How to configure sound output via USB?

Hi,

I have an acer laptop running on win 7. I normally play my music from the laptop through my stereo via a 3.5mm Jack to audio RCA lead. Recently a friend removed the jack from the headphones socket rather clumsily after a few beers. It carried on working for a while, but the jack needed to be "wiggled" in the socket a bit to get it working. Now the plastic surround that holds the jack in place has broken, and it will no longer output any sound.

I have looked at replacing the headphones socket, however it is soldered to the main mother board, and so want to try a different solution first if possible, as i don't think my soldering is good enough to do this. I bought a USB to Audio RCA lead online for a few £ and plan to configure the sound output through this. Any suggestions on where i start? I can't create a new device in the sound settings of control panel, which makes me think i need to install a driver of some sort, are there any generic drivers which will output the sound via USB, split into Left and Right, or should i start looking at drivers for usb speakers?

Thanks in advance

 

in case anyone is interested, and from what i have read, outputting sound from a usb cable to RCA is not possible via a driver alone. The usb signal is a digital one, and the sound signal itself is analogue, so you need a way of altering the sound from digital once it leaves the usb. There are a number of audio interface cables/connectors that do this job cheaply