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S900 Audio Input Adapters: Thanks to the many readers that replied to the
reader request yesterday. I've not been able to read them all but here's a sample of some tips that were sent:
"Hi Mike,
That poster is correct. I learned the hard way on my
7300. Something with the radio shack y connector just
didn't seem right. So after I fried the audio and paid
$650 for a new motherboard last year it is a valuable
lesson.(and 30 days after my warranty expired!)
The Apple Rep told me that the levels going in should
be at the level of a walkman and that my stereo line
level was probably to much. I personally think it has
more to do with their strange 1/8 connector. It also
would take nothing for them to throw a pair of RCA
jacks with the proper padding on the back like on the
old A/V models.
And for someone who works with audio as a living and
wanted to accomplish a little more at home, it hurts.
All the cards for the Mac start at $500. I use
ProTools at work, $15k for that system 4 years ago.
And an Audiomedia card will set you back a nice $700
but it does include P.T. with it.
To me it seems it would take nothing for one of these
audio card makers for the pc to write some drivers for
the Mac. They'd sell a few thousand more cards and I'd
rather pay $80-150 for a decent card than do what I
did last year. [I wish Creative Labs would write Mac drivers
for their excellent SoundBlaster Live card, which is
pretty impressive for a under $200 audio card. -Mike]
Believe me, I will be upgrading to G3/4 on this baby
and holding on as long as possible. Maybe in another
year I won't be as mad at King Steve and his pirates.
I do admire the new products but recent tactics have
really soured me more.(Rom Block)
Regards
Bill Conners
"
Anoter reader sent a note on a Griffin Mic Adapter:
"Radio shack makes a cable that has two male rca jacks (Right and Left)
and a stereo mini plug on the other end. They also have extender cables
if you need to make the wire longer.
To input a signal into the microphone plug of the S900 you need to order the Griffin NE MicTM Audio
Adapter. This converts the normal stereo mini plug to the weird apple
plug that is needed. I used to own an S900 and this one of the ways to
import audio. The other way that I imported audio was through ATI
Xclaim VR card with the external TV tuner. The external TV tuner has
three RCA jacks (Right and Left and Video).
Robert Adelman
"
I remembered I had a link to Griffin's N3D Mac 3dfx cable/adapter kit in my 3dfx topic area of the FAQ. I checked their
web site Griffin's web site and found a link to their Audio Adapters page that lists the Mic adapter. (After doing this I saw a mail from Bob Friede that had the URL already - figures :-). The Griffin Mic adapter appears to be made for using a non-Apple Microphones (or other line level devices) with the Apple Mic input (line level converter) and based on Robert's comments might solve the reader's
problem of getting stereo audio input.
Bob mentioned a good point - asking if the Griffin adapter is stereo or mono. Checking Griffin's Mic adapter FAQ didn't find the answer but according to their Mic adapter data sheet it is compatible with mono or stereo mics. Cameron Perry said his old LC Mac came with an adapter for this. Before anyone buys this adapter however, read the additional comments below.
Jim Randall said the longer plug was to provide power to the Apple microphone.
Kevin Price expands on this subject as an S900 owner that has captured audio:
"Mike:
For the UMAX S900 owner, I have found that a standard mini-plug works
just fine for audio capture. The longer plug is only required, as I
understand it, to supply power to the Apple microphone. I have been
capturing audio this way for years now. You do NOT want to use the
longer plug if you are capturing audio. Doing so will add power to the
RCA input signal line...and THAT is where the potential damage may come
from.
My stereo mini-plug, with RCA jacks on the other end, is available at
Radio Shack...at least that is where I picked it up. Be sure to have
BOTH the Sound AND the Monitors and Sound control panels installed so
you can choose the correct sound source. I know this sounds weird, but
it works!
Kevin Price
"
Another S900 owner writes:
"... I'm afraid that he is complicating the issue much more
than necessary. The only reason you would need the longer plug is if you
are going to use a powered microphone. The longer plug on the powered
microphone has an extra segment and conductor so that the mic can get the
5v DC power. I doubt that it would be a good idea to use just a longer
plug as it would likely short the DC to the, I believe, right channel and
possibly blow something either in the Mac or what ever he hooks up to it.
