USB sound device with 5.1 optical out for a Mac?

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Superjoe

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Can anybody recommend a USB sound card that has a 5.1 optical output and Mac compatible that isn't crazy expensive? The headphone jack on my Mac Mini puts out a nasty low frequency tone and I just want to bypass it for the time being.
 
Superjoe said:
Can anybody recommend a USB sound card that has a 5.1 optical output and Mac compatible that isn't crazy expensive? The headphone jack on my Mac Mini puts out a nasty low frequency tone and I just want to bypass it for the time being.
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what mac mini? the two i have have built in optical.
ps: how much you wanting to spend? 'cause it starts here and goes into the several hundreds...
wrong link, one min...
https://www.amazon.com/Channel-External-Digital-Optical-Compatible/dp/B07RJ2MN5N
 
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Superjoe said:
It's an M1 model. Great device, but lacking in connectivity
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ah, havent been hands on with one yet. i guess they figure hdmi is good enough. oh! thats another option, depending how its hooked up, you can get one of those hdmi optical audio extractor things.
 
Superjoe said:
It's an M1 model. Great device, but lacking in connectivity
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If the audio jack has a hum on a new device, take it to service. Or do what I did and extract the audio through your monitor to the active speakers. That way your sounds work even if you switch devices/inputs running the monitor. I was surprised to see that the audio out of my new M1 MBP is actually lower quality than in the older Intel model.
 
Does the hum happen even when headphones are connected directly to the Mini, or only when it's connected to an AVR / externally-powered speakers? It won't get you 5.1, but an easy solution would be to run the output from the headphone jack into an external ADC with TOSLINK out, just make sure to power the ADC from a USB port on the Mini so you don't accidentally create another ground loop. I'm using that setup to isolate my desktop from my excessively electrically noisy laptop and it cleaned up the audio tremendously.

HDMI audio extractor may be the better option though if there are 5.1 extractors readily available. I avoid HDMI audio for unrelated Nvidia reasons so I'm not sure what's out there as far as those go.
 
It possible that it isn't the output on the Mini itself, there's more to the story. The audio cable is a long run, next to power cables and a past a power strip to get to the speakers. So interference could be the factor. At the end of the day there isn't a better option for how I run it though, hence the desire to switch to optical. USB sound cards basically look like a thing of the past so I think an audio extractor is the only alternative, but the problem is I use DP, and a DP extractor looks to be around $100. I could probably still run an HDMI audio extractor and have the Mac send video to DP/audio to HDMI but I don't know for sure. But it looks like my only option at this point.
 
The Caldigit TS3 Plus dock has an optical out. Not sure if there are any cheaper devices however.
 
NIZMOZ said:
The Caldigit TS3 Plus dock has an optical out. Not sure if there are any cheaper devices however.
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I'm not sure where the OP needs 5.1 optical out... Toslink is totally outdated as tech and hardly any hardware supports it anymore.
 
Asus makes the Xonar U3 that is both inexpensive and works a treat in Windows, not sure about Mac compatibility though. Might be worth a little digging to check.
 
B00nie said:
I'm not sure where the OP needs 5.1 optical out... Toslink is totally outdated as tech and hardly any hardware supports it anymore.
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This is a really unhelpful post. He needs what he needs. My Home Theater systems (I have 2 of them) run off of Dolby Digital 5.1 and TOSLINK. Even though they are each over 10 years old now, they work well and sound nice. I feel no need to replace them. It would be a pretty expensive thing to do for no appreciable gain since what I have sounds pretty great to me already.

When I upgraded to the Crosshair motherboards, replacing the sound card (was using an Auzentech X-Meridian PCI card) was still massively less expensive than replacing the receiver would be AND I don't have HDMI compatibility nonsense to worry about. Sounds nice, provides surround, just works.
 
