Macbook optical out to spdif....

Question

i know this is not exactly the right forum for that,but as a logic user i know maybe some people here could get an idea.
i would love to know if anybody ever try to use the optical in/out(mini jack i think) to communicate with another digital device,like dat or whatever in spdif..?
if somebody tell me it work,i would love to know where and what i bought(adapter,optical converter etc) to make it work,
thx

Answer 1

First, let me say that I'm new to Mac, and I don't quite "get it" yet, but I've really struggled with this Optical I/O.
This is too bad, since the only reason that I bought it was to record music. Here is what I've learned.
You have to configure the Audio devices from a control panel that is in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder on the Hard Drive.
Within this Control Panel you can configure the use of this device, along with the Microphone input and the Built in Speaker Outputs. This Panel lets you select something called an Aggregate Device, which as best I can surmise is an integrated view of I/O for this port, but I can't quite master its use.
After a few weeks I was able to get the input working. I take a Digitial COAX S/PDIF signal out of a Behringer Digital mixing board using a Digital COAX cable (has RCA type plugs) that I bought a a local Best Buy.
You have to convert S/PDIF into optical by a conversion box. When I bought the Mac, they told me that I could find these converters at any Radio Shack. This has NOT proven to be true. I tried local Radio Shacks, Best Buys, Comp USAs, etc. and I even had some of them tell me that no such device existed.
Fortunately, there are many web sites where you can find this, and I used a place Called RAM Electronics from New Jersey. I bought a converter and a cable that had the standard square TOSLINK cable out put. I bought a cable that had the square connecter on one end and the mini TOSLINK connecter on the other. The Mini connector is what you need to input into your Mac.
After another week or two of figuring out how to get Logic Express to recognize the input, I was able to play guitar and record into the MBP by this path. I'd rate that figuring all this out was about on par with learning how to use a new expansion card and application on and Windows machine. However, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT ANY EASIER, and this was a big disappointment for me. I was looking forward to the mythical easy of use of the Mac, and did not find it.
Regarding the use of this port for output, I have not been able to figure that out yet. I discovered too late that the adapter I bought from RAM was a uni-directional converter, which didn't convert back from the optical signal to the S/PDIF digital. I went back to the web site and got a device which is bi-directional, and it just showed up this week. I've tried it, but I am not getting a signal out of the Mac, at all.
I guess I have another week ahead of me to try and figure this out.
The sound, when listened to via headphones is clean. The plug ins and effects work well. I just need to figure out how to drive the output, and then I'll be a happy camper. If anyone can help with that, I'd be much obliged.
Hope that helps.