can i connect surround speakers to a macbook or macbook pro?? will it support 2.1, 5.1, 7.1?? whats my limit?? do i need a sound card to acheive all this?? or can i just connect the speakers to the macbook's headphones jack?? thanks in avance
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
macbook/macbook pro surround speakers..
- Thread starter bigben334
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
e12a
macrumors 68000
5.1 can be achieved through optical out (same as your line out). you need a toslink adapter or something for that. I have heard 5.1 works only through the Apple DVD Player.
CanadaRAM
macrumors G5
In order to use surround speakers you can:>
1) Plug into the stereo headphone/line out jack, and let the speakers generate fake surround
2) Use an optical cable from the Mac's headphone out (with an optical/minijack adaptor or cable) to an optical in on the powered speaker or a receiver - the powered speaker or receiver must have a digital decoder built in, for this to work
3) use a Griffin Firewave on the Firewire port of the Mac, which gives you three minijacks (5.1) analog outs just like a PC soundcard does, for 5.1 speakers styestems that don't have a decoder.
In order to hear 5.1, both the source material and the software playing it back, must have 5,1 sound capability.
1) Plug into the stereo headphone/line out jack, and let the speakers generate fake surround
2) Use an optical cable from the Mac's headphone out (with an optical/minijack adaptor or cable) to an optical in on the powered speaker or a receiver - the powered speaker or receiver must have a digital decoder built in, for this to work
3) use a Griffin Firewave on the Firewire port of the Mac, which gives you three minijacks (5.1) analog outs just like a PC soundcard does, for 5.1 speakers styestems that don't have a decoder.
In order to hear 5.1, both the source material and the software playing it back, must have 5,1 sound capability.
crazzyeddie
macrumors 68030
flopticalcube
macrumors G4
CanadaRAM
macrumors G5
...and usually the subwoofer has a highpass filter to send just the frequencies above 100 Hz or so to the stereo speakers
I was wondering the same thing actually, will my PowerBook G4 be able to support 5.1 surround sound? It said so in the manual so I went a head and bought some sweet z5500 logitech speakers. So now it turns out I need to buy a Firewave for them to work...
Can anyone confirm that if I buy this, will my z5500 speakers give me surround sound from my PowerBook G4?
Thanks a lot 🙂
Can anyone confirm that if I buy this, will my z5500 speakers give me surround sound from my PowerBook G4?
Thanks a lot 🙂
Macbook with z-5500
This is my sound system. It is pretty impressive loud and good all around sound. You can use a 1/4" mini jack to hook it up, but you will only get 2.1 surround sound.
In order to get the 5.1 surround sound you need to buy yourself a fiber optic wire @ http://www.mycablemart.com/ with a mini-plug adapter to hook up to the optical input on the z-5500. I recommend getting the more expensive one (I've gone through a couple of cheap ones already).
No sound card needed. That's nonsense. The mac already has this. Just need to satisfy the Optical output to the sound system.
I may already be too late, but maybe this will help someone else.
This is my sound system. It is pretty impressive loud and good all around sound. You can use a 1/4" mini jack to hook it up, but you will only get 2.1 surround sound.
In order to get the 5.1 surround sound you need to buy yourself a fiber optic wire @ http://www.mycablemart.com/ with a mini-plug adapter to hook up to the optical input on the z-5500. I recommend getting the more expensive one (I've gone through a couple of cheap ones already).
No sound card needed. That's nonsense. The mac already has this. Just need to satisfy the Optical output to the sound system.
I may already be too late, but maybe this will help someone else.
No Sir
You do NOT need an external sound card if you are using a macbook or a macbook pro.
The only reason you would need an external sound card would be if you were using the regular mini-jack output instead of the optical output. The optical output is already encoded in 5.1 format, however, the analog signal is not.
All I use is the optical out and I get 5.1 surround sound with the Z-5500.
Maybe you should check your sources Alphaod.
Optical cables are easy to break when your laptop stays on the living room table with the wires hanging of the side where someone could trip over them...it's ok, though, because I only paid 6 dollars for them...
You do NOT need an external sound card if you are using a macbook or a macbook pro.
The only reason you would need an external sound card would be if you were using the regular mini-jack output instead of the optical output. The optical output is already encoded in 5.1 format, however, the analog signal is not.
All I use is the optical out and I get 5.1 surround sound with the Z-5500.
Maybe you should check your sources Alphaod.
Optical cables are easy to break when your laptop stays on the living room table with the wires hanging of the side where someone could trip over them...it's ok, though, because I only paid 6 dollars for them...