Digital Audio I/O Question

Can the digital audio in/out ports on the Mac Pro pass 192kHz spdif signal?
Thanks!
Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Welcome Rusty.J. Great post however For that type of signal, its best to buy a independent soundcard/interface, Can't expect so much from just having a factory computer that already does so much other stuff, which is second to none.
Good interface aren't that expensive compared to five years ago, therefore adding a interface should,nt be too much of a big deal if your serious about what you do, and if you,re force in use-ing Spidf, or getting Audio quality to that level.
<Can the digital audio in/out ports on the Mac Pro pass 192kHz spdif signal?> The highest it will give on the out of spdif is 96 khz in AC-3 encoded audio format.
And the best in on spidf is also 96khz/ sample rates: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, or 96 kHz that i have already mention.
Fr. BlayZay.

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Question regarding mic plugged into audio in/optical digital audio in port

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Mac OS X (10.4.9)

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.

New PB digital audio specs question.

I just looked at the specifications posted on the developer note for the new powerbooks. The digital audio in/out is very welcome. As I read through it, I found that the PB is listed as providing digital audio output via SPDIF AND AC3 formats. The question is, does anyone know if that AC3 output means its passing multichannel AC3 to be decoded outside? or is it a stereo AC3? Can anyone check? thanks... btw, the specs look good for digital in/out.

Thanks for your post, Machive 6.1. I had in fact read that article... in only states the following about AC3:
During playback of a 1KHz, full-scale sine wave (S/PDIF output format, 44.1KHz output sample rate, 24-bit sample depth, unless otherwise specified) the digital audio output has the following nominal specifications:
Jack Type: 3.5mm Analog/Optical Combo Jack
Output Data Formats: S/PDIF (IEC60958-3), AC3
Output Sample Rates: 32KHz, 44.1KHz, 48KHz, 64KHz, 88.2KHz, 96KHz
Bits per Sample: 16 or 24 (S/PDIF),16 (AC3)
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20KHz, +/-0dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): >130dB
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD+N): <-130dB (0.00003%)
Channel Separation: >130dB
It is not clear whether that is multichannel or stereo AC3 output...
Anyone has tried it?

Digital Audio Question

My G5 has these digital audio ports.
Can I hook that up to a theatre surround sound reciever and jam?
Is that what digital audio is for?
Thanks

The Digital Output on the iMac can output whatever Digital Audio your Cable can carry and your Amplifier can Decode.
Unfortunately, most Surround Sound Amplifiers can only accept 5.1 Dolby Digital 2, 5.1 (or 7.1) DTS and 2.0 Channel LPCM.
Your Mac can Pass-through Dolby Digital 2 or DTS (from DVD Player, for example), but 5.1 and 7.1 Audio encoded in other formats (like AAC or WMA) has to be downcoded to 2.0 LPCM to be sent over Optical Cable to your Amp.
If you really have to playback that carefully crafted AAC 5.1 Audio track with surround sound, you will have to use the Analogue Input of your Amplifier, and an Analogue Sound card like the Griffin FireWave.

Digital audio output question

Right now I have my Mini's audio output connected to my amp with a stereo mini jack. But as I understand it the audio out jack can also accept a digital (toslink) connector. There is surprisingly little documentation on exactly how this works or what cables are needed. Anyone care to enlighten me?
Thanx

Hi David,
Many people use the toslink optical audio cable.
There are different brands available.
I purchased several of these when they were on sale from Apple.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TL955LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA3Ng&mco=MTA4NDk5MjQ
Note the tip adapter in the second and third photo.
This adapter lets you plug the cable into the audio out jack for the digital audio out portion.

The Mother of All G4 Digital Audio Project?

