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Lee33 · Apr 7, 2008, 09:54 AM

I recently upgraded to a Mac Pro. Unfortunately, the M-Audio card I had in my G5 does not work anymore. The only thing I use the care for is to listen to online radio so all's I need is a decent stereo card. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Lee

kikkoman · Apr 7, 2008, 10:19 AM

Anything wrong with the built in audio? I would think it would be more than adequate for streaming radio.

Lee33 · Apr 7, 2008, 10:27 AM

I want to hook up my speakers and I need an audio card to do that, kikk.

Big Mac · Apr 7, 2008, 11:33 AM

There are no PCIe sound cards other than high end pro cards that are used for high end video editing. Can you use optical out?

idykenano · Apr 7, 2008, 03:13 PM

i've split the audio-out to the red/white for a stereo receiver and the sound quality didn't seem diminished. what sort of speaker setup do you have?

mduell · Apr 7, 2008, 03:40 PM

It sounds like the OP has a 5.1 (or similar) system that requires 3 or 4 outputs from the sound card.

A USB sound card is probably the most appropriate option for you... now if only I could think of one that's Mac compatible and has the 5.1 outputs.

Lee33 · Apr 7, 2008, 04:10 PM

Big Mac,
No optical out.

idy,
I have a 5.1 Klipsch. I have never used it to it's potential. I got a good buy on the setup about four years ago. The M-Audio card I had in the G5 worked great and it was less than $100 if I recall correctly???

mduell,
You got it. 5.1 and I need three outputs in the card (that's what the M-Audio card had).

kikkoman · Apr 7, 2008, 04:58 PM

I think you are SOL. The only other 5.1 audio solution I am aware of is the Griffin Firewave. It hasn't got good reviews and is currently not compatible w/Leopard.

Lee33 · Apr 8, 2008, 09:22 AM

God, please don't tell me that. There has got to be a card that I can use with my speakers.

analogika · Apr 11, 2008, 07:09 AM

any audio interface with more than two outputs will allow you to assign surround channels in OS X's Audio/MIDI Setup Utility.

Big Mac · Apr 11, 2008, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by Lee33

Big Mac,
No optical out.

idy,
I have a 5.1 Klipsch. I have never used it to it's potential. I got a good buy on the setup about four years ago. The M-Audio card I had in the G5 worked great and it was less than $100 if I recall correctly???

mduell,
You got it. 5.1 and I need three outputs in the card (that's what the M-Audio card had).

Are you sure? I'm pretty sure your Mac Pro has optical out. It's a built-in feature since the G5s.

analogika · Apr 11, 2008, 12:56 PM

AFAIK, the optical out on Macs doesn't support 5.1 output, though - or does it?

Big Mac · Apr 11, 2008, 05:38 PM

Yes, it does:

Power Mac G5 audio output options

analogika · Apr 12, 2008, 04:10 AM

That does explicitly mention 5.1 surround.

However, it also says:
"To use Digital Out, your audio equipment must support S/PDIF. You might need to install drivers required by your audio device. Contact the manufacturer of your audio device to determine whether you need to install drivers."

Why would I need to install drivers to use the built-in digital audio out - unless it's specifically to enable some sort of extra functionality (and the only "extra" functionality available to S/PDIF is 5.1 surround...)?

Goldfinger · Apr 12, 2008, 05:43 AM

Optical out supports 5.1 just fine, you only need a receiver that decodes the DD/DTS 5.1 stream. S/PDIF doesn't do 5.1 PCM IIRC.