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mini-toslink audio hook up

J

jamone80

macrumors regular
Original poster
I was thinking of hooking up my laptop to my surround-sound system via optical/TOSLINK cable. I know they sell mini-to-toslink adapters so i can use the headphone jack on my MB...

Question is, is the sound quality worth it? Does anyone have this set up or sumthing similar? I was wondering if playback on iTunes is better on 5.1 surround sound.
 
jamone80 said:
I was thinking of hooking up my laptop to my surround-sound system via optical/TOSLINK cable. I know they sell mini-to-toslink adapters so i can use the headphone jack on my MB...

Question is, is the sound quality worth it? Does anyone have this set up or sumthing similar? I was wondering if playback on iTunes is better on 5.1 surround sound.
Click to expand...

You need a Mac with optical audio out and you'll need 5.1 source material to benefit - such as a DVD played by the DVD Player app.

Once you plug your optical cable in go to the audio prefs and select the 5.1 output (that option only appears when the cable is plugged in).
 
devman said:
You need a Mac with optical audio out and you'll need 5.1 source material to benefit - such as a DVD played by the DVD Player app.

Once you plug your optical cable in go to the audio prefs and select the 5.1 output (that option only appears when the cable is plugged in).
Click to expand...

My MB has the regular mini-jack. Thats why i was thinking about getting Mini-Toslink adapter and just using that. Would that give me that 5.1 option?
 
Well I don't own a MB so I went and looked it up. Yes it has "Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)" according to the tech specs.

So yes, with the right cable you'll get 5.1 if, as I said previously, you have 5.1 source material.

edit: typo.
 
I hooked my computer up via optical to a Logitech z5500 system...Sounded amazing. Played a high def rip of Transformers in 1080p in VLC and surround works! Missiles flying everywhere!😀
 
alphaod said:
Woah mega bump...



Well the optical is whatever the source sound is and you need an external sound processor. If the source is 5.1 it will transfer 5.1; if it's 7.1...; stereo...; etc.
Click to expand...

Right, I'm just making sure that the mini end of this cable will plug into the headphone jack of the MBP as devman mentioned above. The specs on the MBP say "Combined optical digital audio output/audio line out (minijack)". Thanks!
 
Cobra2001 said:
Right, I'm just making sure that the mini end of this cable will plug into the headphone jack of the MBP as devman mentioned above. The specs on the MBP say "Combined optical digital audio output/audio line out (minijack)". Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes; in fact I have that cable. 😉
 
I have a McIntosh MX-119 with a high-end DAC inside. How is the sound using the mini-toslink to Hi-Fi?
31RZ7KZH93L._SL500_AA280_.jpg
 
Considering how noisy the analog circuits are in the MBP (and I assume the MB too), bypassing them is a good idea. Using the DACs in a receiver instead of the ones built-in to the laptop should get rid of all of those annoying clicks and beeps. Streaming 5.1 AC3 and DTS is another added benefit, though I don't know if iTunes is capable of 5.1.

I have a toslink adapter, but I haven't tried it out yet. I'm usually using a RME Fireface 800, so the built-in sound isn't even a factor.
 
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