It almost sounds like he's running a USB type soundbar that has all the satellite speakers branching out from it.
I'd have to know more the specific model that he has before I could really offer further help, but if the USB keeps disconnecting, then I'm still under the assumption it's probably something shorting out somewhere within the actual electronics of the USB port itself either on the bar, or on the mac itself, and god forbid the ladder. Chris. ----- Original Message ----- From: 'Chris Blouch' via MacVisionaries To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 1:00 PM Subject: Re: Need a bit of USB sound education That part hopefully Christopher-Mark can help you with. My setup is pretty simple. I have the optical cable from the mini's headphone jack going to my 5.1 receiver (an old Dennon) and from there snakes out wire pairs to the speakers at various positions. I might be able to look something up but I don't see where you said what specific subwoofer or USB device you have. I know some subwoofers are set up that you can actually pass left and right high power signals to the subwoofer which will strip out the low bass for itself and then pass what's left to your regular left and right speakers. Others expect just a single separate subwoofer (the dot one in 5.1) line level input. That might not have much to do with your USB subwoofer setup. CB On 1/20/16 12:08 PM, Bill Holton wrote: Thanks. But if I want to replace the sound device, all the new wincing to have optical out only. Is there some way I can get an optical out to pair with the three Jack cables that go to my speaker system. I really don't want to replace them too. Thanks. Bill Sent from my iPhone On Jan 20, 2016, at 9:33 AM, 'Chris Blouch' via MacVisionaries <[email protected]> wrote: Correct. Macs have had optical out going back to 2006 so you should be fine. Only tricky bit is to get a mini TOSLink cable to make the connection. It will have a headphone-shaped connection on one end and then then usual square optical connection on the other. You won't find them at the usual BestBuy and such but they are readily available online. Just search for "mini TOSLink" to find them on Amazon, newegg or wherever you get cables. Should be well under $10. I use this all the time as a Mini is my families home TV/entertainment hub (no cable except for internet service). CB On 1/20/16 8:02 AM, Bill Holton wrote: I was told my mac mini didn't have an optical out. Is it the same jack that you would normally take audio out of? Sent from my iPhone On Jan 19, 2016, at 11:43 PM, 'Chris Blouch' via MacVisionaries <[email protected]> wrote: If you are trying to get 5.1 out of your Mac, does your amp have an optical input? If so, it might be easier to skip all the USB stuff and just run optical from the mini to your surround-sound amp. CB On 1/18/16 9:57 PM, Bill Holton wrote: Hi. My wife says they are green, orange—red?—and black. The USB cable goes into the box, those three cables go to my 5.1 system subwoofer, the subwoofer has the amp, I am guessing, and there are five audio cable jacks in it that lead to the left, right, satellite, and center channels. The speakers also have a large cable with a volume know, a headphone jack, and dial for bass/treble, and another that does increased separation. Does that help? The USB audio keeps dropping out, then coming back. I thought maybe it was an OS issue, but I am running VM, and after a config change it started asking me where I want the device connected, Mac or Windows, so I am guessing it is actually disconnecting and reconnecting. Tried three different USB cables;, didn’t help. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher-Mark Gilland Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 6:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Need a bit of USB sound education OK, do you know what color those cables are? That would tell me a fair amount. Are they blue green and black? If so, I might have a possible solution. If two of them are red and white, then I'll have to think about it, as that wouldn't exactly tell me much. red and white is generally your standard RCA, then of course yellow would be for video, so I highly doubt that is what you're working with. The green, blue, and black would be digital and probably would be like a composit cable. That's why I'm kind a wonderring. We need just a slight bit more info. Chris. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Holton To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 5:15 PM Subject: Need a bit of USB sound education Hi. I am currently running a USB sound adapter to a set of 5.1 speakers on my Mac Mini, connected by three color-coded cables to the subwoofer, which in turn connects to the five speakers. The device is acting up, it keeps failing and restarting. Tried different cable, same issues. I want to replace the device, but not sure what I am looking for. All the ones I see on Amazon show audio out. What do I need to look for in one that will connect via the three color coded cables? Hoping to get off fairly inexpensively, so if anyone can recommend one…much thanks. Bill -- The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor and your owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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