Chris, Excellent reply & very informative. It brought all my old-days of chasing the perfect, next best thing, in surround-sound. Boy oh boy, when I consider all the money I put in to that stuff through out the late 80's & 90's, it makes me blush. Anyway, again, great simplified explanation of a complex subject.
CJ On Apr 23, 2012, at 7:47 AM, Chris Blouch wrote: > So the Mac actually has two kinds of audio output, analog stereo and > optical/digital multi-channel. > > The first is probably more familiar which would be to have a mini-headphone > cable with standard left/right RCA connectors on the other end which you run > to an input on the receiver and you get nice stereo sound. There are only two > sound channels so if you want to get all fancy with a subwoofer you would > need some kind of crossover gear to send only the low sounds to a subwoofer > and leave everything else in your main speakers. This probably isn't done > much for home listening but I've known audiophiles who went to this trouble. > > The second is a new(ish) setup where up to six separate channels of audio are > combined into one high-speed data channel and sent via fiber optic cable from > your mac to your receiver. The hadphone jack on your Mac will detect when a > miniTOS link cable is plugged in and turn on its optical output hardware. The > other end goes into any rececent (last 10 years or so) home theater receiver > with optical inputs. The receiver will decode the optical audio signal into > left, right, center, subwoofer, rear left and rear right channels. Usually > there are built-in amps for all the channels except the subwoofer, so you > just connect 5 standard speakers to the 5 plugs and you get all the surround > sound goodness. Most consumer subwoofers come with a built in amp tuned to > the speaker so the receiver just gives a 'line level' output on an RCA jack > to run to the subwoofer. That's why they call it 5.1 for five speakers plus > the subwoofer. > > As far as what you actually get, for most music recordings you only get > stereo, so having all the other speakers doesn't do much for you. Most > receivers have all kinds of fancy modes to put 'something' in the other > speakers but in the end it's just stereo. Most receivers also will do > trickery if you, for example, don't have a subwoofer. All the 5.1 stuff kicks > in when you have a DVD with 5.1 audio tracks, which is pretty much all of > them. So of course if you buy a DVD of some concert you'll probably get the > full surround stuff, but really old movies are just stereo since that's all > they had back then. Sony, back in 99, tried something called a Super Audio CD > which had all the channels at high quality like a DVD but was just for audio. > It pretty much flopped but is still around and some folks really like it. I > haven't tried playing one of these on my Mac so I'm not sure what it would do. > > Not sure what your budget is but you can pick up a plain jane 200w receiver > for about $150 new, so don't spend to much on that old used unit. If you're > waiting for one that has true all mechanical/analog controls you might find > they are quite old and probably have a lot of noise in the controls from > years of use/dust/dirt. Another possibility is to just get a real amplifier > and be done. Most amps have just one pair of inputs, real physical left/right > volume controls and one pair of speaker inputs. Prices on plan old amps > range from around $90 for a 300w cheapie to thousands for high power high end > stuff. I've used QSC 300w stereo rackmount amps for years which run about > $300. Since the mac output is line level you can run it (with the right > cable) right into one of these things and be done. > > Hopefully this will help wrap your head and not warp it :) > > CB > > On 4/22/12 3:55 PM, Lewis Alexander wrote: >> if you just want surround sound and nothing else, you're using your mac as >> your main media source, the surround sound controllers on the market can >> automatically handle setup for you, as long as you send your main signal >> from the mac to the source, it should all go pretty well. >> >> I recommend Sony for their quality and accessibility. >> >> >> >> On 22 Apr 2012, at 20:51, Eric Caron wrote: >> >>> Hello Listers, >>> >>> I'm having a lot of trouble getting my head around the new surround >>> sound systems. What I think might work best for me is to find a older >>> powerful stereo receiver or receiver and amp that I can plug my computer >>> directly to and perhaps also connect a airport express or Apple TV. >>> >>> I don't own a TV and don't enjoy listening to TV or even movies very much. >>> I do love solid strong clear stereo music. >>> >>> So If anyone else out there can advise me here is what I've done so far. >>> >>> I've contacted a electronics repair center and asked them to keep a look >>> out for a solid older system. I would like 200 wats of power and old >>> fashioned controls. >>> >>> Here are some concerns. >>> >>> Would the Apple Express give me air play in the best way or would a Apple >>> TV give any advantages in this set up? >>> Could I run a sub woofer from a older system like that? >>> Any tips on what system might work happily with my Mac? >>> >>> Finally, I'm not avers to using a newer unit but am totally baffled by all >>> the stuff on the remote and all the TV related stuff. Is there a retro >>> receiver out there or a new one with old fashioned capability? >>> >>> My Mac is my entertainment center at this point but I'd love to get better >>> sound then I currently have. >>> >>> eRic Caron >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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