Digital audio output on a Macbook Air?

[odedia]

Hi,

I want to buy a Macbook Air, but I also want to use it as my Home Theater PC. Problem is - it doesn't have a digital output that I can hookup to my receiver.

Does anyone one of a simple USB solution for this problem where I can connect a SPDIF or Optical audio to it?

 

[geoffreak]

It doesn't have enough power to play high resolution video (you will struggle with most video higher than DVD quality). It would be wiser to buy a 13" MBP.

 

[odedia]

I strongly disagree... It is a 2.13ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with NVIDIA 9400M and 2Gb of ram.

My 2 years old Mac Mini with Intel GMA950 graphics card plays HD just fine using Plex media player, so this one should have no issues.

 

[rgarjr]

doesn't the air have the dual optical/analog 3.5mm plug like the MB's?

 

[jodelli]

The output of the MacBook Air is analog only according to Mactracker and Apple specs online.

My 15" PowerBook has a similar analog out but I also use a USB Griffin iMic for sound input and output.
It can connect to 1/8" jacks or standard RCA plugs.

 

[duky]

It doesn't have enough power to play high resolution video (you will struggle with most video higher than DVD quality). It would be wiser to buy a 13" MBP.

I've played 720p MKV files numerous times on my Air. It really doesn't struggle on it so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

 

[odedia]

Hi Jodeli, and thanks.

It looks like the iMic solution is analog only so that won't help... I need a way to connect a toslink optical or spdif connector from the Macbook Air to an AC3/DTS receiver.

Thanks!

 

[jdechko]

It's somewhat old, but apparently the Sound Blaster Extigy works with OS X. You could try ebay or something. There's a bit of a hack to make it work under 10.5.7, but nothing too complicated, it seems. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2005978&tstart=0&start=0

 

[jackiecanev2]

Look for a USB soundcard with optical out. There are tons to choose from.

I've heard good things about this one.


Cheers.

 

[Cave Man]

It doesn't have enough power to play high resolution video (you will struggle with most video higher than DVD quality).

This is not true. The Rev C MBA can play 1080p Blu-ray rips perfectly fine so long as you use Plex and mux the m2ts file with AC3 or DTS audio.