Alright, my apologies right from the get-go: I'm new to this user-friendly and intuitive world of Macs. So if this post is long-winded and excessive, please excuse my bad manners and blame it on living in the world of PCs and M$ for far too long.
To start, the one thing I've found that is consistent no matter what computing world I've explored is the cost of upgrading... but first, let me explain a couple of things.
For one -- I'm finished with my PC. I'm fairly computer saavy, and have never bought a pre-built system in my life. My first computer I built in the 8th grade from spare parts and a Pentium 90 chip. Although I've enjoyed my time playing around and working with PCs in the past, I've recently become a father (and my wife is now at home 24/7). Suffice it to say I don't have much time to troubleshoot my PC as often as I use to, and with my wife using the computer more and more, I really would like to be able to offer her something intuitive and easy to use (unfortunately, this usually isn't a common description of anything related to the world of M$ and PCs).
Anyways, her entire extended family has been Mac based for awhile now, and I've grown more and more desirous of owning a Mac at home. Well, about 4 months ago I was given an old G4 Digital Audio for free. This gift, coupled with my increasing frustration with the PC, has lead me to contemplate ditching the PC (selling it off), and trying to fully pimp out the G4 to its maximum capacity. FOR CHEAP.
I realize that a Mac Mini would be pretty cheap and cost effective, or perhaps just selling the G4 and putting that money towards something else (like a Mac laptop) might make more sense... but I'm limited on a couple of fronts.
1) There is the issue of some money having already been invested into this G4.
2) I need to keep costs down, while also retaining the ability to expand (my PC currently has 3 HDDs at a total capacity of 800gb)... and it just doesn't seem feasible with a Mac Mini.
3) I already have the G4 -- and in my wife's eyes, expanding this rig is cheaper than buying a brand new Mac (this point is clearly debatable).
4) We really just need a solid system at home, easy for her to use, while having enough muscle for me to use the Adobe/Macromedia/Final Cut software packages.
So... I'd like to start pushing this G4 to its limits performance wise, while not breaking the bank unnecessarily. I've looked into upgrading the logic board and CPU, maxing out the system memory, purchasing a SATA controller board and new HDDs, and finally springing for a new video card. My question is this:
Can anyone shed some light on upgrade options that would suit my needs, without giving my wife reason to leave me?! For example, when looking to upgrade the G4 to a wireless system, I opted to purchase a Belkin Wireless G (F5D7000) instead of a official Airport card. It works flawlessly, is G compatible, and was only $25. Are there similar options when looking at SATA controller cards (the Sonnet cards are really pricey)? PC133 memory -- should I buy new or look for sticks in older PCs? Buy a pc video card and tweak it to work in a Mac, etc? Should I buy a single cpu upgrade, or spring for the pricey duals (is the performance benefit in OSX and the various design software packages worth it? - I've seen varied reports on this)? 1.6ghz vs. dual 1.4ghz??
Any help in this endeavor to build the Mother of All G4 Digital Audios would be wonderful. I know this post is lengthy, but I needed to vent some frustrations, and ask for a helping hand in this transition from PC to Mac! Thanks to all who've read this beast of a post -- and if anyone has anything to contribute (either suggestions or directions to some relatively cheap upgrades - new or used), it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks again!

Hi-
I'll keep things brief.
CPU- The following will give you the most bang for the buck-
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEG42M1500/
Memory- Doesn't have to break the bank, but, you must buy quality-
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=163&type=Memory&TI=1047&shoup grds=Show+Upgrades
http://www.datamemorysystems.com/viewcat.aspQ_C_E761
Graphics- a flashed PC 4x AGP card will give you the most for the cheapest
Sata Controller Card- the following is hard to beat:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SATAPCI2P/
Or, get the bundle:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SATAM500GPCI/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SATAM10TBPCI/
If you need cheaper, or used, check:
http://groups.google.com/group/lemswap
or, eBay.
Good Luck!
G4 AGP(450)Sawtooth Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2ghzPPC,1.62gbSDRAM, ATI9800, DVR-109,(IntHD)120&160,LaCie160,23"Cinema Display

[Solved] Difficulty getting digital audio to play in all applications

This is probably a noobish question...
My motherboard supports digital audio out via S/PDIF cable (optical), as well as standard analog audio. I have a stereo receiver that I've plugged my optical cable into.
When I go to systemsettings > Multimedia > Phonon > Audio Playback, I put the "HDA Intel S/PDIF Digital" device on top and clicked Test. I could hear the test tone (playback source is PCM).
However, if I go to play an MP3 or whatever, I have to go into the settings for each application and tell it to use that particular device. Some applications (such as Firefox) do not have obvious settings for audio playback. Is there a way to solve the problem once and for all (tell the audio system "send everything through the digital device all the time")?
(I read the relevant section of the wiki, but it is focused on getting sound out of your digital device, not making it the default.)
Any other advice or gotchas about using digital audio would also be appreciated.
Thanks!
Last edited by nathanb (2012-01-25 20:58:42)

