2009 Mac Pro audio question

[Luba]

I know in the new 2010 MBP their miniDP push out audio, would the miniDisplayPorts of the 2009 Mac Pros also push out audio? Would the 2010 Mac Pros?

In terms of sound quality and range, would the audio be better through miniDP, digital audio outputs which the MP has, or via USB? How would you rank them?
Perhaps they are so close in audio quality that ranking doesn't matter??

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[VirtualRain]

I know in the new 2010 MBP their miniDP push out audio, would the miniDisplayPorts of the 2009 Mac Pros also push out audio? Would the 2010 Mac Pros?

In terms of sound quality and range, would the audio be better through miniDP, digital audio outputs which the MP has, or via USB? How would you rank them?
Perhaps they are so close in audio quality that ranking doesn't matter??

Thanks for your feedback!

I'm not sure about the 2009's support for MDP audio, however I suspect the ability to pass audio through the MDP ports is more a function of the graphics card and drivers than it is a function of the year/model of the Mac Pro.

At any rate, all the audio interfaces you've listed are digital, so the sound quality is going to depend strictly on the D/A converter (DAC) you're using to turn that digital signal into an analog one.

 

[alust2013]

I know in the new 2010 MBP their miniDP push out audio, would the miniDisplayPorts of the 2009 Mac Pros also push out audio? Would the 2010 Mac Pros?

In terms of sound quality and range, would the audio be better through miniDP, digital audio outputs which the MP has, or via USB? How would you rank them?
Perhaps they are so close in audio quality that ranking doesn't matter??

Thanks for your feedback!

I'm not sure that the mDP outputs in the Mac Pros have audio, even the 2010 ones. The mDP on the MBPs is on the logic board rather than the graphics card, so I think it's likely that the ports on the MP don't support audio, although the 2010s may.

 

[nanofrog]

I'm not sure that the mDP outputs in the Mac Pros have audio, even the 2010 ones. The mDP on the MBPs is on the logic board rather than the graphics card, so I think it's likely that the ports on the MP don't support audio, although the 2010s may.

I seem to recall that it does (posts in other threads), even on the 2009 systems (the traces were wired, but no driver support).

Now the software side's been reported as there, and it works. Not sure if there's any issues though, or if you have to dance naked under a harvest moon type of thing to make it work.

 

[Luba]

Where would the digital audio converter (DAC) be located? In the speaker?

I'm not sure about the 2009's support for MDP audio, however I suspect the ability to pass audio through the MDP ports is more a function of the graphics card and drivers than it is a function of the year/model of the Mac Pro.

At any rate, all the audio interfaces you've listed are digital, so the sound quality is going to depend strictly on the D/A converter (DAC) you're using to turn that digital signal into an analog one.

 

[VirtualRain]

Where would the digital audio converter (DAC) be located? In the speaker?

When I said the audio quality would depend on the DAC, I should have said it really depends on all the external audio components which would normally include a DAC (for digital audio sources), an amplifier, and the speakers.

For most computer audio systems, these three components are usually integrated. However, you can spend thousands of dollars on each component separately if you're inclined. A third variation is like my setup where I use a USB Audio Interface which is essentially a D/A and A/D converter connected to a set of 2.1 studio monitors which have the amplifiers integrated into the speakers.

 

[Cynicalone]

It doesn't work on the 2009 Mac Pro with the GT 120, or the ATI 4870.

I have both and neither one shows audio over MDP as an option. Even with the software update installed.

The 2010 cards might give you this option, but last years Apple cards do not.