A standard mini to RCA cord from Radio Shack or anywhere will work just
fine. I have an S900 and have no problems using a standard cord to
digitize old albums and cassettes via the line out on my receiver. If
the S900 is sitting on the floor, I recommend getting one of the 90degree
plugs so that it sticks out less and is less prone to accidentally being
bumped. I bumped mine and now the microphone won't work properly because
it seems that the contact for the DC pin got bent. :-( Unfortunately, I
haven't been able to figure out how to get to the innards of the jack so
I can try bending it back.
I really enjoy your site!
Lew Kopp
Windows: It's Just Work
Macintosh: It Just Works
"
Bart sent some info on Radio Shack's adapters and a comment on a past
problem he had:
"Mike,
Radio Shack's new catalog lists 2 different 1/8" stereo to 2 phono plugs
adapters part #274-369 and part #274-883 which is gold plated.
Also, you may remember me writing to you about a problem with a XLR8 G3
400MHz card and an Adaptec 2940U2W scsi card in a Power Mac 9600/350. The glitch was with
virtual memory off ARA would not dial out, giving a out of memory error.
The situation has been resolved, apparently it was a bad Adaptec card.
XLR8 overnighted me another G3 card to make sure that it wasn't their
card. After trying the replacement G3 card as well as my original
350MHz processor, the problem persisted. After cornering Adaptec, they
offered to send me another scsi card, but only after they had received mine.
They would not advance replace or credit card secure replace the card.
To cut to the chase, the problem was obviously a bad scsi card,
everything is working fine now. If only other companies would offer customer service like XLR8 did, there would be a lot less distrust from
the consumers. XLR8 has made me a customer and advocate for life!
Thanks, and soak that ankle in some ice water!
Bart
"
Kay rubbed some Chinese medicine into the ankle (I won't describe how
much that hurt at the time). Today however it does look and feel better.
= End of Sunday 1:00PM Update =
Sorry the weekend update is late, during helping the neighbors move last night
I sprained my ankle which put a kink in my productivity.
G4 ZIP Drive Bezels: If you ordered a G4 system w/o ZIP drive apparently Apple does not include the free bezel anymore. Check www.proline.com for ZIP drive or other bezels for various Mac models.
Lombard PB G3/400 Disk Tests: Greg Santilli sent a note about drive speeds in the new Powerbook:
"Hi Mike
I got a chance to test the hard drive in a Lombard, 400mhz, 64 mb RAM,
Virtual memory on, 100mb total memory, 8 gig drive, 8mb video memory.
The store had this book hooked up to a 21 inch monitor, and it was working
rather well.
I downloaded ATTO Protools and got the results below.
I picked the Max transfer size of 2mb, since the larger transfer sizes where
not noticeably different then the two mb, in fact, pretty much the exact
same rate [that setting means the max test file size is 2MB (tests run on
file sizes up to 2MB)-Mike]. Sample size is 4 [tests repeated 4 times-Mike].
[All rates are in MB/sec-Mike]
Cache Enabled
Peak Read 15.09
Sustained read 9.99
Peak Write 10.39
Sustained Write 9.89
Cache off
Peak Read 15.10
Sustained read 9.70
Peak Write 10.02
Sustained Write 9.55
(system disk) Cache enabled with max transfer size at 512k
Peak Read 112.84 [reads from system memory disk cache-Mike]
Sustained read 9.19
Peak Write 9.78
Sustained Write 8.16
Cache off 512k max transfer size
Peak Read 15.14
Sustained read 9.18
Peak Write 11.81
Sustained Write 8.23
I was amazed. I expected 4-6MB a sec. Apple, as you have noted with your
Fireball v. Diamond Max 5120 story, usually uses slow drives. Not in this
powerbook!. These numbers are by far the fastest 2.5 inch drive I have ever
tested.
Amazing
gs "
In the past Apple's OEM SCSI drives were very slow, but the new IDE drives used
in the B&W G3s are surprisingly fast. See the Storage page for many reviews and
comparisons showing IDE drives vs SCSI and more. The 10GB Notebook drives are even faster - I've seen burst rates of 22MB/sec on some of these and sustained rates of 9MB/sec in some cases. (See the IDE articles page for install guides and tests of powerbook drives.)
Softraid 2.2 Available: As noted here earlier in the week, v2.2 will be required for OS 9 and it's now available at http://www.softraid.com/Updates.html [Thanks to Derrick A. Yamaura for the heads up]
Z-Force to Ship Soon: Powerlogix just wrote me that the long-awaited competitor to the XLR8 CarrierZIF should be available soon
with optional G3 or G4 CPU modules. They promised to send a review sample with their B&W G3 ROM fix for testing. Since both my B&W G3s have the 'no-G4 CPU' v1.1 ROM update this will be welcome.