Bah, I did a system update and rebooted and now digital out doesn't work at all!
[nathanb@nathanb-box ~] aplay -L
null
Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Analog
Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Analog
4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Analog
4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Analog
5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Analog
5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Analog
7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Intel,DEV=0
HDA Intel, AD198x Digital
IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
Devices don't seem to have changed...
[root@nathanb-box nathanb]# amixer | grep IEC -A 8
Simple mixer control 'IEC958',0
Capabilities: pvolume cvolume pswitch pswitch-joined cswitch cswitch-joined penum
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 39 Capture 0 - 31
Front Left: Playback 39 [100%] [0.00dB] [on] Capture 31 [100%] [12.00dB] [on]
Front Right: Playback 39 [100%] [0.00dB] [on] Capture 31 [100%] [12.00dB] [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Default PCM',0
Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
Playback channels: Mono
Mono: Playback [on]
Simple mixer control 'IEC958 Playback Source',0
Capabilities: enum
Items: 'PCM' 'ADC1' 'ADC2' 'ADC3'
Item0: 'PCM'
Channels still seem to be there...
My .asoundrc looks the same as above. But just for fun, I also tried removing it and restarting alsa, with no change.
I'm testing output by going to systemsettings > Multimedia > Phonon and clicking the Test button with "HDA Intel (AD198x Digital)" selected. Nothing comes out through SPDIF, though it does play through analog (I have two separate pairs of headphones plugged in, one to the analog jack and one to a headphone amp plugged through the digital port) so I can tell which port the audio is coming from).
I've checked the hardware volume, and it appears to be in order. The amp is not reporting any audio signal on the optical port. I tried switching out the cable just to be paranoid, and still nothing. I believe this is a software problem.
Any ideas?

Audio out options question - HDMI + component?

I have looked thru the manual and forums, but have not seen the answer to my question.
If I hook an ATV to my TV with HDMI, and also use the Right and Left (red and white component) audio out cables to my stereo (which does not have TOS link digital audio capability), will I get sound delivered to BOTH units at the same time? Basically, I'd like sound to go to my TV and my stereo.
I see in the ATV manual that it is possible to use HDMI and digital audio out. DVI video and component audio out, but I need HDMI video/audio AND component audio out.

The easiest way to accomplish this is to use the HDMI cable from the ATV to the TV and then export the sound from the TV with with either RCA, toslink, or digital audio out cables to your stereo. That is what I do at home. I have a DVR cable box, DVD player, and PS3 Blue Ray player and a HD video camera all hooked up via HDMI to a HDMI hub to the TV and then I can switch the stereo from either the TV audio out (all of the above) or the airport express where I stream music to the Stereo. There is no doubt that the sound quality from the BR HDMI cable of the PS3 has a superior sound.
A tech at curcuit city told me there is a difference in sound between, a expensive Monster HDMI cable and the less expensive cables now available on line, but I have not tried a A/B comparison yet, but am planing to do so. $50-60$ vrs. a few dollars on line aftermarket.
Hope this helps.

How to Output Digital Audio to Male Mini USB Connector?

I would like to input digital audio from my iPhone 5 to my headphone DAC/amplifier. The latter has a mini USB female connector for digital signal input. I envisage the following options, listed in the order of preference:
1. A cable with a male Lightning connector to a male Mini USB connector. This would be the most elegant solution but does such a cable exist?
2. Apple Lighting to female Micro USB adapter plus a male Micro USB to male Mini USB cable. Does this pass audio?
3. Apple Lightning to male USB connector (the cable which came with the phone) plus a female USB to male Mini USB connector. This should work technically because the Apple stock cable does output audio from the phone to my car audio system.
4. Any other ideas?
Which of the above options would be best to send digital audio from my iPhone 5 to my headphone DAC/amplifier? Thank you.

I believe you are not correct. You likely have not read my question entirely because I said that:
"This should work technically because Apple stock cable does output audio from the phone to my car audio system".
In other words, I connect my iPhone 5 using the supplied Lightning charging cable to the USB input of the car audio system and the music plays just fine.
However, I need a cable that has a Mini USB male connector, not a regular USB connector. Is there such a thing, or should I go with Options 2 or 3?
Thanks.

Component cables & digital audio???

I'm connecting my DVD player to my receiver, i want to use the 3 component (green,red,blue) for video and the digital coaxial (orange) for audio! So my question is, can I buy a component 5 cable set and use either the red or white for my digital audio? Or do I get less quality doing that? Is there a better way?

