[jefdiesel]

hey all..

I have a beautiful 17" iMac with the Apple Pro Speakers, and an iSub under my desk.

I'm running all my music off this in my living room, and I want to try and extended a second set of speakers around the corner to the kitchen.

Any one have any suggestions for the best and preferably cheapest way to do this?

I was thinking a griffin iMic, from the USB port, to a set of powered computer speakers, but.. will the Digital Audio out on the iMac work at the same time as a USB to Digital audio?

Anyone have an iMic they know works with an iMac? Or have anyone tried the Powerwave from Griffin?

Or any other ideas?

[freak_in_pekin]

Originally posted by jefdiesel:
hey all..

I have a beautiful 17" iMac with the Apple Pro Speakers, and an iSub under my desk.

I'm running all my music off this in my living room, and I want to try and extended a second set of speakers around the corner to the kitchen.

Any one have any suggestions for the best and preferably cheapest way to do this?

I was thinking a griffin iMic, from the USB port, to a set of powered computer speakers, but.. will the Digital Audio out on the iMac work at the same time as a USB to Digital audio?

Anyone have an iMic they know works with an iMac? Or have anyone tried the Powerwave from Griffin?

Or any other ideas?

I also have the 17" FP iMac and the iMic but you know, I have only tried it on input. I'll have to try output. I'll let you know what I think, if I remember to post. Keep in mind, I am not the greatest audiophile in the world and my ears aren't extremely keen.

Just to let you know about the iMic: I feel it is a little flimsy in construction but the audio input is quite decent for the price.

P.S. You have reminded me about my desire for the iSub. Better add it to my "Wish List"!

[jefdiesel]

yo freak..

i'm not too worried about perfect sound quality, and i hope for your hearing sake you can tell between sound and silence.

the issue i'm wondering, is will the Apple Pro speakers play at the same time as speakers running out from the iMic

if you dont have an extra set of speakers.. a set of headphones line out is fine..

thanks..

jef

[freak_in_pekin]

Originally posted by jefdiesel:
yo freak..

i'm not too worried about perfect sound quality, and i hope for your hearing sake you can tell between sound and silence.

the issue i'm wondering, is will the Apple Pro speakers play at the same time as speakers running out from the iMic

if you dont have an extra set of speakers.. a set of headphones line out is fine..

thanks..

jef

Eh? I couldn't hear your message. LOL!

I believe that they will, Jef. I also have the Pro speakers. I didn't have a chance to test it last night. I will try it this weekend.

I do know that a line out from the headphone jack will turn off the Pro speakers but I am not sure about audio out from USB in the case of iMic.

[freak_in_pekin]

Originally posted by jefdiesel:
if you dont have an extra set of speakers.. a set of headphones line out is fine..jef

I think I took this quote out of context the first time. I now believe you were stating to use the headphone line out jack on the iMic which would be the test that I would be doing, since I only have the Pro speakers.

I suppose that I might be able to borrow a pair of cheap amplified computer speakers but I doubt that would be necessary to test.

[freak_in_pekin]

Well, Jef, I just tested the following setup: 17" FP iMac to USB iMic out to stereo receiver. Unfortunately, the iMac sound control panel only allows for one sound controller, so my receiver picked up the signal but my Apple Pro speakers had no volume. Still, I feel that that the iMic had decent sound...not nearly as good as the Pro's quality, though. There may be a hack or workaround posted on the web.

Hope this helps.

[jefdiesel]

hey freak..

thanks for trying all this for me..

thing is.. i want to run a pair of cheap computer speakers to the kitchen, but still keep the iSub and Apple Pro's running, so if the iMic shut's off the Apple Pro's, then it's no good at all.

There is another product from griffin called the powerwave that has a wide selection of output ports. Too bad it's $100 plus the cost of new speakers.

[freak_in_pekin]

Originally posted by jefdiesel:
hey freak..

thanks for trying all this for me..

thing is.. i want to run a pair of cheap computer speakers to the kitchen, but still keep the iSub and Apple Pro's running, so if the iMic shut's off the Apple Pro's, then it's no good at all.

There is another product from griffin called the powerwave that has a wide selection of output ports. Too bad it's $100 plus the cost of new speakers.

No problem. That's what the Mac community is all about.

It does look like the PowerWave is what you want. It apparently doesn't shut off the Pro speakers. It is a little pricy, isn't it?

Griffin does make good products, so I am sure that it is worth its price. I wouldn't mind purchasing the PowerMate. It may make scrubbing all these iMovies a little easier.

Thanks for reminding me about the iSub. It's $40 less than it was a few weeks ago when I checked it out.

Good luck to you.

[jefdiesel]

yo freak..

one thing baout the iSub..

the USB audio really doesnt like OSX too much.. somewhere there is a hitch.

in sound manager, the iSub has its own volume, and doesnt 'mute' using the keyboard contol. the vol on the kb will turn the iSub up and down along with the speakers, but mute still leaves bass.

i had a kernal panic when i first installed it, but since then, i plugged it in and left it.. its fine. better than fine really.. sound is great.

i think the USB Audio probs may just prove to get worse though with future OSX builds, thats why they used and told Harmon Kardon to go to the 'Digital Audio' format.BUT that is just a thought..

and $40 cheaper is a steal for this thing.

[freak_in_pekin]

Jef, thanks for the info on the iSub. I will definitely be buying it at that price.

[j45degrees]

I have just bought the new 17" iMac too and have the same issue regarding the sound output.

A previous Mac that I owned (7500 PPC AV) allowed me to have the speakers and the headphone output going at the same time.

Is the mute feature in the iMac a hardware thing when you plug a stereo pin in the headphone jack or is this something controlled by software? If it is a software thing, does anyone know if there is a software hack that can keep music going through the speakers while the headphone outputs sound at the same time?

[freak_in_pekin]

Originally posted by j45degrees:
I have just bought the new 17" iMac too and have the same issue regarding the sound output.

A previous Mac that I owned (7500 PPC AV) allowed me to have the speakers and the headphone output going at the same time.

Is the mute feature in the iMac a hardware thing when you plug a stereo pin in the headphone jack or is this something controlled by software? If it is a software thing, does anyone know if there is a software hack that can keep music going through the speakers while the headphone outputs sound at the same time?

It appears to be an OS X Sound Control Panel thing, since the panel will only output to one device at a time.

It seems that Jef is correct. The PowerWave by Griffin seems to be the way to go to get your Pro speakers and your audio output to work simultaneously.

At this point, I am not sure of any workarounds or hacks.

[freak_in_pekin]

Originally posted by j45degrees:
Is the mute feature in the iMac a hardware thing when you plug a stereo pin in the headphone jack or is this something controlled by software?

I just reread your post and I think this mute feature for the headphone jack is hardware related -- similar to your headphone jack on a boombox. I could be wrong about this. Anybody know the answer to this one?

I originally took your post to mean, "why can't you run your Apple Pro speakers and USB controlled audio at the same time?". The two are quite different and my original post is testimony to my poor reading skills.