Ok, i was wondering if anybody knew of a way to get digital audio out (preferably coaxial, as overall it gives a better sound than optical) on my iMac G3 slot loader 600mhz. Does somebody make a firewire or usb adapter. as this is the only method i can think of, as my imac is permenantly connected upto my hifi, and a 3.5mm jack to phono just doesnt cut it.
Cheers
what i have and have used before is the Creative labs USB 5.1 external sound card. its not supported to run at all but it will work great for music (osx 10.3.9), but what ive found is that system sounds still play through the internal speakers..... very odd.....
Wha? Got any proof to back that up?
I read it in What HiFi magazine a few months back, so i tried them both, and there is a very slight difference in sound quality. You sound shocked by the fact that it could be superior Dr. Webster, any reason for this?
Coax and optical pass *digital* audio -- ones and zeroes -- and assuming they pass bit-perfect streams, there's no possible way that the resulting audio could be better via coax versus optical. The *only* way one could sound "better" than the other would be if they use different DACs on the playback end -- e.g. the DAC coupled to the coax in is better quality than the one on the optical in. (This would be incredibly rare, too, because in most cases manufacturers tie all of the digital inputs on a product into the same DAC.)
Considering you read it in a hi-fi magazine, I think that's the source of the problem.
oooh, a bit bitchy to hifi magazines there! haha. dont optical cables have to convert to/from an electrical signal though? and coaxial dont? Not the biggest whizz at stuff like this, probably more gullible than anything!
Let's just say that hi-fi magazines (and car magazines too) aren't the most impartial sources out there. Ever notice how hi-fi components (and cars) that have reviews in an issue also seem to have at least one ad for the same product?
Optical cables use optical fiber to transmit the digital stream. An LED at the source end blinks out the 1's and 0's (quite rapidly, of course) and a receiver picks them up.
Coax cables use an electrical current to transmit the 1's and 0's, kind of like how data is shuffled across a computer's ribbon cable.
Technically, optical cables have a higher likelihood of transmitting a bit-perfect stream, as they're not susceptible to external EM radiation like coax cables are. In reality, there's no difference.
it also depends on the source of the sound. ant digital source (CD, Computer, DVD) will usually sound better with an optical cable, b/c chances are that the reciever has a higher quality DAC then the source. Unless you have a high end source of course.
But if your audio originates in the analouge domain (LP), then any conversion that the signal does degrades sound quality. We will leave the LP quality discussion for another time.
Also Optical is not susceptible to ANY type of interference. You just have to watch the bend radius. Any analouge cable and even digital coax(a smaller effect) IS susceptable to EMI from power coeds and amp's and other high voltage/current devices.
Depending on how old your reciever is your imac very well might have a better DAC. Mac's, in my experience, have very impressive sound output capibilities and low interference out of the box.
I'm hoping that when you say you have it hooked up to phono you mean via RCA jack, not the actual phono/turntable port b/c that has a small amplifier prior to the man amplifier in the reciever, and having ANY source other then an actual record player will increase the gain to much on that source and could damage something.
yes i mean the RCA (we call them phono in the UK) and I eat my words! hah. Well ive got a Marantz SR5200 amp which i also use for home cinema. Eesh! just looked and those external soundcards and theyve got a bit of a hefty pricetag!
you kiddin me? i paid $50 USD for mine at a local Circuit City.... i consider that way cheaper then the really good sound cards.....