I really don't get the general TOSLINK hate. It hasn't changed in decades because it doesn't have to keep endlessly iterating the way video connectors must. It's a mature connector in the same way of RCA, 1/8" or 1/4" TRRS, or XLR. TOSLINK could stay the same for 50 more years and it would still be a perfectly acceptable option.
Hardly any hardware supports it? A quick checks shows plenty of support among new receivers, many new-model PC motherboards, and more laptops than one would think still include it. I specifically looked for TOSLINK output for my recent B550 Ryzen build and had no trouble finding a board including it without having to compromise elsewhere.
And TOSLINK can still have some advantages over HDMI; namely lack of juggling HDMI compatibility, lack of the latency and stability issues some ppl have with HDMI audio on certain GPUs, electrical isolation, much thinner cables... yes, HDMI is the solution for most people because it's all-in-one and has the widest support but it's daft to say that TOSLINK is useless, dead, obsolete, etc.

But all that's moot anyways because, as has been pointed out, OP said he want an optical solution, and who are any of us to tell him otherwise? TOSLINK vs HDMI was not the question.
 
B00nie said:
I'm not sure where the OP needs 5.1 optical out... Toslink is totally outdated as tech and hardly any hardware supports it anymore.
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doesnt matter, your first answer was enough.


im still using optical too, lost do. i just have a little header/bracket from asus that ive moved between 3-4 systems.
 
NattyKathy said:
I really don't get the general TOSLINK hate. It hasn't changed in decades because it doesn't have to keep endlessly iterating the way video connectors must. It's a mature connector in the same way of RCA, 1/8" or 1/4" TRRS, or XLR. TOSLINK could stay the same for 50 more years and it would still be a perfectly acceptable option.
Hardly any hardware supports it? A quick checks shows plenty of support among new receivers, many new-model PC motherboards, and more laptops than one would think still include it. I specifically looked for TOSLINK output for my recent B550 Ryzen build and had no trouble finding a board including it without having to compromise elsewhere.
And TOSLINK can still have some advantages over HDMI; namely lack of juggling HDMI compatibility, lack of the latency and stability issues some ppl have with HDMI audio on certain GPUs, electrical isolation, much thinner cables... yes, HDMI is the solution for most people because it's all-in-one and has the widest support but it's daft to say that TOSLINK is useless, dead, obsolete, etc.

But all that's moot anyways because, as has been pointed out, OP said he want an optical solution, and who are any of us to tell him otherwise? TOSLINK vs HDMI was not the question.
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It's because toslink is not a true multichannel capable interface. It was designed for stereo only. I can barely squeeze compressed multichannel through.
 
NIZMOZ said:
The Caldigit TS3 Plus dock has an optical out. Not sure if there are any cheaper devices however.
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Great suggestion, docks hadn't occurred to me. Generally going to be more money than I want to spend on this problem, but excellent point thanks
 
Superjoe said:
Great suggestion, docks hadn't occurred to me. Generally going to be more money than I want to spend on this problem, but excellent point thanks
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True, but since the mini itself doesn't have a lot of ports, and it gives you the option in the future to switch to another Mac like a MacBook and still have those ports available, it maybe a good decision.
 
Adapter from Mac Mini to HDMi. Run that to the HDMi TOSlink/optical extractor. Then adapt it's HDMi output back to DP to the monitor. Won't be any quality loss and should work like a charm.
 
Wait, the optical out of macs isn’t multi channel? You sure about that?
 
pendragon1 said:
m1's dont have it. on old units its compressed DTS 5.1 or stereo depending on what playing. some people make a big deal out of it not being real 5.1 i guess.
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Haha gotcha. I remember when I thought I could tell a difference sitting in my house watching a movie.

But yea if it doesn’t have it at all, time for a tb3 dock
 
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If you get something USB, I suggest making sure it has good Mac support before you buy it. Many moons ago, I had a USB headphone jack so I could just plug in a USB hub and power, and the volume was crazy high, so I had to run EQ software to drop the volume a ton before outputting.
 
If you just need to get around what is probably a ground loop hum from the M1 Mac Mini's headphone jack, you might be able to get around it just using a USB Dac. Apple's own USB-C to Headphone jack adapter is like under 10 bucks. Might not work, but it's super cheap.
 
TrunksZero said:
If you just need to get around what is probably a ground loop hum from the M1 Mac Mini's headphone jack, you might be able to get around it just using a USB Dac. Apple's own USB-C to Headphone jack adapter is like under 10 bucks. Might not work, but it's super cheap.
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You might be a genius.... I had one lying around and just threw it in and it's working great. And it was exactly how much money I wanted to spend, ha ha. Thanks!
 
