Audio In/Optical Digital Audio In

I have a pair of JBL Duet computer speakers connected to the Headphone Out port of my Mac mini. They work fine.
QUESTION: Is it possible to play a 5-disc carousel CD player (Sony/JVC/Sherwood) through the Mac mini & those speakers WITHOUT first going through an amplifier?
On the CD players, I see three (3) possibilities using an adapter cable into the mini's Audio In/Optical Digital Audio In port:
1. Headphone Jack w/Volume Control > Could an analog cable be used to go from the CD player's front 1/4" headphone jack to a 3.5mm stereo mini-phono jack into the mini? Would a CD player's front panel headphone jack provide sufficient volume, or just enough for headphones?
2. Analog > Use the CD player's rear L/R analog out (RCA-type) into the mini's 3.5mm stereo mini-phono jack. Would there be sufficient volume without an amplifier?
3. Digital > Use the CD player's rear Digital Audio (Optical) Out to the mini's Optical Digital Audio In. Would there be sufficient volume without an amplifier?
Any advice/recommendation with specific info on appropriate adapter cable would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Mac mini Intel Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Thanks, good thought.
I believe this variation will work also: I see your idea requires Quicktime Pro for that new recording (monitoring) function. I only have Quicktime Player (no recording), but I do have Toast 8's CD Spin Doctor, which will provide the same monitor/output function (select "Play Input through Speakers" and slide speaker icon to the right).
Other readers-- If any other cable connections work, please add to the discussion. Thanks.

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HT2844 iMac 27"(late 2009), Audio in/Optical digital audio out port, stopped recognizing my new Bose speaker system, previously working...

Hello,
My iMac 27"(late 2009), Audio in/Optical digital audio out port, stopped recognizing my new Bose speaker system, previously working through that port. I tested the speaker system through my iPhone, and it works fine. I hooked it up to the Headphone out/Optical digital audio in port, and it works through that port also. I did a computer restart, I also checked all wiring and did a system repair on the computer. I also restarted the computer in mode where I could use the system utility, and the computer still did not correct the matter, and it reported everything as being "ok". I wented into "sound", through system preferences, and the computer does not recognize anything I plug into the Audio in/Optical digital audio out port. When I plug the speaker sysytem into the headphone out/optical digital audio out port, it does recognize the Bose speaker system as being "headphones".
Reading through a lot of forums, I hear everything from compatibility, to the port being stuck, and on and on. Since the port was working before, and just quit working one day, I wonder if there is a capacitor or fuse or some type of similar thing is blown, and causing the port to be unfunctionable. Maybe the port went bad, but before this time, I had never used it, and the computer does not move around, and I never plug in and pull wiring out unless needing to, and that being rare.
Here is a link to Costco, where I bought the system, and the exact system I have, if this is any help: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku= A4092931&ST=pla&dgc=ST&cid=262075&lid=4742361&acd=1230980794501410
By the way, I am running OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5). I upgraded to Mavericks about a month ago, and expeirienced a number of issues, and had to take my iMac into Apple. Talking with the tech, I decided to wait for a while more before I upgraded to Mavericks. I try and keep the computer maintained.
If any of you have any ideas regadrding wear and tear, and fix I can do, etc., besides having to take my computer into Apple? Thank you, and potentially all of you, for your time and effort in helping me with this issue. Thank you kindly.
davE

Okay, davE, first, you have posted in the "Mac Pro" forum (not Macbook Pro), so we can't be super helpful
but we help you. First, hold down the Option key while clicking on the speaker icon at the top of your screen. This should show you all the inputs and outputs you have. you could check in "About this Mac" then "More info" to see whatever's recognized. Then, maybe, fire up Audio MIDI. your speaker system should show up there. something might have gotten set incorrectly. You can test it there. I guess you are using the good ol' analog cable for connection, and it works on your iPhone, so the cable isn't bad. You could try this. it 's an adapter which might solve your problem
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HBWYQ6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
depending on which model of Bose speaker you have, you might try doing a product reset
turn off speakers...unplug power cord from outlet...wait 1 minute..plug cord into outlet..turn on speakers..
\\turning off automatic standby||
press and hold top of control pod for 6 seconds until you hear 2 tones that go from high to low
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I never expected APPLE wouldn't make a mac that didn't have a proper mic jack?
It has a proper one, a good one, a professional one, not the toy that comes with most PCs. Apple has used line level analog audio input for years.
From Wikipedia;Line level is a term used to denote the strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog sound information between audio components such as CD and DVD players, TVs, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles.
In contrast to line level, there are weaker audio signals, such as those from microphones and instrument pickups, and stronger signals, such as those used to drive headphones and loudspeakers. The strength of the various signals does not necessarily correlate with the output voltage of a device; it also depends on the source's output impedance, or the amount of current available to drive different loads.