Reader Request: A Umax S900 owner is looking for a mini stereo plug /dual RCA
jack for audio capture.
"Mike-
I've searched the WEB and everywhere else for a cable for my Umax S-900 with no
success. I'm looking for a cable with a mini stereo plug on one end and dual RCA
jacks on the other so that I can digitize some of my old albums. The problem
with finding such a cable is that the mini stereo plug needed for the UMAX and
most other Macs is about an eighth of an inch longer than the standard mini
stereo plug and the black right/left channel bands on the plug shaft are twice
as far apart as those on the standard plug. I've found that the extra length is
necessary so that the plug can reach the dc post inside. Using a standard plug
gets me no sound and, as I understand it, possibly short out an audio component
inside the computer.Apple and Umax have no idea where to obtain such a cable
even though the S-900 owners manual states that using such a plug allows one to
digitize music from a stereo. I've tried everything from contacting Radio Shack
to obscure cable manufacturers and no one seems to know where to find such a
plug. Today, when talking with a Umax rep, he suggested I contact you. Can you
help? If you can lead me to such a cable you can have my first-born.
Thanks,
Mike Wonders"
I asked if he had checked places like Radio Shack, but see the Sunday update above for other
reader suggestions.
BTW: RAM prices continue to rise - Chip Merchant lists 128MB SDRAM at over $260 now. On a hunch I went across the street from where I work to the local Office Depot - PNY 128MB PC100 SDRAM was $179.99. A month ago I laughed at that price when Transintl.com listed them for $95 - now that $180 retail store price looks pretty good. Transintl prices today for 128MB SDRAM were down from last week - today showing $219/128MB. Remember RAM prices can change literally by the hour based on stock/supply, so these prices may be obsolete tomorrow.
The Game News page today has a small update with info on Mac Total Annihilation going gold and news on Mac Rainbow Six due in October.
I'm still digging through my mail backlog but if you've not gotten an answer in the last week or so please resend (noting it's a 2nd try). I'm doing my best to answer mail but it's not humanly possible to answer it all every day and more rolls in every day. Please check the site got questions? page and specific topics links (see sidebar links) and the 400+ answer Frequently Asked Questions (organized by topic/system). For Apple G3 related articles also check the Systems page and G3-ZONE as well as checking that area of the Freq. Asked Questions.
Other Net News:
If you don't check every day's daily news (updated several times a day normally) you might miss something valuable. Check the summary list below for highlights of the last few day's news and the archives page for older new page links. The recent features page has a list of recent reviews/articles posted. For a blast from the past, read what was on the news page here exactly a year ago.
Friday's News Summary
- Powerlogix announces G4 CPU upgrade fix for ROM updated B&W G3s
- iMac Voodoo2 Cards at OWC
- Mac Networking how-to site updated
- Apple TIL on CD Drive and Media Compatibility
- Yikes G4/400 Benchmarks/Impressions
- More on Mac UPS (battery backup power supplies)
- Apple to add Altivec support to Final Cut Pro
- Matrox's reply to my inquiry on G400 graphics card for Mac
- SpeedTools 2.5/IDE ORB Drive comments
- Mactell Firewire DAT tape drive
- Other Net News
- Mac Game FPS database updated
- Rate Your Mac Games database updated
- Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
Thursday's News Summary
Wednesday's News Summary
For links to older news pages see the Archives page. The recent features page has a lists reviews/articles you may have missed.
For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.
If you own a G3/300 or faster Mac, you might want to get our PPC Checker utility that will report if your CPU is copper or aluminum based.
Considering a G3 Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The database is being updated daily for new reports. Also make sure you ask your dealer about any issues with your particular mac model as I have gotten several reports of issues with certain G3 upgrades in some Mac models (Mach 5, PowerBase, 7300).
I urge any owners that have had problems to report this via the Survey Form. Always give the most weight to recent owner reports (dated in the listing).
Note: Before sending tech support related questions please check the Answers to Common Questions, Site Contents, CPU Card reviews/articles, SCSI reviews articles, Graphics card reviews, Tips/Misc, Message Boards and Help pages - in many cases the answers to your questions are there and they have far more detail than I can list in an email. For Apple G3 system info - see the G3-ZONE.
Please try the Men in Mac Help page as an alternative on requests for tech support to help me be able to spend more time on reviews and getting caught up in mail. Thanks.
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