Superjoe said:
Can anybody recommend a USB sound card that has a 5.1 optical output and Mac compatible that isn't crazy expensive? The headphone jack on my Mac Mini puts out a nasty low frequency tone and I just want to bypass it for the time being.
Click to expand...
I dont know of any USB soundcards that are multichannel.
There are some that can be connected by USB and are multichannel but only when connected by HDMI. ie they have mutiple ways of connecting.
 
Nenu said:
I dont know of any USB soundcards that are multichannel.
There are some that can be connected by USB and are multichannel but only when connected by HDMI. ie they have mutiple ways of connecting.
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The Asus Xonar U3 USB soundcard I mentioned above does Dolby Digital 5.1 out via optical - just not sure of it's Mac compatibility.
 
mvmiller12 said:
The Asus Xonar U3 USB soundcard I mentioned above does Dolby Digital 5.1 out via optical - just not sure of it's Mac compatibility.
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Unfortunately its stereo.
https://techreport.com/review/21256/asus-xonar-u3-usb-audio-device/
If you’re in the mood for a surround-sound experience that extends beyond two-channel stereo output, the U3 employs virtualization schemes for headphones and speakers. This software-based simulation system comes courtesy of Dolby, which also provides real-time encoding for multi-channel digital audio output via Dolby Digital Live.
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Nenu said:
Unfortunately its stereo.
https://techreport.com/review/21256/asus-xonar-u3-usb-audio-device/
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It's stereo if you are NOT using the optical, or if you are using the optical in PCM mode. It supports real Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding. I own one for use with my home theater, and I assure you ti does output discrete 5.1 audio.

Edit: the blurb you posted says the exact same thing I just did, just poorly worded. It does realtime hardware encoding of 5.1 Dolby Digital over TOSLINK, but uses virtual surround over the 3.5mm stereo output or the optical in PCM mode.
 
mvmiller12 said:
It's stereo if you are NOT using the optical, or if you are using the optical in PCM mode. It supports real Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding. I own one for use with my home theater, and I assure you ti does output discrete 5.1 audio.

Edit: the blurb you posted says the exact same thing I just did, just poorly worded. It does realtime hardware encoding of 5.1 Dolby Digital over TOSLINK, but uses virtual surround over the 3.5mm stereo output or the optical in PCM mode.
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What I posted specifically says all surround output is virtual and a simulation.

To help settle this, does Windows (not the supplied software) allow you to set up the 5.1 channels independently or show it as a 5.1 device?
If not, it can only be fed stereo.
 
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Nenu said:
What I posted specifically says all surround output is virtual and a simulation.

To help settle this, does Windows (not the supplied software) allow you to set up the 5.1 channels independently or show it as a 5.1 device?
If not, it can only be fed stereo.
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Yes - you enable Dolby Digital in the card's control applet and then set Windows to 5.1 speakers and the speaker test outputs sound on each individual channel (assuming it's connected via TOSLINK to a Dolby Digital 5.1 system, that is)
 
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mvmiller12 said:
Yes - you enable Dolby Digital in the card's control applet and then set Windows to 5.1 speakers and the speaker test outputs sound on each individual channel (assuming it's connected via TOSLINK to a Dolby Digital 5.1 system, that is)
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OK thanks, thats really good :)
The downside is its compressed but is the first 5.1 over USB I have seen.
 
Nenu said:
OK thanks, thats really good :)
The downside is its compressed but is the first 5.1 over USB I have seen.
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plenty of usb dacs with optical supporting DTS/DDL 5.1.
mac compat. is the trickier part.
 
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Nenu said:
The downside is its compressed but is the first 5.1 over USB I have seen.
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(S/PDIF) Optical 5.1 is always compressed, you can get 2 channel PCM or (lossy) Dobly Digital or DTS to work with most sources and most receivers; there's no real support for anything else. Possibly because it's a one-way medium and there's no opportunity for the receiver to tell the source what it could accept.
 
Superjoe said:
You might be a genius.... I had one lying around and just threw it in and it's working great. And it was exactly how much money I wanted to spend, ha ha. Thanks!
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lol I just re-read your post and had a moment. All the other suggestions are good, but some times simplicity is the way to go. Glad it worked out for you :)
 
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