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  4. Mac Pro Soundcard

  • Mac Pro Soundcard

    B
    B
    Hi everyone, Just got my new Mac Pro and the built in soundcard is horrible! Some sort of cheap Intel chipset! I found the Burr Brown built in sound of the PowerMac G5 quite good but now I really have to face up to the fact that I need to get a proper soundcard! Does anybody have a recommendations for a good firewire based system that's under $600/£300? Many Thanks Luke
  • P
    P
    The Apogee Duet - $495 approx. Shop around and maybe it's cheaper. That's the only soundcard in town for the money.
  • J
    J
    I can vouch for the Apogee Duet with the Mac Pro - it's brilliant!
  • B
    B
    thanks PaulR, that's just what I was looking for - and the tight integration with Logic is a bonus!
  • B
    B
    One other question regarding the duet - It says that the breakout box has "2 1/4 inch Monitor outputs for powered speakers" does this mean that I cannot just connect the duet up to a standard hi-fi amplifier? i.e. using the red and white connectors (the standard connectors for hooking together hi-fi equipment). Is there a adapter I could by to remedy this problem?
  • B
    B
    maybe a cable like this would work? http://www.dv247.com/invt/74/ Anybody?
  • P
    P
    Talk to Chris Orchard at Absolute Music and he will tell what you need and anything else you can think of - make sure you ask for Chris. Tel: 0845 025 55 55.
    Just as an aside - when you say hi-fi speakers, I don't quite understand out of interest. If you are using a Mac Pro 8 core and let's say an Apogee Duet - why don't you talk to Chris about some active monitors - for instance, when I'm just writing here on an iMac for instance - right now I'm listening to Santana on a Blue Sky Exo system that's just connected to the computer. These are just desk top monitors - but I guarantee they're better than hi-fi speakers.
  • J
    J
    last edited
    last edited

    @bobulusbillman said:

    maybe a cable like this would work? http://www.dv247.com/invt/74/ Anybody?


    Yeah, those would do the trick. I had to get 1/4" to XLR for my Blue Skys.

    J.
  • B
    B
    thank everyone for the help - think I'm all set now!
  • C
    C

    I'm using the Duet, it's a treat. If you don't need spdif/optical i/o, it's indeed the only soundcard in town for the money (hi Paul!).

    First I had some glitches with VI when I tried to use the Duet with a first gen MBP (17"/2.16gHz), turns out it was a RAM problem (2GB only). Works perfectly with the latest MacPro loaded with +4GB of RAM under Leopard.

    Christian 

    EDIT. The Duet is plugged to a power amp feeding Tannoys LGM and PBM6.5II. No problem. 
  • P
    P
    Hi Christian my dear fellow!

    Yes - I will get one of these Duet's very soon when I decide on the MacPro configuration and can get some ram from crucial.
  • B
    B
    WOW - just installed my Duet - very good! Thanks for the good advice on that one! No more awful intel audio for me!
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    just curious if sysinfo tells something - isn't it a realtek?

    christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J
    Not Realtek - Oxford. This is the chip:

    http://www.oxsemi.com/products/audio/OXFW971.html

    J.
  • B
    B
    not for me - the Audio pane in system info on my Mac Pro (2008) says that the chipset is "Intel High Definition Audio"
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC

    thanks for looking ... jbm, you are referring to the duet - yes? othwise (if it was in the macPro) i'd wonder why we don't see a breakout box ...

    christian

    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • J
    J
    huh? Oops... yes, sorry... I was talking about the Duet.
  • C
    C

    I just bought a MBP, and wanted to know if there is a way i could connect the duet to my JBL 4328p moniters. I have a motu 2408mkiii, but hoping to go the path of apogee one day. But for now wanting to know if i could use the Duet or will i need another adapter or setup. Or am i just out of luck. I have my jbl setup with spdif , is it possible to do the same or I have to find another route.
  • S
    S

     I hate to rain on everyone's celebration of the Duet, but I feel compelled to mention that it does not have any digital inputs. In terms of use with samples, its main function seems to be D/A conversion - - so it would be nice if it could accept digital input from another interface. For example if you had 4 instances of VE standalones routed into a MOTU 2408 whose stereo outputs were routed to a stereo S/PIDF output which was then routed to a S/PIDF input on a Duet (which, in reality, lacks such an input) then you could have the flexibility that the 2408 provides in the digital domain + the nifty A/D conversion of the Duet. But that is, alas, not, presently, the case. 

  • C
    C

    Hi Steve, I'm well aware of this detail with the Duet - I mentionned it in my first post in this thread - as (I hope) a lot of Duet buyers.

    Ensemble was the other choice in case of multi computers configuration - which I don't use anymore so... The lack of dig i/o is not a problem, plus MIDI/Audio flow will transit thru gigabit eth. soon enough. Duet is perfect for those who needs to plug two mikes and a pair of monitors/headphones in a Macbook Pro for live purposes, or in an 8 cores with wagons'o'ram (when I say "perfect", I'm talking hardware - they haven't updated their driver since X.5.0. No showstoppers, but some tribbles) ...

    Christian