[davidhw]

Is this possible? I have an eMac of the 700MHz variety that doesn't have built-in optical out. I'd like to run optical from it to my new MicroStack instead of USB. Is there an adapter for this sort of thing? Or do I just need to wait and buy a new optical-ready Mac?

 

[lan]

You can get a USB soundcard. M-Audio has a few Mac compatible ones.

 

[RockinOut]

I'm not familiar with older Macs and older Mac OSes. You could look into M-Audio Transit and AirPort Express if they're compatible.

Sorry I couldn't help more. Maybe others will have a positive answer for you.

 

[blessingx]

I use an M-Audio Audiophile USB for coaxial and Airport Express for optical out of an old Mac tower. You can pick up refurbished Airport Expresses from Apple for $99.

 

[KenW]

I'll have to check but I don't think the Transit is Mac compatible. Might be wrong on this one.

 

[Veniogenesis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenW I'll have to check but I don't think the Transit is Mac compatible. Might be wrong on this one.

The Transit is Mac compatible if the requirements are met.

The requirements can be found at: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...sit-focus.html

Cheers,
Venio

 

[Clutz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidhw Is this possible? I have an eMac of the 700MHz variety that doesn't have built-in optical out. I'd like to run optical from it to my new MicroStack instead of USB. Is there an adapter for this sort of thing? Or do I just need to wait and buy a new optical-ready Mac?

I'm not sure why you want to do this - TOSLink is notorious for being very jitter-prone, so if you're trying to reduce jitter - using TOSLink instead of USB won't necessarily do it.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I just pulled up the eMac specs (http://www.lowendmac.com) and it does not appear to have an available slot for a sound card.

Your only option is to find a USB or FireWire device that converts to optical out. I don't know of any.

That being said, there's no reason why you can't get sound through a USB DAC. One of those should be fine until you upgrade your computer.

And a word of caution about the Intel Minis. They're good machines (I have one) but aren't so great until you put in another stick or two of RAM. If you plan to buy one, figure in the cost of more memory.

 

[Nospam]

The Transit works best by NOT using M-Audio's crappy drivers. If you're running OS X, read this:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...-audio+transit

If you're running OS 9, you're stuck with M-Audio's drivers.

On my iBook running OS X, I had weird freezes/crashes if I unplugged/replugged the Transit. USB audio also ate up a lot of CPU power, so my poor little 500mhz iBook was having a good workout keeping up.

In the end, I switched to an Airport Express and never looked back.

I'm convinced M-Audio couldn't write a proper driver if their lives depended on it. Yes, I'm ticked off at M-Audio, because they also leaked my email address to some company that's now sending me spam every few weeks (I give companies unique email addresses, so I know where the spam comes from).

 

[KenW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veniogenesis The Transit is Mac compatible if the requirements are met. The requirements can be found at: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...sit-focus.html Cheers, Venio

Good news. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[davidhw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clutz I'm not sure why you want to do this - TOSLink is notorious for being very jitter-prone, so if you're trying to reduce jitter - using TOSLink instead of USB won't necessarily do it.

Ah, OK. The only reason I was thinking of doing it was because I read somewhere here on HF that a review from Stereophile(?) said that USB had 3x the jitter of optical. I might have misread that, though.

 

[RockinOut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidhw Ah, OK. The only reason I was thinking of doing it was because I read somewhere here on HF that a review from Stereophile(?) said that USB had 3x the jitter of optical. I might have misread that, though.

There's a zillion threads on optical vs. USB on Head-Fi. Unfortunately, they are scattered everywhere.
Here's the latest one with specs per TheSloth:
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178906

I use both USB and optical with Micro DAC. USB is nice due to it's flexibility: One can use it on most computers and laptops, but it can have power/ground issues and doesn't sound as clear as optical.

Optical sounds best, but not as readily available on hardware unless extra stuff like Transit or AirPort Express is bought.

USB vs. optical: I like optical for clarity and no noise. I like USB for a more transportable, simpler rig. They each have their place in my opinion. We should all be extremely happy that the Micro DAC provides so much digital input flexibility. Everyone interested should try it out and judge for themselves. But it seems from what I've read posted here that many people find the extra cost and items for optical makes it worth it.

Also given the correct hardware and software settings, upsampling can be used also as an extra option to see if one prefers it or not:
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...=136059&page=3
See post #57 above for great info on Mac upsampling, if one has the hardware and wishes to try it on a Mac with an integral hardware optical out.

I haven't tried upsampling myself as I don't have the hardware.

Yes, choices, facts, opinions, and preferences can be so confusing sometimes especially when we all have different preferences and have different pre-existing hardware.

Whatever you choose to get, just make sure you can a refund in case it doesn't fit your expectations or hardware/software.

Let us know how you like your MicroDAC

.