[akasrp]

Just got a Griffin iMic for my Apple G4/450 Dual. Big improvement in audio out (vs Apple's onboard analog audio out) for headphone use, at least I can sure hear the difference thru my Grado SR80s. Signal is absolutely pristine. iMic's main trick is as a sound-in workaround but the killer surprise is this excellent audio out.

My 2¢: if you've got USB get a Griffin iMic - big bang for the buck at $35.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/pro...mic/index.html

(Not affiliated with Apple, Griffin or Grado <g>)

 

[AdamP88]

Interesting...thanks for the heads up akasrp.

I'd actually considered getting that before just because it would give me in/out jacks that weren't recessed, but now I just might get it for the audio improvements alone.

 

[plainsong]

Griffin just released some new audio goodies at Macworld along the same lines as the imic. Now the big question is, do these new products just add bells and whistles, or is there a real sound upgrade to the line out?

I got a pcdp to sit beside my imac, since you're right, the headphone out on the g4 mac leaves something to be desired...

But I just might pick me up one of these little imics too. At least it's small and matches the imac. Women are so fickle..

But what I wanna know is, is the M-Audio Sonica better? or is it just the same thing? Questions questions..

 

[methnen]

The iMic is great, though I ended up upgrading so if you really want to get some nice sound out of and into your computer you might want to try something from m-audio.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/consumer/index.php

You can get genuine surround sound from your computer (PC or Mac) and all of it through USB. Pretty impressive little boxes. You also have the choice of digital or analog connections.

There is also a box from emagic that has recieved some good reviews.

http://www.emagic.de

If you are on a mac a good source for audio reviews and info is:

http://www.osxaudio.com

Jamie

 

[plainsong]

Well I read that Osxaudio site and as with anything new, it was a major information overload.

I've been looking for a site like that for a while though, so thanks for the link.

It seems though that the surroundsound is software based and you have to use their DVD program. The program only works with 10.1.5 and not Jaguar, so I'm not sure about the whole surround sound thing.

But the line out of the Sonica is better? That's interesting. Griffin has some new products out, but I have yet to see any reviews on those, and then there's this new thing that Apogee has that looks promising..

Oh decisions decisions.

 

[methnen]

forgot to mention that about the software. The problem is that Apple's dvd player does not pass the true audio information to the sound manager if it did or if there was an option to enable that sonica wouldn't need VLC to make that happen. VLC is actually not programmed by m-audio. It is a free open source project that gets updated constantly. It is able to play just about anything that quicktime can't. I use for all of the weird formats that my PC friends send me. I haven't run into much that it can't handle. And in those cases mplayer (do a search on www.versiontracker.com) will play it if vlc can't for some reason.

As far as the analog out on the sonica I don't notice a difference between it and the iMic with normal audio files. The main thing you are getting with the sonica is that it has a digital out also and if I remember right it can run at 96khz which is a debatable advantage since no consumer audio is in that range. I simple liked being able to get the audio to my amp in digital form because the back of my computer is a mess of cables and analog stuff gets a lot of interference.

Jamie