Connecting to iMac optical audio out/ overall audio quality?

Just curious if anyone has done this yet? The iMac says it has optical audio out through the headphone jack but without an adapter I can't see how that's possible. My speakrs accept optical audio in and I really want to connect them to my future iMac. If not, how's the optical from the headphone jack? Is it possible to get 5.1 surround from that port?

firefighterpilot1 wrote:
The iMac says it has optical audio out through the headphone jack but without an adapter
I can't see how that's possible.
There are two "standard" optical-digital-audio connectors -- the original "square" one is
still used in most larger audio/video components. The newer/smaller one, used mainly in
portable gear, is exactly the same size as a mini headphone plug. The iMac's audio jacks
support either analog or digital-optical connections -- depending on which type of plug
is inserted.
Radio Shack carries adapters/converters/cables of both types (usually at outrageously
high prices). For online vendors, try http://monoprice.com -- great prices and a good
reputation for quality/service among the HDTV-fanatics on avsforum.com.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?cid=104&cp_id=10423&cs_id=1042301&pid=2671&seq=1&format=2
Is it possible to get 5.1 surround from that port?
http://www.thismuchiknow.co.uk/?p=24
Looby

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M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 monitors with imac optical digital out

I'm looking to purchase these monitors for my imac or ones very similar to them and was wondering how I go about hooking them up to the imac. I've read that I would have to use a mini-TOSLink cable to use the optical digital out, but how do I go from that to the RCA on the back of the monitors? Do they make a mini-TOSLink cable to RCA cable? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

aberrant_soul wrote:
I've read that I would have to use a mini-TOSLink cable to use the optical digital out,
but how do I go from that to the RCA on the back of the monitors?
No, the AV 40 inputs are line-level analog RCA; they 'don't understand' digital audio,
and the conversion requires more than a cable -- you'd need an D-to-A converter.
You could run an analog signal to the monitors with just a cheap miniplug-to-RCA
(analog) adaptor from Radio Shack; but if you want to use the iMac's digital output,
you'll need some sort of external digital-to-analog conversion hardware.
I don't know of any inexpensive stand-alone TOSLINK-to-analog converters, but
there are many USB-to-audio products that would allow you to feed digital audio
from the iMac to the AV 40's -- but through a USB port, rather than TOSLINK.
Search for "USB audio" on amazon.com and/or newegg.com.
Looby

27" imac optical audio

Hello, i'm trying to connect my imac to my audio receiver, so that i can listen to iTunes through my surround sound system. currently i am listening to music with my playstation3, which is connected to my receiver with an optical cable. I was told i could connect my iMac to my receiver with an optical cable, but it doesn't look like the iMac has the same port as my ps3. i went to 4 different stores today, looking for the right optical cord for the job, and nobody had it. so my question is, where can i get an optical cord that can connect my iMac to my receiver, so i can listen to iTunes thru my 5.1 surround sound? and also will the quality of sound from this setup (imac/receiver) match the quality of sound from my current (ps3/receiver) setup? and if you can't already tell, i am not the smartest when it comes to computers, so please try to keep your answers in layman's terms. haha. thank you

hello again, sorry it took so long for me to post on here again. I got that cable from the link you sent me, set it up to my receiver and it works great. i can now control my surround system with itunes . Only now i have another problem. i don't want my surround system to ALWAYS be the audio output for my computer, really only for listening to music. and now when i go into my sound settings, under output i have no option to change back to my built-in speakers on my imac, so my sound is constantly coming thru my surround system, which is uncool. seems like the only way to go back to my built-in speakers is to un-plug the new cable every time, which is undesirable. any solutions?

Connect 27" iMac to audio equipment WITHOUT losing built-in speaker audio.

Is it possible to connect my 27" Intel iMac to audio equipment (receiver, pre-amp, integrated amp, speakers) WITHOUT losing the audio from the built-in speakers (they make a nice center channel)? If so, how? Are there USB or FireWire devices that do the job?
Thanks!
Bart Brown

If you are playing music via iTunes using AirTunes and an Airport Express you can otherwise I don't know. I've been doing that for about 2 years and it works fine.
Regards,
Roger

How to make my computer send all the audio through optical audio cable instead of headphone jack?