Sorry, but in what way is this question related to Apple computers or devices? Are you referring to connecting your computer to your receiver and TV? If so, we need to know what model of Mac you're asking about before anyone can provide any useful advice.
Regards.

I want to find the digital audio output on my Pavilion vd6853ea notebook

I have spent far too long trying to find where this output is located.
I have a very good Hifi and at the moment am using a USB cable to connect to my DAC.
It looks like there is a realtec digital output somewhere on the notebook as it show up when I go into the playback devices and it tests ok visually.
The 3.5 jack plug is just analog and not a hybrid spdif.
Where is it????????
Please help as I am getting really fed up now!
This question was solved.
View Solution.

HI,
macapaca666 wrote:
Thank you so much for the fast reply.
I thought that may have to be the case.
Can I please ask you a few other questions?
If I want to get a digital audio output not using a HDMI (My DAC doesn't have this input), can I get a good result with something like a Musical Fidelity V link USB to S/Pdif converter or a M2Tech Hiface digital audio interface? Sorry, I cannot make a recommendation on either of those products as I am not familiar with them.
Is it possible to change the sound card with an optical or coaxial output? Your notebook's sound is an integrated solution. It is a chip soldered (integrated) onto the system board. It can't be updated.
Thanks again for the kind help!
John
Best regards,
erico
****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

Combined optical digital audio port

Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)
Dumb Question but what exactly does this mean, what types of connections does this port take? only headphone jack?

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.

G550 digital audio out

My question is the following:
How can i send digital audio to an amplifier from my g550 laptop?

toslink cable will also work with MBP.

Digital Audio Outs not mentioned in manual.

I have a Pavillion p6140f PC. Below the monitor connector, above the mouse and keyboard inputs are "Digital Audio Out" RCA jacks.
My manual doesn't mention these, whatsoever.
I tried plugging them into my Yamaha mixer inputs with no success.
Is there a certain driver needed to operate these?
I recently reformatted the PC. It used to be Vista, then was Windows 7 Home and is now Win7Premium 64bit.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Have you plugged in the HDMI cable and connected it to a device such as a LCD display ot HDTV?
Have you set the input on the TV or display to Computer?
Have you checked in the Control Panel in Sound to see if it shows ready? ( that would mean you had successfully installed the driver for your notebook's display)
Does your notebook have switchable graphics or only the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD inbuilt video solution?
What is the installed operating system for your notebook?
Please answer all of the questions if you really would like soome help with this.
****Please click on Accept As Solution if a suggestion solves your problem. It helps others facing the same problem to find a solution easily****
2015 Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience Consumer

What are the iTunes digital audio levels in and out

I am having a lot of trouble with finding out and setting the audio levels in and out of iTunes.
Digital audio has 16bits at '1' with an analog signal level of +12dB, 24bit has all'1's at +18dB. Making the overhead capability for CD 16bit 12dB and that for HD 24bit 18dB.
I would like to record (using SoundStudio) a set of standard audio tones from 20-20kHz with digital levels of "all 1's" 16bit, or +12 dB analog level, "all 1's" 24bit ditto, and the same for levels of analog 0dB (-12dB digital) for 16bit and 0dB(-18dB digital) for 24bit.
What I am finding is that if I get Sound Studio to inert a tone at what it calls 0dB, save it as AIFF, then the output it from iTunes I get a much higher level, around +8dB or so!
Any ideas?

As an addition to my first question. I asked the makers of Sound Studio about levels. They tell me that the Mac standard is to have all '1's in the digital stream defined as 0dB.
Which helps as I can now record a tone at the CD level of -12dB and the HD audio level of -18dB. And if I make recordings I know to keep the input levels well into the green, not yellow and definitely not up to the red.
As you say the output of iTunes is boosted, and from my measurements this boost is in the analog circuitry and is about +8dB.
I woul dnot recommend turing down the iTunes volume control as this brings in the digital volume reduction, which depends on the algorithm they have implemented. This is not so bad for iTunes as the Audio Core software works at 32bit and can handle 16bit volume changes fairly well. But on the iPad it is different as iOS is only 16bit audio so the volume algorithm is poor. So always leave the volume at maximum and turn down your HiFi volume control!
Or use a digital output to an external DAC as the iTunes volume control is then disabled. Set Audio MIDI for 24bit output and you are ready to go with HD Audio.

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