I'm in G5 sound card hell!

D

David_M_Payne

Well-known member
I can't believe this but it is really hard finding a sound card for my Mac Quad G5. It has a basic sound card good for stereo, and it had a high-end optical digital audio out port that must be hooked up to a receiver or other digital audio device, as the book says. I don't want to go the receiver speakers route as that is expensive and I need to keep my costs down as much as possible. I have a THX Logtech surround sound system that I can't hook up to this computer. It is 5.1 surround with three stereo mini plugs, front, back and center/sub. So I'm told that I need a sound card but no one seems to know what one I need. MacMall has me talking to a girl in the Philippines that isn't sure either, so I'm hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction sound card wise. I can't use a PCI card even if it is for a mac as it must be specifically for a G5. Any ideas?

David
 
Look for ones that plug into the firewire or USB port on your G5. I don't know of anythat plug directly into the system, but there are several external ones.
 
The Q. was a 5.1 sound card not a firewire device. Apple has standard 5.1 audio out, but cards are also available for the PCI-X Apples. By M-audio.
 
Other than the mbox2, I rec the maudio firewire interface (on the PC side, EMU's 1820M is sweet). Motu stuff is great but usually expensive.
 
soarprod said:
Other than the mbox2, I rec the maudio firewire interface (on the PC side, EMU's 1820M is sweet). Motu stuff is great but usually expensive.
Click to expand...

MBox doesn't handle surround...
 
xray said:
Apple is a supersound machine!
M-audio (part of Avid) brings a not expensive PCI-X compatible card. M-Audio’s Revolution 7.1 and Revolution 5.1 cards.

http://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/Revolution51-main.html

It has 3 mini jack stereo plugs.
Click to expand...

This would be perfect, except that the new/old and the new/new G5 will not take current PCI cards. A G4 tower will, but not a G5. It's opitical audio or firewire only device at this point, though they are working of audio cards for the future.

I'm just not sure how the sound mixing for the movie will work with a external type device. Does anyone here know?

David
 
I use a MOTU 828 for my audio outs. Stereo usually, but when i need to mix in surround, I hook up 6 speakers to 6 outpus on the MOTU.
 
David_M_Payne said:
This would be perfect, except that the new/old and the new/new G5 will not take current PCI cards. A G4 tower will, but not a G5.
David
Click to expand...

Sorry, if you have a brand new Mac it is not going to work for you.
The G5 computers like G5 dual 2.0 / dual 2.5 (two processors) are compatible, but the new/new G5 dualcore en quad with PCI Express slots are not compatible with PCI-X expansion cards.


From the m-audio site:

Q: Are all Apple G5 Desktop Computers supported or are there any exceptions?

A: There are currently two G5 Desktop Systems that are NOT compatible with M-Audio's Delta Series of cards. These are the "entry level" Dual 1.8 GHz and Dual 2.0 G5 Systems with PCI Slots instead of PCI-X Slots. Both, PCI and PCI-X configurations are currently available on the market, but only the PCI-X versions of these Systems work as expected with the Delta line of cards. Please click here for a more detailed description and ways to identify if your system is compatible.


Q: What about M-Audio’s Revolution 7.1 and Revolution 5.1 cards?

A: Revolution Series cards are PCI-X compatible and do not need to be upgraded.
 
Last edited:
OK, for those having the same problem I'm having, I just bought a Miglia HarmonyAudio FireWire Interface for $329 from OWC. It will do 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1 surround, mini stereo plugs out to your speaker system. You can use it to do mic in for voice over during editing of your film, etc.

David
 
tak1108 said:
Are your mini plug speakers reference monitors. What speakers are you using?
Click to expand...

No, but they are THX certified, and they sound very good. Not as good as the Boston Acostics system in the living room but good enough to mix surround in this film. If I do a good enough job with this film to get it picked up by a distributor, then I'll have the money to go totally pro.


David_M_Payne said:
I can't believe this but it is really hard finding a sound card for my Mac Quad G5. It has a basic sound card good for stereo, and it had a high-end optical digital audio out port that must be hooked up to a receiver or other digital audio device, as the book says. I don't want to go the receiver speakers route as that is expensive and I need to keep my costs down as much as possible. I have a THX Logtech Z-5300 surround sound system that I can't hook up to this computer. It is 5.1 surround with three stereo mini plugs, front, back and center/sub. So I'm told that I need a sound card but no one seems to know what one I need. MacMall has me talking to a girl in the Philippines that isn't sure either, so I'm hoping that someone here can point me in the right direction sound card wise. I can't use a PCI card even if it is for a mac as it must be specifically for a G5. Any ideas?

David
Click to expand...
 
You don't mix with speakers that "sound very good". You want reference monitors that have a flat response- which is to say they don't add anything that isn't really there. Small speakers that sound "good" color the sound and, among other things, enhance the bass. So what happens when you mix to something that enhances the bass? You get a false sense of low end. Play it on real speakers, like in a theatre or anywhere else that isn't adding to the low end, and say goodbye to the bass. Nothing will give your movie a cheaper feel than weak audio.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top