How can I do this....

tigerwoods99tigerwoods99
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Ok, I have an idea for my setup. One involves the audio, the second involves a dual display setup on my G4.



I was thinking of hooking up an Audiophile 2496 to a new Sony stereo system for the computer's audio. Now when I tried hooking up my old stereo to our beige G3's RCA jacks I couldn't because the older stereo did no have RCA inputs at the back. I assume that all newer stereos would allow me to plug it into the sound card. I figure that this would be a better solution than just some regular ole computer speakers and the sound would be better. Question is, how much better do you think this would be? The stereo system will probably have some REAL speakers, and I might pick a receiver too.



Now as far as dual monitor is concerned. I still have the stock GF4MX card on my dual GHz, however as far as I'm aware it has one VGA and one ADC or DVI?? Is there any way that I can hook up 2 CRTs?



Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Crap, I put this in GD by mistake. This goes in Genius Bar. Sorry about that.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    No probs, moving to Genius Bar...
  • Reply 3 of 9
    jonathan brisbyjonathan brisby Posts: 318member
    Okay, I'll handle the audio bit. Okay, yes, most stereos have the rca plugs, no your G4 doesn't have them. Radio shack has a nice headphone to rca splitter. I did this with my G4 also. Big point here tough. The longer the cable the worse the audio. After 25 ft. mine got REALLY bad. Don't use cheap cord. Get the quadruply insulated wire wrapped stuff. I mean it. Also (and yes this is paradoxal) keep the mac as far away as possible from the stereo. The big magnets in the speakers don't do good things to computer parts (neither do the vibrations from the subwoofer). You can buy some PCI cards that have RCA plugs on them but unless you are an audio professional just put a splitter into your headphone plug, then run a headphone to RCA cable to the stereo.



    If you put a splitter on the line early, make sure you seperate the cords with some electrical tape to keep the metal connecters from touching. ON the other hand if you run a headphone cord all the way across the room and then fork it out it should be fine.



    As for your display... short of a costly dvi to vga adapter box, you'r better off getting a second graphic card for you pci. Try the Geforce 2 MX400 pci with 63mb ram($60). Cheaper then the $150 adapter box. And has nice resolutions.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    If you do get a reciever, then it will probably have an internal digital/analog conversion unit. Then, you can simply use the Audiophile 24/96's digital S/PDIF output into the reciever, without any cable/signal/interference worry (digital is digital after all and messing it up is not that easy, especially with some decent shielded cabling). This setup will be a HELL lot better than most multimedia setups. I'd reconsider a Sony audio system though
  • Reply 5 of 9
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Thanks for the reply.



    I've done a bit of research and I'm probably gonna go ahead and get the Audiophile 2496. Semms like a pretty good drive, and the only one with good OS X drivers. I think the price is around $150 now, so not too much as I have to spend money on other stuff (non-computer related) right now. Here's a link to the Audiophile 2496:



    <a href="http://m-audio.com/products/m-audio/audiophile.php"; target="_blank">http://m-audio.com/products/m-audio/audiophile.php</a>;



    Since you said to reconsider a Sony audio system, what do you think I should get instead? Do I just need a receiver and some speakers? I'm not a big audio equipment guru so I don't really know. Any recommendations as far as speakers, audio systems, and receivers are concerned?
  • Reply 6 of 9
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Back To The Top.



    Any recommendations?
  • Reply 7 of 9
    blueflameblueflame Posts: 89member
    As far as getting a second VGA monitor hooked up, I found a possible solution. Apple currently sells an ADC to DVI connector, and a DVI to VGA. Connecting both may give you what you want, although I'm not sure whether the ADC to DVI connector maintains the VGA pins that the ADC sports. I do know that there are some ADC to VGA cables out there, but they aren't made by Apple.



    The links:

    <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/103/wo/dUqbG1kbbn597c7QA81/5.3.0.3.30.8.3.10.13.0"; target="_blank">ADC to DVI</a>



    <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/103/wo/dUqbG1kbbn597c7QA81/5.3.0.3.30.8.3.13.13.0"; target="_blank">DVI to VGA</a>



    <a href="http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=0117-ADCV"; target="_blank">Direct ADC to VGA (Dr. Bott)</a>



    Hope this helps!



    Blueflame
  • Reply 8 of 9
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Anyone know a good receiver to get? (inexpensive one)
  • Reply 9 of 9
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    Well rather than suggest a brand....I'll just recommend a place to look at different receivers.



    <a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/"; target="_blank">http://www.crutchfield.com/</a>;





    They have categories for you to look through, and get ideas. I don't know what kind of money your looking to spend, so this may be easier for you.
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