Howdy,
To listen to online radios or CD's played from my computer, I used to connect the computer to my home entertainment system from the computer's headphone jack to the AUX port on my home entertainment system.
I now wanted to get better sound and purchased the optical audio cable. However, I don't know how to tell my computer to send the audio signal to the home entertainmeny system through the optical digital cable rather than through the headphone jack. If I just unplug the cable connecting the headphone jack and the AUX port and only have the PC and the system connected with the optical audio cable, I don't hear any sounds. I suspect the computer isn't sending any data through the optical audio port. I'm not able to find how I can adjust the settings on my computer so that from now all sounds are output through the optical audio.
1) I'd like to do that mainly for my HP desktop (configuration below) and any advice on how to do that would be appreciated.
2) I also have a HP laptop (configuration below) and was wondering if that would be doable too (even though it doesn't appear to have a audio out, but it has HDMI out - can one convert it to optical audio?
Thanks in advance!
My desktop is:
ENVY h8xt,
• Windows 8 64
• 3rd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]
• 12GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]
• 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
• No secondary hard drive
• 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7570 [DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter]
• 300W Power supply
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Wireless-N LAN card (1x1)
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB 2.0 (front), 2 USB 3.0 (top)
• No Additional Office Software
• No additional Security Software
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And the laptop:
HP ENVY 15t Quad
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This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hello @_goma,
Welcome to the HP Forums, I hope you enjoy your experience!
I have read your post on how you are looking to make your computer send all the audio through an optical audio cable instead of the headphone jack, and I would be happy to assist you in this matter!
To configure your desktop to enable the optical audio cable, I recommend following the steps below:
Step 1. Click the Windows Key Button on your desktop
Step 2. Type "Control Panel"
Step 3. Select "Control Panel" in the top right-hand corner
Step 4. Select Sound
Step 5. Under the Playback tab, right-click the white area below the devices available
Step 6. Select "Show Disabled" and "Show Disconnected Devices"
Step 7. Connect your Optical Audio Cable
Step 8. Select your Optical Audio Cable as the default device and click "Enable"
Since it is not possible to convert the HDMI out to audio out on your notebook computer, it is unfortunate that the notebook is not able to connect with an optical audio cord.
Please re-post with the results of your troubleshooting, and I look forward to your reply!
Regards
MechPilot
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Bug: Target Display Mode + optical audio cable = black screen

Using Target Display Mode on my iMac 27" (late-2012) with my MacBook Air (mid-2013) always resulted in a black screen on the iMac.
Hardware used:
MacBook Air mid-2013 (Mac OS X 10.8.4)
iMac 27" late-2012 (Mac OS X 10.8.4)
Thunderbolt cable between MBA and iMac
optical audio cable in iMac (digital audio out through optical mini jack plug)
Now, enter Target Display Mode on the iMac keyboard (Cmd+F2).
Result: black screen on the iMac (MBA is okay, optical audio is okay)
Workaround: unplug optical audio cable before entering Target Display Mode. Plug in the optical digital audio out cable after TDM is working and all is fine.
I sent a bug report through the feedback form. Just posting here to save others the few hours I had to spend finding the cause and workaround!
-- Richard

Thank you!! Saved me a trip to the Genius Bar.
Confirmed: Bug also exists in the new 2013 iMac under Mavericks. Unplugging the optical cable before entering Target Display Mode solved the problem.

How to connect Digital Optical Audio output iMac with Receiver Input

I have connected iMac with onkyo hts-3300 home theater system receiver through optical audio TosLink Cable.( http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Optical-Audio-TosLink-Cable/dp/B001ZU3G2I/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1292865309&sr=8-2 ). Unfortunately there is no sound coming out from the Home theater system. I have verified the Receiver optical input is working fine by connecting with my TV optical audio digital out put and the it's working great. The only difference between TV and iMac is, on my TV, it has optical audio digital output and I can use this cable (http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-A102-02M-Digital-connectors/dp/B0002WPREU/ref=s r11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1297320792&sr=1-1) to make it work. I can also verified my optical audio TosLink Cable working because I can see the red light coming out from the cable. So the only problem could be from iMac. I doubt I need to change the additional setting to configure iMac to use external optical audio setting instead of the buit in audio setting. Hoe can I able to do it? or my iMac(IMAC 21.5"/3.06/2X2GB/500GB/9400M-ITP
MB950ZP/A) doesn't support optical digital audio out put? I have follow this thread http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12769423&#12769423 and to my surprise which doesn't work out for me. I doubt that i need to change some setting, but when I got to setting>> sound I cannot change any setting. I was quite depressed aldy. Can someone answer my question as i m a newbie here. Thanks a lot

