Does anyone know how to access the sound software on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro? I have a Logitech Z906 5.1 surround system with fiber optic in and out, I only seem to be able to get stereo and simulated 5.1 sound .

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Level 1

8 points

Does anyone know how to access the sound software on a Mid 2010 Mac Pro? I have a Logitech Z906 5.1 surround system with fiber optic in and out, I only seem to be able to get stereo and simulated 5.1 sound .

A mid 2010 Mac Pro, trying to get 5.1 surround out of the onboard sound software using fiber optic out connected to a Logitech Z906 5.1 speaker sys. with fiber optic in and out, all I get is stereo and simulated 5.1 sound out of the speakers. In utilities, Audio Midi Setup I can't get the Mac to see the Logitech speakers for 5.1 speaker configuration. Without being made to feel like a dummy, does anyone have a solution? Thanks, Carl

OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), 2x2.4Xeon,4x4TBHDD,HD5870,32GBmem

Posted on Apr 4, 2014 10:10 PM

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Answer 1

Johnb-one

Level 6

9,180 points

Apr 5, 2014 8:58 AM in response to carlhataway

okay, Carl, I'll try to help you as best as I can. I have the same set of speakers. As far as I know, true surround sound only comes from dvd playback stuff, such as DVD player and VLC, but I could be wrong. Go into Audio MIDI setup, then encoded digital audio, then okay. I haven't been able to get true 5.1 surround out of anything but dvd's and the occasional game that supports it (Bioshock??). Apart from holding down the option button and clicking at the top of your screen to show your inputs and output, and choosing digital output, that's really all I have right now. The Logitech's don't come with their own special software/ drivers, as far as I know.

John b

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Answer 2

carlhataway Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 5, 2014 11:53 PM in response to Johnb-one

Hello John, I figured it was a signal issue. All the speakers fire and the sound is great. I was running the speakers thru a Dell PC with a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, THX Certified, 7.1 soundcard using a fiber optic from the Mac Pro to the Z906's, it worked great until the Dell died!!! When I bought the soundcard from Creative I also bought the GigaWorks S750, THX Certified, 700 watt, 7.1 speaker system, used the speakers for 11 years and then the woofer/amp said "I QUIT" Creative quit making the speaker system and the sound card. The satellite speakers from the Creative GigaWorks speaker system still sound great (rated at 78 watt each) and are a little better speaker than the one's that came with the Z906 and the wattage from the 906 is sufficient to drive the satellites without any distortion. Thank you for addressing my issue, you confirmed what I suspected all along, just needed to hear it from someone with the same setup.

One last question, I purchased a Diamond Multimedia USB Soundcard, can't use the fiber optic(not supported by Mac) but the green, tan and black RCA's plug in and produces adequetly. When you plug your 906's into the Mac Pro using the fiber optic how do you set your speaker configuration? When I plug into the mac pro with fiber optic the 'Audio Midi Setup' does not seem to see the 5.1 configuration. Any thoughts there?

Carl

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Answer 3

posimosh

Level 1

15 points

Apr 6, 2014 4:25 AM in response to carlhataway

I don't understand... You have a USB to toslink soundcard, then speakers that are also toslink connected? Its sounds like youre gonna need some amplification... Is there any involved in any part of this equasion? If the only juice you are running to your speakers is from the PCI port (I assulme that "diamond" coundcard is either PCI or USB) or worse USB, you might as well just listen to the speaker inside the mac cuz you will only have like 50w max going to your tiny, inefficient speakers (no judgement on your speakers... all little speakers by definition are inefficient)...
Edit....
I just re-read your post...
the optical in and out are both pre-in and pre-outs... they pass and accept uncompressed and unamplified audio to whatever device is hooked to it... sorry for the confusion... That midi program is for music production more than multimedia consumption. I am not at my macpro right now but I can check tomorrow to see what it says when I'm watching a movie or playing a game with surround sound. Actually, are you sure the media you are consuming is 5 or 7 channel audio? Too much media that is found online is only 2 channels...

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Answer 4

posimosh

Level 1

15 points

Apr 6, 2014 4:40 AM in response to carlhataway

Basically, what I'm trying to say is... Plug the optical cable out in to your amplifier/reciever....

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Answer 5

carlhataway Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 6, 2014 8:39 AM in response to posimosh

Posi . . ., thanks for chiming in here! The Z906 speakers have a 500watt amp built in according to the mfg. the speaker sub/amp has toslink in/out, also has the mini rca plugs for front left and right, center/subwoofer, rear left/right. The reason I have these speakers is because I shoot weddings, and events and edit on FCPX and do the sound in 5.1 where I can pan the sound. Thanks to both Johnb-one and posimosh for their thoughts and expertise.

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