[SSharon]

I am looking for a Mac surround sound solution and need some help. I have heard good things about the 5.1 PCI card, but does anyone here have any experience with their USB 7.1 device? I have a free PCI slot in my G4 as well as a free USB port, but can't decide which I should save. If I get the USB model I can use it with my iBook as well (unlikely), but it is also more likely that I can use it on a new computer down the line. PCI means its internal and doesn't waste any desk space.

Does either use more processor power? Can I plug the USB model into a hub without problems? Does anyone have another solution that I am not mentioning? Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

Some links.
7.1 PCI and 7.1 USB, there is also a 5.1 PCI card that will save me a few bucks.

[druber]

Hi SSharon,
Let reply, perhaps, better than never. The choice you make here also needs to take into account your theater setup. Are you going to run the signal into a multichannel receiver, or a computer-style powered speaker package? Do you actually have a 7.1 setup? Are you planning to upgrade the receiver/speaker end in the near future, and if so, to what?

I would expect both of these solutions to yield fairly comparable results. Positive points for each: The USB version is mobile, easy to use on any machine, easier to set up/unplug as the need arises; the PCI version is out of the way and has lots of bandwidth headroom to work with.

Negatives to both, too: USB can only handle so much data at once, daisy-chaining several devices may not yield good results; PCI means no installing it in a Mac mini, iMac, laptop, etc.

Myself, I'd choose the PCI version over USB. But look at your real requirements, think ahead a year or two, and buy what you'll actually use (as opposed to getting fancy extra features you won't honestly touch).

[SSharon]

Hmm my theater setup huh. Well at the moment I am still in college so I am using cheap 4.1 speakers. I plan on getting better speakers once I move on. You raise an important point that I overlooked though, about the receiver having its own optical port. If I end up getting a receiver for my new setup I really don't need to have either m-audio device. So the real question for me is do I want to drop $100 to have my DVD's sound a bit better in the next year or two until I get something better. I guess I will have to think about that.

Thanks for the reply.

[druber]

Yeah, no problem. In my mind, it's no good spending $120 or whatever for a $40 set of speakers you won't keep around for long anyway, especially if you might end up buying an HTIB next and not need the hookup at all. Now if I could just find a solid USB/FireWire to digital audio hook for less than $100, I'd be really set.

[webraider]

Some speakers now like the Klipsch
http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=525
or
http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=525

and Logitech 5.1's

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...CONTENTID=9486


already have built in decoding with optical ports. You can plug and play these babies with any Mac with Optical ports. Pretty smooth. For the money the Klipsch is a better buy but you can pick either one of these up at the Apple online store or other vendors.