mac mini , airport , surroundsound

[onemacmini]

hi there ,

can i connect a 5.1 surround sound to a usb adapter into the airport express and play through that? also i need some good products that are are around the £200 either surround sound or monitor speakers? any ideas?

 

[matticus008]

You can connect surround sound speakers through a receiver and use a Pro Logic mode or something on the receiver to simulate surround sound, but that's as close as it gets. If you put a DVD in the mini, for example, you wouldn't get 5.1 sound on the other end because the mini's sound system will just blend the streams to stereo. As far as I know (and I could be mistaken), the Airport Express is basically a wireless replacement for the audio-out cable on the mini.

I'm not sure if it would work if you got an external sound card with 5.1 support, but if it did, that could be an option for you.

 

[tjwett]

hi there ,

can i connect a 5.1 surround sound to a usb adapter into the airport express and play through that? also i need some good products that are are around the £200 either surround sound or monitor speakers? any ideas?

the USB port on the Airport Express is for a printer or can be used to charge an iPod Shuffle. you cannot use it with an external USB soundcard. it's not smart enough to put that kind of data through. i tried a while back with my emi card. if you're feeling goofy you can use 5 separate Expresses along with AirFoil to stream a different channel out to each unit. there can be weird delay issues though.

as for speakers, i highly recommend the Blueroom Minipods. i use them as both hi-fi and reference monitors and they have served me quite well. they make Micropods as well that come in 5.1 bundles. good stuff.