Thank you very much for your reply.
@Király : May i know how to Open Audio Midi Setup? Is this Audio Midi Setup is in the locatated in the Setting in Mac Snow Leapord OS? or how to locate this "Audio Midi Setup " in Mac enviroment. Is it possible to open this Audio Midi Setup in windows 7 enviroment also? I Just want to get the audio from my iMac in Hts-3300 onkyo home theatre. YOur help is much appreciated
@rkaufmann87 : Thank you very much for your sharing about this http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ connection. for me what i understand is the digital audio output in airportexpress is the same as the audio out put in iMac in terms of details sepcs. So this airportexpress will only help you connect wirelessly to home theatre system, rather than waired connection. Other than that nothig much difference. So there is no point for me to spend extra bucks to attain the wireless connection. Unless the airportexpress have optical digital input, which i believe not. Correct me if I m worng, thanks

Does anyone use Optical Audio out to connect studio monitors?

I am planning to snatch a Mac Mini as my studio upgrade. I am also planning on buying some studio monitors (as opposed to just regular speakers). I was wondering what people use to get great, accurate results for under $600. The Mini can achieve optical audio out, apparently. Are there studio monitors that use digital, optical audio as a means to connect? How do fellow Logic home studio users have their audio out set up?

Scroto Saggins wrote:
well, optical is digital (right?), so wouldnt it be the only way to get the best, uncolored sound out of a Mac? what other (better) options are there? I started this topic because I dont really notice studio monitors that use optical, and I am wondering why? Whats the downside?
Because the ones that do, are way over the budget of most people on this forum.
I have this pair :
http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/General/Product.aspx?PId=28&MId=5
They retail at around 1500 per pair. They are not the most expensive ones out there, rather the less expensive ones with digital inputs.
Cheers

What type of connectors needed for optical audio out?

Hi, looking at upgrading to an imac and I noticed on the spec it has optical audio out which would be great to go into my audio interface. What connector do I need? Is it TOSLINK type?
Had a look at the picture of the rear but couldn't see an optical out port, only the jacks for analogue. Where does the optical come out!?
Thanks!

If you want to connect the iMac to something that has Toslink then you would need a cable similar to this:
http://www.amazon.com/6ft-Toslink-Mini-Cable/dp/B000FMXKC8/ref=pdcp_e_1?pf_rd_p=413863501&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0002MQGRM&pf_rd_ m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rdr=1TDMZGX7YP22Q17RP1X3
I use one myself, they work fine.

Does the MBA have an optical audio out (toslink)?

Does the MBA have an optical audio out (toslink)?

The MacBook Pro and iMacs have digital audio out routed through the headphone jack. A physical converter (costing a few cents) must be used to connect a regular TOSLINK cable.
The MacBook Air apparently does not have this feature.
As to true Thunderbolt 'adaptors' I have yet to see any hit the market. I would suggest not holding your breath while waiting for useful Thunderbolt technology to appear--one day perhaps, but not now. I would love to be proven wrong about this--I could really use the Thunderbolt<->FW800 adapter

No HDMI or Optical Audio on my TV - how to connect Apple TV

I am trying to set up my new 3rd generation Apple TV to a 1st generation HDTV that has only one HDMI input abd no optical audio inputs. The single HDMI input is connected to my cable box.
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C Nelson wrote:
There are many HDMI switches out there. Any advice on which ones are best?
I cannot personally recommend one as I have no need to use one.
Read reviews for the ones in your price range.
Also, does the HDMI switch transmit audio?
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I have a further question about this. It turns out I do have 2 optical audio ports but I was told I wouldn't need it if it was connected via hdmi. I have 4 ports and they are all in use so the question is whether the best solution is to just get an optical audio cable and connect it directly or get an hdmi splitter so I can add in the Apple TV?

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We are using a brand new (received yesterday 12-19-10) iMac 21.5. We are using this for our media presentation computer at our church. I would like to connect the audio to our sound board through the optical audio connection port. Can someone suggest the proper cable for us to use to accomplish this?
Thank you!

Hi!
The cable you need would be one like this one from Amazon. You can order from there or your local Radio Shack may carry a similar cable.
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Roger

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I was wondering if it is possible to connect the optical audio out on my ATV2 to the 3.5mm audio jack on my bose Companion 3 speakers?
-thanks

To be honest I have no idea when it comes to this kind of stuff. I did find this link though.
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Connecting to iMac optical audio out/ overall audio quality?

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