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You need the free LineIn app from Rogue Amoeba.
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/freebies/
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I'm afraid that's very misleading and inaccurate.
Firstly an adapter won't work, it would need to be a converter and then if it's a compliant converter it won't let you watch HDCP protected content such as that from netflix or from the iTunes Store.
Secondly, whilst I'm not going to debate whether component or HDMI is better, component is certainly not better if it's been converted from an HDMI signal. You can't make anything better by simply converting it to another type of signal.

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It is a jack that does both standard analog, and optical digital, on the one connection.
You can plug in a standard mini-headphone (1/8") like most iPod/music devices use, including 1/8" to two cable Y adapters for plugging into stereos, etc.
You can also buy a funky adapter that looks like a standard mini-headphone adapter, but it is plastic and has an optical jack on the back where the cable would usually be. This allows you to connect the MB digitally to any equipment (like a home stereo receiver) that accepts optical input, or plug things like CD players, DVD players, etc. into the MB's input. If you check out the online Apple Store, they sell a Belkin kit that has the adapter with a short optical cable and they have a picture so you can see an example.

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people say that if the atv2 dont have a connection to the tv optical is muted
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AC

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Hi alece,
Just to clarify something;
When using an optical cable there are several standards of audio that can pass through the cable:
S/PDIF - a stereo signal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spdif
AC3 or Dolby Digital - up to 5.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ac3
Dolby Digital Plus - up to 7.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DolbyDigitalPlus
ADAT Optical - up to 8 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADAT_Lightpipe
MADI - up to 64 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADI
I´m sure other people can add more to the list if they want to, my point is that these signals can pass through the exact same kind of optical cable.
The important bit to know is what does your equipment and software support... in theory your question is quite logical, a software can play 5.1 surround to a optical output like Apple DVD Player does with the built-in sound card of a modern mac. However, Logic does not support live encoding of AC3. That is why you have to output the surround mix in Logic to a sound card with at least 6 channels (5+1 as in 5.1) connected to your speaker system. Typically this would be 5 active studio monitors plus a sub. If you were thinking to use an existing stereo I would not recommend it since most consumer speakers have no limiters to protect them from damage (but may be possible depending on your amplifiers inputs)
I hope this answered your question
Cheers Espen
http://www.midiamore.com.au/

Can I connect the optical digital audio cable to my tuner in order to use my stereo speakers?

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thats why I do and mute the tv so there is only 1 audio source as they are never 100% in sync when you use both optical and hdmi

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Message was edited by: Dman3284

Dman3284 wrote:
Shouldn't the HDMI cables carry the sound along with the video? Do I really need the optical digital audio cable at all?
yes they do, but you don't have your kit connected up so that it would do it.
if you wanted to use the HDMI to carry the audio you would need to connect the appletv direct to the soundbar - as it is just now you aren't doing that.

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I'm trying to use the optical audio output on my late 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 (A1186), but no audio signal is received by my Sony audio amplifier even though the "Optical digital audio out" port and my TOSLINK cable show a red glow,
System Preferences says: "The selected device has no output controls." That same message has been displayed for Sound > Digital Out ever since my Mac was new, but this is the first time I've wanted to use that sound output.
Did my Mac Pro come with the needed controls? If "yes," how do I activate them? If "no," where can I obtain them?
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Don

yep-try looking under system preferences-->sound--or fire up Audio Midi Setup and see if you can get it switched over that way. Dunno about your reciever. You may have to switch it over to digital on that input. I'll turn it over to someone more capable than me at the moment. Gotta go
John B

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Hi alece,
Just to clarify something;
When using an optical cable there are several standards of audio that can pass through the cable:
S/PDIF - a stereo signal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spdif
AC3 or Dolby Digital - up to 5.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ac3
Dolby Digital Plus - up to 7.1 surround - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DolbyDigitalPlus
ADAT Optical - up to 8 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADAT_Lightpipe
MADI - up to 64 channels of audio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADI
I´m sure other people can add more to the list if they want to, my point is that these signals can pass through the exact same kind of optical cable.
The important bit to know is what does your equipment and software support... in theory your question is quite logical, a software can play 5.1 surround to a optical output like Apple DVD Player does with the built-in sound card of a modern mac. However, Logic does not support live encoding of AC3. That is why you have to output the surround mix in Logic to a sound card with at least 6 channels (5+1 as in 5.1) connected to your speaker system. Typically this would be 5 active studio monitors plus a sub. If you were thinking to use an existing stereo I would not recommend it since most consumer speakers have no limiters to protect them from damage (but may be possible depending on your amplifiers inputs)
I hope this answered your question
Cheers Espen
http://www.midiamore.com.au/

Audio In/Optical Digital Audio In

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