What soundcard does my Powerbook have

[stateof2005]

Can I use 5.1 speakers or 7.1 speakers with my pb that I bought Feb 05? I was going to buy some speakers but I wanted to make sure that I can support these types...does the pb soundcard support that?

 

[khisayruou]

Your powerbooks can only output 2.1
If you want 5.1 or 7.1, your going to need to buy an external soundcard.

 

[stateof2005]

Thats what I figured

Thanks for telling me that...How do external soundcards work and how much should I spend?

Also, if you know how to use my pb as a DVD player and export the video to a regular tv that would be great...

 

[khisayruou]

External soundcards will connect to your usb port and allow for 5.1 or even 7.1 depending on its capabilities. M-audio has an external soundcard that is mac compatible. Its not cheap though. (remember this is all analog, there are optical options as well)

There is another alternative here: http://www.usbgear.com/computer_cable_details.cfm?sku=USBG-5X1&cats=121&catid=121,637,136
This was found by another member here, its in this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/157860/
I am not sure if it works as advertise.

The way I get my powerbook to become a dvd player is to get a s-video cable and hook one end into the powerbook and the other into the tv. Then I connect my audio out into my home receiver using a rca to 1/8 mini cable. Then just go to displays and it will detect your tv.

 

[stateof2005]

Thanks for the help...

 

[Bear]

Can I use 5.1 speakers or 7.1 speakers with my pb that I bought Feb 05? I was going to buy some speakers but I wanted to make sure that I can support these types...does the pb soundcard support that?

You don't say which powerbook you have. The newer 15" and 17" models have optical out for 5.1 support.

 

[khisayruou]

You don't say which powerbook you have. The newer 15" and 17" models have optical out for 5.1 support.

He said feb 05, the ones with optical is oct 05...right?!?!?

 

[CanadaRAM]

Powerbooks have only offered stereo sound output on their minijacks: 2.0, not 2.1 (the .1 being a subwoofer output). Some Powerbooks had a third speaker internally, but that was a midrange speaker, not a woofer.

Optical out is offered on the 15 and 17" Powerbooks as a special 1/8" jack that combines stereo out for conventional cables and optical out for a specially made cable (and I thought the 1.5 and 1.67 GHz earlier models, but friggin' Apple still has their hardware specs crosslinked to thre wrong page)

In order to use the Optical multichannel out, you have to have a receiver or a powered speaker set with both an optical input and a Dolby or DTS multichannel decoder. Plus your source material has to be encoded with multichannel sound natch.

 

[plinkoman]

Optical out is offered on the 15 and 17" Powerbooks as a special 1/8" jack that combines stereo out for conventional cables and optical out for a specially made cable

do you know where one could find such a cable, or what they are called?

 

[aafuss1]

The built-i nsound wouldn't be near the quality of a 5.1/6.1 or 7.1 soundcard such as Intel HD Audio (perhaps the Intel PB will have that) or a X-FI.

 

[khisayruou]

do you know where one could find such a cable, or what they are called?

They are not really special cables.
Just go out and get a digital optical cable that includes mini adapters.
"Toslink Optical cable with mini adapters"

Looks like this: http://www.familyphotoandvideo.com/product.asp?id=rcadt6hp

I got mine for $15 @ walmart.