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

Dolby Digital 5.1

D

DeusOmnis

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 22, 2002
258
0
Ann Arbor, MI
I want to get some surround sound speakers:


http://www.klipsch.com/index.asp?path=/products/productdetail.asp?frame=y&id=640&line=promedia


But my friend tells me taht i need digital output from my computer to do that.

So the question is, does my MDD powermac have a form of digital output, or do i need to buy a sound card. If i have to buy a soundcard, does anyone know of a good one that does the encoding but not much else? I dont need all the professional MIDI options, just the stuff for gaming and music (output).
 
if the guy has the money to pay for Klipsch then i highly recommend he buy them-i have used both sets, both klipsch and logitech and i believe the klipsch offer much more in the way of quality.

just my $0.02
 
Problem

See though, the problem is that Apple's DVD player doesn't support ANY 5.1 streams. It can do Prologic, but that's it. I have a M-AUDIO Audiophile card and a Yamaha RP-U200 receiver which should work great. I have a SPDIF running to it from the audiophile, but that only does like 3 channels, and that isn't a bitstream, it's PCM. So, I use the USB because it's a USB receiver as well. Problem is I only get Prologic support, which is okay but... you know. Apple talks about support for high end audio and brags about audio support, where is it?
 
Re: Problem

Originally posted by Panda Genma
See though, the problem is that Apple's DVD player doesn't support ANY 5.1 streams. It can do Prologic, but that's it. I have a M-AUDIO Audiophile card and a Yamaha RP-U200 receiver which should work great. I have a SPDIF running to it from the audiophile, but that only does like 3 channels, and that isn't a bitstream, it's PCM. So, I use the USB because it's a USB receiver as well. Problem is I only get Prologic support, which is okay but... you know. Apple talks about support for high end audio and brags about audio support, where is it?
Click to expand...

What? That's BS. 5.1 or greater sound has been standard on PC's for some time. Why doesn't Apple do this? They are supposed to be on the forfront of this sort of thing. Grumble grumble...
 
Exactly

Yeah see, Apple claims to have the digital hub, but they have crappy 2 channel output. SPDIF's and other multichannel outputs have been coming standard on PC's for as far back as 4 or 5 years ago. Sure, they have Prologic, but where is the digital? I was fooled by Apple's wording when I bought my computer. They say on their site that Mac OS X has 5 channel audio built in to the core system, but they don't specify the method. I assumed DD and DTS were built in. Apparently not. I think have heard that people have gotten VideoLAN Client to send bitstreams, but I'm not too sure. Anyone know anything about that?
 
I have also purchased the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 sound card and I am very satisfied with its performance. It comes with a lot of useful software and you have several set-up options available to you according to your speakers of choice.

I recommend this audio card - though it is somewhat pricey.

Mike
 
i installed the the M-Audio Revolution 7.1(retail $99 at comp usa) with the logitech z-680 speaker system in my dual 1.42. it rocks!!!! very happy with it :)
 
5.1 audio

i installed the the M-Audio Revolution 7.1(retail $99 at comp usa) with the logitech z-680 speaker system in my dual 1.42. it rocks!!!! very happy with it :)
 
I'm looking to upgrade the sound on my PowerMac as well and was looking at this card over the weekend. Does installation of the card disable the audio jacks present on the mac - namely the headphone jack on the front? Also, right now I'm using soundsticks through a USB port. Will those be disabled as well, or will I have to go to the system menu and change between the two? Thanks for any help available.
 
Updating your soundcard will require you to ditch the soundsticks and purchase a new speaker set.

The soundcard has its own ports coming out on the back of the cpu... you will be using those. Including a headphone jack.

You could continue using both the headphone jack and the soundsticks, but have wasted the money on the soundcard.

-Doc
 
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