MBP: 5.1 analog audio output, how?

[PintoZ]

As title, I am trying to find a way to have 5.1 analog output on my Macbook Pro (late 08) without spending more than 100$, but getting a decent-good quality

Anyone knows a product able to do it?

-Usb audio card?
-Firewire audio card?
-Any digital optical to analog amplifier?

I was not able to find any of theese products, so I am asking for your help guys

Thaaanks!!

 

[SaSaSushi]

The Griffin Firewave has been officially discontinued but can still be found on eBay for less than $40.

It connects by Firewire and appears to output 6-channel discrete analog audio.

 

[PintoZ]

The Griffin Firewave has been officially discontinued but can still be found on eBay for less than $40.

It connects by Firewire and appears to output 6-channel discrete analog audio.

I would prefer another peripheral which is actually supported, and avoid buying a discontinued one. But I am not able to find any.. is possibile that there is not an external soundcard for mac??

 

[SaSaSushi]

I would prefer another peripheral which is actually supported, and avoid buying a discontinued one. But I am not able to find any.. is possibile that there is not an external soundcard for mac??

I hear you. Just so you know, the Firewave is out of production now but that does not mean Griffin does not support it, especially if you buy it brand new. Amazon is selling it for $44.95 and you will get the same one year limited warranty you would get for any other product in case anything goes wrong.

I don't have any personal experience with the unit. I use the toslink on my iMac into a home theater. But the Firewave got some very nice reviews on it's debut 3 years ago.

 

[PintoZ]

I hear you. Just so you know, the Firewave is out of production now but that does not mean Griffin does not support it, especially if you buy it brand new. Amazon is selling it for $44.95 and you will get the same one year limited warranty you would get for any other product in case anything goes wrong.

I don't have any personal experience with the unit. I use the toslink on my iMac into a home theater. But the Firewave got some very nice reviews on it's debut 3 years ago.

It's strange buying a 3 years old product.. that's it Thanks for the suggestion anyway

Maybe the best thing to do is getting an audio interface to get the output from the toslink to 5.1 analog jacks... I have to find any for a cheap price :S

 

[SaSaSushi]

It's strange buying a 3 years old product.. that's it Thanks for the suggestion anyway

I don't know that there is any other device for Macs that does what you seek to do nor that the technology has changed in any way in the 3 years since it was released but that's cool if that's how you feel. It was just a suggestion.

Maybe the best thing to do is getting an audio interface to get the output from the toslink to 5.1 analog jacks... I have to find any for a cheap price :S

Well, not to go in circles but that is effectively what the Griffin device is, a cheap toslink to analog converter.

The other option is to get higher end speakers like the Logitech Z-5500 with the onboard decoding. When you're talking about finding something for less than $50 your choices obviously become limited.

Personally, if a device does what I want it to do and is in the price range I want to pay I wouldn't much care when it was released to the market but that's just me.

My Sony home theater which I have connected to my iMac is about 12 years old now and still going strong.

Anyway, best of luck to you.

 

[PintoZ]

I just bought one 48 bucks inlcuding shipping cost, let's try

 

[SaSaSushi]

I just bought one 48 bucks inlcuding shipping cost, let's try

Please post your impressions to the thread.

I'm guessing the demand for the device just wasn't there which is what led to it's discontinuation because it really was pretty much universally well reviewed.

It sounds like it is exactly what you were looking for though.

Good luck!

 

[bohbot16]

I have a Griffin FireWave that I connect to my MacBook and it works as advertised.

 

[bhingsto]

I have a Griffin FireWave that I connect to my MacBook and it works as advertised.

Same here. I use it with Studio Monitors and a sub and it works fine.

 

[jw2002]

How about buying an old Harmon Kardon AVR off of ebay or craigslist? The thing will weigh a ton, but you can probably get one used for under $50, and you'll be able to process digital audio into analog 5.1 out.