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http://www.macnn.com/articles/01/06/04/monsoon.im-700/

Monsoon iM-700 speakers now USB compatible

updated 05:40 pm EDT, Mon June 4, 2001

 
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Monsoon's iM-700 Flat Panel Audio System is now USB compatible, after Sonigistix developed an in-line cable attachment for the product. "The device works well with Apple's new OS X operating system and is designed to support Apple's move to USB audio." The USB-compatible audio system is available now for $170.


by MacNN Staff

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    darnit

    do you think they will sell the attachment piece? since I bought my iM700s last month and would really like the USB connection

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    re: darnit

    It's just a digital to analog convertor. As far as I can tell they didn't change the speakers at all. I don't see why they can't just sell the dongle by itself.

    if you are already using the speakers via the sound output then I would stick with that.

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    "...move to USB audio"?

    Does anybody else think USB audio is a stupid idea?

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    USB audio, not on a hub

    BTW: The soundsticks require their own USB port. Each port on the Mac has a controller associated with it (24Mbps total). Some cheap USB PCI cards may contain multiple ports, but they actually have a single controller (12Mbps shared between ports).

    Functionally, these cards are like an USB hub.

    The soundsticks won't work on them. I found this out the hard way - I have a new 4 port/4 controller card (48Mbps total) coming in the mail.

    Javier

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    No!

    No, I don't think USB audio is a bad idea.

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    if this is the trend...

    if we are gonna move to go all usb we need more usb ports built it. two isn't gonna cut it anymore. if apple forces us to use one for our keyboard/mouse and then another for audio that doesn't leave us with much. 3 or 4 built in ports would be nice.

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    MacNN and Prices

    Why does MacNN always round up prices? These speakers ar $169.00, not $170.00.

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    Contact Sonigistix

    I suggest all interested send a quick email to them. I have to use an iMic adapter with my Monsoon speaker system & Cube and it does not work with OSX. Voice your desire to buy the new cable/adapter as an accessory or encourage them to offer a trade in program for the 'sound challenged' Mac community

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    digital audio

    Does anybody else think USB audio is a stupid idea?

    The main benefit is that analog cables and such can wear out, and a lot of sound quality can be lost if there's a lot of mixing and filtering happening before the sound makes it to the speakers. If you have lousy speakers, then, the answer is absolutely yes, USB audio is dumb because you can't hear the difference. Don't worry, though, analog will be around a while longer.

    There are two big downsides:

    Analog cables are very simple and very flexible. For instance, I have a Mac and a peecee hooked up side by side, and I use a cheap $20 mixer that was designed for people to add narration to home videos to plug both of them into my stereo. I doubt I could do that, and buying two sets of speakers for two systems is not cost effective.

    Second, with all-digital there comes the possibility of encrypting audio until it gets to the speakers. At present, all the copy protection in the world can't stop me from playing a protected file and simply running the outputs into the inputs. Watermarking doesn't work, so the solution is to encrypt it until it gets to the speakers. They're already trying this with video. Keep your eyes on the DeCSS, it's important stuff.

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    USB audio is dumb!

    USB is unreliable enough as it is. All this digital audio stuff is pretty screwed up, too. Do any of you have digital cable? Instead of a quick pop or flash in the picture that happened very few times with the traditional analog medium, there are now picture lags, delays, and audio dropouts that happen quite frequently. Some electron gets misfired and a 1 or a 0 doesn't come through right, the whole thing goes crazy... I'm all for new technology, but not until all the bugs are worked out of it.

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