Solution for using headphones on an iMac?

[rayneg]

Hello Everyone,

Does anyone know of a solution for having to unplug the speakers and plug in the headphones on an 17" iMac? The jacks are on the back of the machine and it's getting to be kind of a pain.

I'm getting a set of Cambridge Soundworks 210D, so cannot use the Apple pro speaker mini-jack. What I would like is an adapter for the Apple pro mini-jack so I can hook either the headphones or the speakers to it. Then, have an icon in the menu bar for switching between the two (switching between the apple pro mini-jack and the headphone jack). This would let me leave both the speakers and the headphones plugged in all the time, and I could just switch between the two with some sort of control panel.

My question: Does anyone know if an adapter exists? Does anyone know if software for switching between the two jacks exists?

Thanks!

 

[tjwett]

Hello. While there are plenty of cords/adapters out there to buy for splitting the signal between speakers and headphones you are not going to find one controlled by software. The speaker/headphone wire is an analog cable and isn't going to carry information on it. What you need to get is a quality USB or FireWire Audio interface. I'm not talking about the iMic here. Look into the EMagic emi 6|2 or 2|6. They are USB powered and offer 6 ins/2outs or opposite 2ins/6outs of 24bit/96khz digital audio. You can easily run 5.1 surround with the 2|6 and it even looks as stylish as your iMac. Plus, now that Apple owns Emagic you don't need to worry about compatibility. Works great in Jag and OS 9. I suggest you buy one at Guitar Center and you'll save about $150. If you only need a single set of ins/outs check out something from M-Audio. They make quality USB interfaces that work great in Jag and are priced really well. If you want to spend a little more dough you can go with a Motu 828 or sometihng from RME, both FireWire. Personally, I prefer Emagic but that's because I use Logic. The M-Audio stuff is great too. For practical home use you probably don't need to spend the money for FireWire. Happy Shopping.

 

[dynamicd]

There's another input in the back separately for headphones.

 

[tjwett]

Originally posted by dynamicd
There's another input in the back separately for headphones.

haha, lol! well, OR you could just use the headphone jack on the back i guess. i had no idea, i don't have an iMac. hope he didn't go out and buy anything yet

 

[LethalWolfe]

Per the original post. He is buying a set of non-Apple speakers which means he cannot use that stupid propriatery Apple speaker jack. Which means he's trying to find a way to use the 1 headphone jack for both his speakers and his headphones.


Lethal

 

[tjwett]

Originally posted by LethalWolfe
Per the original post. He is buying a set of non-Apple speakers which means he cannot use that stupid propriatery Apple speaker jack. Which means he's trying to find a way to use the 1 headphone jack for both his speakers and his headphones.


Lethal

oh yeah, in that case i strongly RE-suggest looking into the options i mentioned earlier.