I'm a recording engineer trying to "upgrade" to either an iMac Pro or Mac Pro from a 5,1 but what happened to the optical TosLink interface? How in heaven (or hell) will I connect a newer Mac to existing pro audio hardware that uses either optical pipe 5.1 or digital RCA 5.1? USB doesn't seem to work and the new tiny usb-C mac connectors while convenient and faster, don't seem to offer adapters to TosLink. Why apple... whyyyyyyyy? Any suggestions? From a recording engineer point of view - where many older outboard gear sound way better than the new stuff - these new apple "pro" computers are frustrating when it comes to connectivity.
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"Pro" Macs not as pro anymore?
- Thread starter MacProFreak
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Why not just use a USB A to C adapter for whichever USB audio card you want? I'd think that would be better than any built in sound Apple has used. Even with a TOSLINK. The onboard audio would have been run by some cheap audio chipset (probably Realtek) possibly without great caps or noise isolation either.
With the Mac Pro. You'd also have the option of compatible PCIe audio cards.
With the Mac Pro. You'd also have the option of compatible PCIe audio cards.
I'm really struggling to stick with Apple for pro apps work in general...but for music production, it's getting to be ridiculous. A $2000 PC build equals the performance of the Mac Pro...and is TRULY customizable. When will I listen to my own words, and buy a pc?
For that matter. You could build an AMD Epyc system with core counts, PCIe lanes, RAM maximums, &c. A Mac Pro could only dream of.
The reason to buy a Mac is the OS, hardware integration, eco system and so forth. If that's not worth it. Then a PC makes more sense. I use both.
Expansive but might be an option : https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock
Most Thunderbolt 3 docks implement an optical audio output.
Most Thunderbolt 3 docks implement an optical audio output.
I just did this. Mac OS, hardware and ecosystem are all the things i love about apple, but all the pro apps I use [3D] run so much better on a PC. So custom built a new computer and I must say the power of it is amazing.
Windows is as boring and uninspirational as can be but it is a great tool to get some work done. It will have paid for itself in a week.
The other reason I got a PC was that boot camp has no future and I have to use some windows apps, so may as well make the leap now, as it is a good as time as any.
I will remain on both systems and use each to their strength.
BTW I am not a musician but pretty sure the Asus Pro AMD motherboard I have has a optical out - https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Pro-WS-X570-ACE/
Until you mentioned the motherboard. I was expecting you built an actual Socket SP3 AMD Epyc system.
Speaking as a former recording engineer, I wouldn't exactly call TOSLINK "pro" to begin with. Oh, it has its pro uses, just as prosumer gear is always able to cross over. "TOS" stands for Toshiba, not exactly a maker of pro gear, and its primary use has always been connecting consumer gear to AV receivers.
Oh, I had some pro gear that used it - back when I was running Sonic Solutions on a Quadra 950 back in the '90s, before Macs had built-in DSP, Sonic supplied NuBus cards with something like 8 DSPs. TOSLINK was perfect for packing four digital I/O ports onto the edge of one NuBus card (interconnect between outboard A/D converters and the Mac).
In Macs that came with those dual-purpose analog headphone/TOSLINK ports... that dual-purpose design is failure-prone - the mechanical switching between analog and TOSLINK fails, leaving digital permanently on or the Mac thinking there are headphones inserted when they are not.
Meantime, today's Macs come with far higher-bandwidth solutions for digital A/V. Sure, you might have to adapt to the change from TOSLINK to USB-C/Thunderbolt (or plain vanilla USB-A), but USB-C/Thunderbolt is arguably far more "professional" than TOSLINK.
Oh, I had some pro gear that used it - back when I was running Sonic Solutions on a Quadra 950 back in the '90s, before Macs had built-in DSP, Sonic supplied NuBus cards with something like 8 DSPs. TOSLINK was perfect for packing four digital I/O ports onto the edge of one NuBus card (interconnect between outboard A/D converters and the Mac).
In Macs that came with those dual-purpose analog headphone/TOSLINK ports... that dual-purpose design is failure-prone - the mechanical switching between analog and TOSLINK fails, leaving digital permanently on or the Mac thinking there are headphones inserted when they are not.
Meantime, today's Macs come with far higher-bandwidth solutions for digital A/V. Sure, you might have to adapt to the change from TOSLINK to USB-C/Thunderbolt (or plain vanilla USB-A), but USB-C/Thunderbolt is arguably far more "professional" than TOSLINK.
Like others have said, I have a 2019 Mac Pro despite having the ability to build a much faster PC for cheaper, simply because I love the ease of use with macos, it just... Works. Another reason is that if I have a hardware issue, I’ll just take it to the Genius Bar and have them fix it. AppleCare and their support is something that no PC maker or component manufacturer can even dream of.