Mac users = toslink adapters

mountainpete

Spamicus Eliminatus
I've been doing this for a while, but none of the Mac users I know had ever heard of this feature... So here it comes ExPo Mac heads!

Did you know that the headphone jack on a Macbook Pro (and possibly others - just check the specs) can do an optical digital out? It can. That means with the correct cable you can connect your Macbook Pro to the optical-in input on a home theater amplifier and get full digital sound (and even Dolby if you are playing a DVD or have the Dolby tracks).

In order to do this you need a Toslink adapter. If you go to the Apple Store, odds are that only the uber-geek sales guy will know about it and they don't sell it. You can't even buy it from the Apple store online. The best place to buy one is online.

He have two choices - a full cable or an adapter. This an adapter and cable combo:
41NGAB4DZBL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


All it really is is an adapter for a standard headphone jack to connect to an optical digital cable. Price averages from $1.00 for just the adapter to $25 for a full kit online.

So what does this have to do with overlanding? Not much unless you want to put surround sound in your RTT or EarthRoamer, but it is cool at home.

Right now I am listening to classic Tom Petty on the home system off the Mac. Sweet sound.

Pete
 

adventureduo

Dave Druck [KI6LBB]
Yeah i knew about that but never tried it. Cool that it works so easy.

I usually just use my airport connected to my stereo via RCA. There's a port on it. Just click "network" on my iTunes and I can listen to my music from my wireless network on my iMac G5 or my G4 laptop.
 

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