

I tried maplins. they've never even heard of 9 pin DIN. Where to now?