Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

can i use a 4.1 system on my Mac?

cb911

cb911

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 12, 2002
4,134
4
BrisVegas, Australia
i'm think about getting some speakers. i'll probably get the Altec Lansing AVS500. it's a 4.1 system and i can get it for pretty cheap. i was just reading a speaker review at insidemacgames.com and it said that OS X supports surround, but the headphone jack can only output 2 channel sound. i'll probably still go for the AVS500s, because 4 speakers would have to be louder than 2, right?

and is there any way i could get the use of all 4.1 channels from my Mac without buying any expensive hardware?

i'll probably still get the AVS500s in a couple of days, but i was just wondering about the future of Macs and surround, and if there is any way i could get surround from my TiBook?
 
If you want 4.1 or more from your Tibook, you're probably going to have to get a splitter cable at Radio Shack or something. Make sure it's one that splits a stereo channel twice, not a mono, but. you'll only get a duplicate signal out of the back speakers, though. Unless the speaker system you mention has a S/PDIF input, then you can buy something like the Sonica and hook it up to that, but that's about it for your Tibook. Creative Labs offers a 4.1 card for the Mac, but it's only PCI, so unless you have a Powermac, you're stuck with 4-channel stereo, unless there's a USB to 4.1 dongle thingy out there that I don't know about yet...
 
I have the Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000 (4.1 system) in NJ. Here's how we (my father and I) got it set up. We went through all the wiring for the speakers to the sub, the sub to the outlet, etc. However, since there are two audio jacks for audio (one for front/rear) and only one is avaiable, some sort of audio Y-wire or audio splitter is needed to get the full effect. Right now I have the rear jack plugged in so I still get the two channels for the back, plus the sub.

If you want to get 4 channels, plus the sub, you will need some sort of setup (Y-wire, splitter) to get all the channels.
 
I think it's called Alzhimers.

But for someone at ages 17 to about 39 it's called Young-timers. :p
 
so all i need is the cable that splits from stereo to headphone jack connections? sounds easy. i've already got the speakers now and i'll get that splitter cable tonight.
 
i had a look at that sonica thing, but i couldn't find much, no, i couldn't find any info on it. what does it do? and how much does it cost? i don't want anything too expensive...
 
why 4.1

Wouldnt you like 5.1 better check out www.midiman.com as they have a product called sonica
Oops my bad it requires a 5.1 reciever and speakers, oh well
good luck!
 
D0ct0rteeth posted that link to Sonica, i was wondering what it was. so it's only good for a 5.1 system? guess i don't have to worry about that then...

oh well, i'm going to Tandy now to see if they can help me with this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back