i was hearing that there was a way to get 5.1 speakers to work with a mac, how can i get 5.1 speakers to work with a mac?
and would it work on an ibook?
thanx
and would it work on an ibook?
thanx
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5.1 sound on ibook
- Thread starter SilvorX
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The M-Audio Sonica can do that. I bought one last week.
It uses a USB connection to get the audio, pumps it through the external box and out through the optical connection for 5.1. It also has an analog audio jack. There's a DVD player which comes with it that allows the use of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound until such time that Apple's player does.
There's an added benefit: speed. Since the onboard sound processor doesn't slow things down, games go faster.
It uses a USB connection to get the audio, pumps it through the external box and out through the optical connection for 5.1. It also has an analog audio jack. There's a DVD player which comes with it that allows the use of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound until such time that Apple's player does.
There's an added benefit: speed. Since the onboard sound processor doesn't slow things down, games go faster.
ahhhhhhh, cool. My dad's DVD player came with 5.1 sound then.
If I ever get a chance, and if this is possible, I am going to hook
them up to myeek: gasp ) PC. I use it more often...
If I ever get a chance, and if this is possible, I am going to hook
them up to my
eek: gasp ) PC. I use it more often...
i found a site on google thats based only a few hrs away from me (lucky me lol) that sells the m-audio sonica...was kinda suprised cuz that was the only site that sold it that showed up on the list on google...
but i thought something like the m-audio sonica would be available through computer stores....cuz i never found anything on the computer store websites i usually go to (macwarehouse.ca and compusmart.com)
but i thought something like the m-audio sonica would be available through computer stores....cuz i never found anything on the computer store websites i usually go to (macwarehouse.ca and compusmart.com)
someone was telling me to use a splitter instead...cuz theyre pretty cheap, would they actually work for 4.1 speakers (ya i know 4.1 lol) on a mac?
Hum, certainly not my area of expertise, but i don't think a splitter would work on a Mac, as macs don't send out signals for 5.1 (or 4.1) natively... it has to be done through a different port, like USB, which would require the decoder they were talking about.
I might be completely confused tho, anyone else know?
pnw
I might be completely confused tho, anyone else know?
pnw
A splitter will take the stereo signal from the iBook and duplicate it for the rear channels.
It won't give you full surround sound, but it'll fake it.
![ppphhht.gif]()
The Sonica will only work if you have speakers with an optical input.
Most modern home theatre systems have them but few if any computer speakers do.
You're better off looking for a cheap home-theatre-in-a-box system.
It won't give you full surround sound, but it'll fake it.
The Sonica will only work if you have speakers with an optical input.
Most modern home theatre systems have them but few if any computer speakers do.
You're better off looking for a cheap home-theatre-in-a-box system.
I bought my Sonica at CompUSA locally for $59.95 USD but I haven't seen it anywhere else. Someone from the UK here at MacRumors.com posted about it the same day I saw it.
Since it's a USB device, you should probably be able to find it at stores which only sell Windows machines.
I would not suggest using a splitter because you would just get duplicated front and rear sound. You could turn the rear channels out of phase to achieve some ambience but that's about it. However, that might also cancel your front channel audio if everything was tuned dead wrong.
good for powermac: http://www.midiman.com/products/consumer/revolution_page1.php
top 2 good for ibook: http://www.m-audio.com/products/consumer/index.php
top 2 good for ibook: http://www.m-audio.com/products/consumer/index.php
voyagerd is helping me out in searching for the right external sound card, the sonica is a good price for me, but the speaker set i want (http://www.compusmart.com/product.a...uctSearchString=Speakers&VendorName=Logitech& ) has 2 plug ins or whatever... so the sonica wouldnt work with it
If you can find a cheap home-theatre-in-a-box system, you can buy the Sonica and hook it up to the optical input on that, but all that would probably cost you over $400 USD (don't know about Canadian).
thats WAY too out of my price budget lol
i was wondering bout the sound blaster extigy? would it work on a mac? (plzzzzzzz hopefully) i wouldnt mind paying $100 more since it would be within the budget...
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/extigy/
wow, you're frelled
The Extigy won't work it's for PCs only, sorry.
I remember some external USB sound cards from Yamaha and Onkyo that were out about a couple years ago and they had Mac support under OS9 and I just checked them out, but they discontinued them and as a result they don't support OSX.
You're best bet is to get a splitter, hook it up to the headphone jack and plug the other ends in the speaker inputs on your Logitech.
The comsumer sound card market is not too Mac friendly I'm afraid.
![damn.gif]()
The Extigy won't work it's for PCs only, sorry.
I remember some external USB sound cards from Yamaha and Onkyo that were out about a couple years ago and they had Mac support under OS9 and I just checked them out, but they discontinued them and as a result they don't support OSX.
You're best bet is to get a splitter, hook it up to the headphone jack and plug the other ends in the speaker inputs on your Logitech.
The comsumer sound card market is not too Mac friendly I'm afraid.
Re: wow, you're frelled
well i was recommended the extigy so i thought bout that.....guess splitter it is...Originally posted by edvniow
The Extigy won't work it's for PCs only, sorry.
I remember some external USB sound cards from Yamaha and Onkyo that were out about a couple years ago and they had Mac support under OS9 and I just checked them out, but they discontinued them and as a result they don't support OSX.
You're best bet is to get a splitter, hook it up to the headphone jack and plug the other ends in the speaker inputs on your Logitech.
The comsumer sound card market is not too Mac friendly I'm afraid.![damn.gif]()
SilvorX- those logitech Z-540 speakers you gave a link for, can be bought for 79.99 from the logitech web page
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/productlist&crid=18&countryid=19&languageid=1
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/productlist&crid=18&countryid=19&languageid=1
the 540 price on the link i gave is in CDN $$$
i was hoping i could find a soundcard for under $150 US thats compatible with those speakers...but i guess thats not gonna happen lol...
tiz ok...it seems to be a better deal through the computer store website than on logitech.com (with conversion of course)..on logitech.com it would be bout $125 CDN while on the computer store it would be $119, doing some last decision mac thinking (before i make my last decision on sunday) and im trying to put something on my list that's $400 CDN to fill in the spot the ibook filled in (went from thinking to buy an ibook to thinking bout emac now)....hmmm so much things i could buy...most of it i dont need....an external sound card would be nice, but the only one i can find right now is the sonica..but it doesnt have the right imput for the speakers...Originally posted by beez7777
oops. sorry bout that, i should have seen your location right under your name.