What I have:
1) Computer: October 2009 iMac i7 8GB RAM; Snow Leopard 10.6.8, iTunes 10.4.1
2) External Hard Drive: 2TB RAID 1 (i.e. 2TB + 2TB)
3) Speakers: pair of M-Audio BX8a powered speakers
I want to listen to music using iTunes. The iTunes library is stored on the iMac. The actual music files are stored on the external hard drive. The external hard drive is connected to my iMac through my external FireWire hub (that plugs into the computer).
What I want, is to hook up the speakers to my iMac - I can do that without going through an amplifier, because these are powered speakers. However, I don't know what is the best way to do it, because there are some problems.
a) I'd like to connect the speakers through XLR cables - obviously, the iMac doesn't accept XLR. How do I do this?
b) In my previous set up, I used different speakers (which blew up, which is why I need to set up the M-Audios now), which I plugged into the headphone jack on my iMac in the following way: two RCA cables (one for each speaker) went into an adapter with a stereo mini jack. Unfortunately, my iMac is mounted on an articulated arm, and I'm constantly moving that arm, which caused the adapter to move in the iMac input jack with horrible sound effects. I'd like to avoid that.
So - what I would ideally like is to go from my speakers with XLR cables into some kind of box "X", and from the box "X", to the imac with only ONE cable/link, so I can secure that cable against the arm, so it doesn't move or rotate.
My question, what is that "X"? and what is the best way to connect from the "X" to the iMac... headphone jack? USB? FW800? Optical?
Speakers ---------XLR cable------------>MYSTERY BOX "X"------------->iMac
I'm prepared to spend some money, but I'd rather not spend a fortune - again, the speakers are powered, so I don't need any amp, just a way to get from the powered speakers, with XLR cables, to my iMac.
Thanks in advance!
1) Computer: October 2009 iMac i7 8GB RAM; Snow Leopard 10.6.8, iTunes 10.4.1
2) External Hard Drive: 2TB RAID 1 (i.e. 2TB + 2TB)
3) Speakers: pair of M-Audio BX8a powered speakers
I want to listen to music using iTunes. The iTunes library is stored on the iMac. The actual music files are stored on the external hard drive. The external hard drive is connected to my iMac through my external FireWire hub (that plugs into the computer).
What I want, is to hook up the speakers to my iMac - I can do that without going through an amplifier, because these are powered speakers. However, I don't know what is the best way to do it, because there are some problems.
a) I'd like to connect the speakers through XLR cables - obviously, the iMac doesn't accept XLR. How do I do this?
b) In my previous set up, I used different speakers (which blew up, which is why I need to set up the M-Audios now), which I plugged into the headphone jack on my iMac in the following way: two RCA cables (one for each speaker) went into an adapter with a stereo mini jack. Unfortunately, my iMac is mounted on an articulated arm, and I'm constantly moving that arm, which caused the adapter to move in the iMac input jack with horrible sound effects. I'd like to avoid that.
So - what I would ideally like is to go from my speakers with XLR cables into some kind of box "X", and from the box "X", to the imac with only ONE cable/link, so I can secure that cable against the arm, so it doesn't move or rotate.
My question, what is that "X"? and what is the best way to connect from the "X" to the iMac... headphone jack? USB? FW800? Optical?
Speakers ---------XLR cable------------>MYSTERY BOX "X"------------->iMac
I'm prepared to spend some money, but I'd rather not spend a fortune - again, the speakers are powered, so I don't need any amp, just a way to get from the powered speakers, with XLR cables, to my iMac.
Thanks in advance!