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Os X Sound Card?

T

TyleRomeo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 22, 2002
888
0
New York
hey does anyone one know of an OS X sound card. I'm interested in promedia 5.1 surround sound system and need a 5.1 Dolby Digital DTS THX sound card.

I'm not looking to do profesional audio recording on my mac. Maybe some simple MP3 editing. I really want a good sound card that works with OS X for listening to music, playing unreal and watching DVDs.

Is there any hope out there?
 
yeah looks like im going to have to. so there's 3,000 apps for OS X and not a single sound card.

c'mon apple help me out here
 
Don't blame Apple... b*tch to the sound card makers. If you want something other then the Soundblaster card that is available for the Mac then start talking with sound card makers.
 
Originally posted by TyleRomeo
yeah looks like im going to have to. so there's 3,000 apps for OS X and not a single sound card.

c'mon apple help me out here
Click to expand...

Sound has never been a big strong point for Mac, this shouldn't be a big surprise.

No Dolby 5.1, but Apple claims the Midiman Audiophile PCI Audio Card is pretty decent. It's in the Apple Store under Music and Audio, and it sells for $169.
 
I think 5.1 is ridiculous for a computer...unless it doubles as your home entertainment center. The proximity of the 2 front speakers make the center channel unnecessary. Get a 4.1 card and be happy!

Too bad Creative is dragging their feet and don't have OS X support for their 4.1 card. :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Hemingray


Sound has never been a big strong point for Mac, this shouldn't be a big surprise.
Click to expand...

no
sound has never been a strong point for APPLE.
plenty of people in the music recording industry use macs and only macs.
in no other area of computing software have i seen as much support for the platform as in sound recording, mixing, and mastering
 
sorry bud.. but i have been doing research on this for several months and have been involved in several threads on this subject.... this is your ONLY option for OSX.

http://www.midiman.net/products/m-audio/audiophile.php

soundblaster has some beta drivers for OS9 floating around.. but your up the proverbial creek with OSX... there is a legendary guy named Brian who is responsible for the OS9 drivers and he is trying to personally code the OSX drivers as well... but it will be a loong time and may never happen (moment of silence for brian... he is the man)

I did some looking and there has been some good reviews on the audiophile card and for some reason that I don't remember there has been some negative feedback... probably some minor thing that isn't serious,, check out insidemacgames.com ... they do some good reviews and they're forum talk about this all the time.. ( from what i remember 90% positive/10% neg)

Note to self... Why did I never get this card?

Anyway... I've been bidding on these on ebay and will pick on up once it gets below $125.. they go pretty regularly between $150 and $200..

good luck and keep us posted.

I gotta get some sleep...
 
guys im just looking for a sound card that supports 5.1 audio and that works for OSX. I dont think i need dolby digital and DTS decoder built in to the sound card, just as long as i have an amplifier that has those built in. I dont want some fancy $1,000 sound card for audio recording. i repeat no audio recording, just audio playback.
 
Originally posted by macfreek57
no
sound has never been a strong point for APPLE.
plenty of people in the music recording industry use macs and only macs.
in no other area of computing software have i seen as much support for the platform as in sound recording, mixing, and mastering
Click to expand...

Alright, show me some pro audio cards for Mac. Besides the one I mentioned.
 
hey im with you Hemingray

why can't we have a nice sound card just for watching 5.1 DVD movies and listening to music.

the only mac sound cards availible are MIDI ones with audio recording in mind.

c'mon sound buster
give us a real OS X 5.1 sound card
 
Originally posted by TyleRomeo
hey im with you Hemingray

why can't we have a nice sound card just for watching 5.1 DVD movies and listening to music.

the only mac sound cards availible are MIDI ones with audio recording in mind.

c'mon sound buster
give us a real OS X 5.1 sound card
Click to expand...

I used to use my Mac tower to watch movies, but then I got tired of hearing the fans while watching movies. The tv with a dvd player attached is a better setup especially with a good quality dvd player (many more features/functions).
 
Originally posted by Hemingray


Alright, show me some pro audio cards for Mac. Besides the one I mentioned.
Click to expand...

Well how about the one in my computer...

Digidesign makes an Audiomedia III card that they bundle with ProTools LE in a package called the Digidesign Toolbox.

That is arguable the most popular sound recording and playback card in the industry. (without including the top of the line ProTools setups that have proprietary (?) cards)

-Pete
 
We'll, since you don't seem to want to check ebay yourself...yes. You can get one for between 100-200 dollars used. They don't make it anymore, but it is the best idea for a cheap digital I/O card for the mac.

24bit, 48khz sample rate I believe, with two track inputs and outputs and spdif in and outs.

-Pete

You need protools LE to use it though...not pro tools free.
 
also...

OS 9 supports it as the main system sound card, but no such luck under os x yet. I have a feeling that os x users are screwed until pro tools x.

-Pete
 
...or I'm just not looking in the right place.

What's wrong with buying a great used sound card though?

_pete
 
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