SPDIF output from my Mac?

studley · « **on:** 4 Dec 2005, 01:50 pm »

I want to use an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile to get a SPDIF signal from my ibook G4 to an external DAC. I am reliably informed that I can set the ibook audio output to SPDIF by going into Utilities> Audio/MIDI and choosing the SPDIF option. However, although my ibook is recognising my M-Audio device's existence and I can set it as the audio output device, I can't find any SPDIF output option to select.

I have asked this question on the Apple discussion forum but had no replies.

Can anyone help?

konut · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 02:40 am »

I'm pretty sure your iBook has no SPDIF out option. Your M-Audio device hooks up to your firewire port and has its own DAC. Are you looking to get a SPDIF out for connection to a different DAC?

studley · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 10:11 am »

Konut
Thanks for replying.

Yes, I want to use a (better) external DAC rather than the one in the M-Audio device. Hence I need to get the ibook to send a spdif signal through the firewire lead.

M-Audio say this can be done with an ibook and their advice suggest I should find a spdif output option in the speaker configuration tab in Utilities>Audio/MIDI but I am not seeing any such option.

Watson · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 11:12 am »

Isn't the M-Audio Firewire's S/PDIF output active all the time? Try it. You may not need to enable anything in software to get it to work.

studley · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 12:32 pm »

Watson

Bit of a crossed wire (ha ha) - its not the spdif output from the Audiophile I'm having trouble setting up, its the spdif output from the ibook.

Watson · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 01:03 pm »

The iBook has no S/PDIF output. Some of the Powerbooks do.

philipp · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 03:24 pm »

I'm confused. I thought all USB and Firewire transmission, like S/PDIF, was digital until it encountered a DAC of some sort. Am I wrong?

bmed · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 05:02 pm »

USB is used to get the signal out of your computer since it has no digital out. Devices like the M-audio ones then allow you to use the standard S/PDIF output from the M-audio device to the DAC of your choice. There is no S/PDIF out from your ibook. You will only need to designate the output as the M-audio USB or firewire. Gordon Rankin has a really good write-up on this topic on his website.

http://www.wavelengthaudio.com/usbdac.html

Cheers,
Brad

philipp · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 05:51 pm »

Thanks for the link Brad, that helps a lot. Time to select that error correction box in iTunes!

I also found other products that will convert the USB out of a computer to S/PDIF:

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/frComputer_Audio.html

studley · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Dec 2005, 07:25 pm »

Thanks for all the replies. Having got through to technical support at M Audio by telephone I now have the answer!

To get a spdif signal out through the firewire (or USB) port you go to utilities>Audio/MIDI>speaker configuration and then select channels 5 and 6. That's it!