[ankitsid]

so yes, i am COMPLETELY new at this
im not sure exactly what i need, some people are saying a DAC?

anyways i need something to make my sound a lot better..
obviously it would be with USB..but from a mac

i need the output to be
3.5mm or a 1/4
AND RCA

i was looking at something like this
Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 70SB109000000 - Better Music and Movie Sound, Made Easy
but its not for mac

then i looked at the
nuforce icon mobile..but it doesnt have RCA output
same with the M-Audio Transit

i want the best i can get for under 200 USD but at the same time a small profile

im hoping with something like this the output of my macbook will be so much better when i have it hooked up to a big system.

**i guess 5.1 is kind of needed for movies**
***and if it comes to it i can always dual boot XP or windows 7 to use it im trying to stay away from this route tho***

anyhelp, sorry if i sound like i dont know what im talking about
because frankly..i guess i dont

 

[Quaddy]

hi there, welcome to head-fi, sorry about your wallet!

all of which you have said makes sense, no worries there, you just wish to get some better sound quality from your mac

whilst others will post different ideas, which is good, i am obviously limited in what i have had experience of,

i have a mac and bought a usb box for just this a while back

i went with the trends audio UD-10.1 full unit, which would be within your budget i think if you look around, the unit connects from a usb output on your mac and is driverless, so immediately shows up as another audio source

it has various outputs on, one being a 3.5mm headphone jack, which they also supply with a adapterto enable rca out,

however if you need both simultaneously, which i think you may, a better unit would be the carat HDIV which has true rca out and headphone socket, the trends is a bit more geared to connecintg out to another purely digital device, whereas the carat will allow more access to analogue items such as speakers/amps etc

here is info on the carat unit

here is info on the trends unit

and here is a page with a few more options on

hope that helps a bit.

 

[ankitsid]

thanks alot for all the info!!
anyone else got some ideas?

 

[ankitsid]

ooh okay i see what you are saying about the adapter..i have one already..

but will that still send out a 5.1 signal to my receiver? because thats the only reason im requiring RCA..but if 3.5mm can send out a 5.1-7.1 signal then i can just use my adapter..

 

[ankitsid]

how is this?
SilverStone Ensemble EB01
does it do surround?

 

[obobskivich]

uh, you need either three TRS pairs, or six RCA singles for 5.1, add another pair for 7.1

or coax S/PDIF which will run a single line RCA (or TRS if you're a Creative user)

the silverstone outputs stereo (which is very easily discerned from pictures and reading anything about the unit)

honestly I'd suggest you do the following:
read for comprehension
research what you really want/need (including read the digital audio primer)
get a better idea of what equipment you need to accomplish your goals