Do you HAVE to use a Mac Audio card?

[xyian]

I have a dual 800 G4 tower and want to continue recording my vinyl
collection for iTunes and my iPod. Does anybody have any suggestions
of video cards? I have thought of hooking an iMic up to my stereo but
that seems kind of cheap so I thought of improving my sound with a
decent audio card but the Mac cards are all (surprise) expensive.
Can I just buy a Creative card or something of the sort and get it
to work in OSX?

Thanks in advance.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Make up your mind -- are you asking about audio or video?

The iMic will output perfectly acceptable 16-bit 44.1 (CD quality) sound. The built in sound output of the G4 will do so as well, but with a bit more noise.

An audio interface has to be specifically built for Mac compatibility you cannot use a PC Creative card in a Mac. If you want 5.1 or 7.1, or extra options, you can check out USB attached interfaces like the M-Audio Sonica Theatre.

 

[dubbz]

I have a dual 800 G4 tower and want to continue recording my vinyl
collection for iTunes and my iPod. Does anybody have any suggestions
of video cards? I have thought of hooking an iMic up to my stereo but
that seems kind of cheap so I thought of improving my sound with a
decent video card but the Mac cards are all (surprise) expensive.
Can I just buy a Creative card or something of the sort and get it
to work in OSX?

Thanks in advance.

Say what?

If you mean audio cards then any will work as long as you can find drivers for them. Don't believe any newer Creative card will work on a Mac.

 

[giffut]

All ...

... USB based soundcards from Creative are plug´n´play with OSX since 10.3.

Core Audio supports most of the features. Only the special things linke EQ settings, may be surround sound may not be usable.

I myself utilize a soundblaster mp3+, which costs me roughly $25, which is half the price for triple the possibilities compared to the iMic.

I use it with Logic Express, recording and playthrough.

 

[xyian]

Oops

Sorry all. I meant audio where the word video slipped in.

 

[CanadaRAM]

... USB based soundcards from Creative are plug´n´play with OSX since 10.3.

Core Audio supports most of the features. Only the special things linke EQ settings, may be surround sound may not be usable.

I myself utilize a soundblaster mp3+, which costs me roughly $25, which is half the price for triple the possibilities compared to the iMic.

I use it with Logic Express, recording and playthrough.

Yes, the USB ones -- I think the OP was referring to PCI soundcards, rather than external modules

 

[xyian]

Agreed

I would rather use a PCI slot since I'm not using any for a sound card rather than the USB solutions. I don't want to buy a hub and a card because then it approaches the price of a PCI sound card.
Does anyone have any specific cards they know cross platforms?

 

[mikeyredk]

if your going to convert from Vinyl to CD i would use an external record source since inside the box creates loads of static.

 

[MacAficionado]

You can't go wrong with M-Audio

M-Audio PCI Interfaces

 

[xyian]

I like the static sound of vinyl. Isn't that the charm of vinyl?

 

[mikeyredk]

its not the vinyl static its the radio interference from inside the computer.

 

[xyian]

I recorded about half of my collection with my old PC and I never had any static issues with those recordings. Do you think there would be some with a Mac? I'm doubting it.

 

[mikeyredk]

its audiophile level static