Cube audio out

[superpantoufle]

Hi all,

Ok, I consider myself as a near hardcore macuser (and vintage Macs collector) for a long time, yet yesterday I felt just like a dumb newbie. Not that those two words are supposed to be written together, but still.

I do own a well working Cube. I bought it cheap some years ago, from a guy who had toasted the processor card while trying to overclock it. It came disassembled and without a processor card, but was otherwise complete. I found a card on eBay and put it all back together, to make a working machine.

Now, it lacked some of the Cube fancy accessories, like a StudioDisplay and the balls speakers. So a couple of weeks ago I bought a beautiful boxed 15'' LCD StudioDisplay which works like a charm. I have a pair of balls speaker that we still use daily on my wife's iBook, so I needed another pair to complete my Cube setup. So I tracked one down on the local auction website, and it arrived yesterday.

This whole story just so you get the picture. Now comes the part where I feel like a dumb newbie: where the f*** do you plug those gorgeous speakers on the Cube?!? That's right, I didn't know until yesterday that the Cube didn't have any jack audio output. :-/ I read on the web that it originally came with a separate audio amplifier, on which one could plus the balls speakers or anything else. So it seems I'm screwed, since I obviously don't own that piece of hardware. I could use my iMic over USB, though.

So my question is, could anybody provide me with a picture of said amplifier, so I can see what it looks like? Thanks a lot to all of you!

 

[beachycove]

 

[Mars478]

Yeah that little USB device gives you Output.

 

[Osgeld]

yea its more or less a usb audio card, dont think there is any internal hardware for audio, ... which is a bit silly but that's how it was done

 

[zerotypeq]

I think those are a bit hard to find so just search for usb audio card that works with ppc osx

 

[beachycove]

There's some misunderstanding in these posts.

You would be looking for more than the little rectangular device. The Cube's speakers are hard wired into it, with a wire to each speaker and a USB cable in between, which again is hard wired into the device. It is in fact amplifier and sound card, with speakers and all connecting cables, all in one unit designed so that it cannot be disassembled. The whole must weigh nearly 2KG, as the speakers are relatively heavy.

I am not sure whether it only works with a G4 Cube, or with other machines as well, but I suspect that it is Cube-specific. I do know that other spherical speakers of the time that were made for G4 towers and such did not work with the Cube.

An alternative to the stock system is to find one of the soundsticks/isub setups that were sold at the same time as the Cube and that match it nicely, in which the amplifier is (as I recall) in the isub, though there is also an external power supply. I have such a setup connected to a G5 iMac at present, but used to run it on my Cube (with which it ran perfectly) and it was much superior to the Cube's stock sound system. The latter sound system is good, nut not stellar. The soundsticks/isub combo is wonderful. If I were looking to buy a sound system for a Cube, and were not concerned solely to complete a Cube for a collection, I would look for it rather than the stock speakers.

 

[superpantoufle]

Ok, thanks all for your answers, and beachycove for the picture. I googled a little bit more, and found (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the speakers originally bundled with the Cube were not the Apple Pro Speakers, though of a very similar (and confusing!) design. With the Cube came spherical transparent speakers with three circular holes, yet the Apple Pro Speakers later bundled with the iMac G4 and some PowerMac G4 were semi-spherical and didn't have the three holes (the speakers' membranes are exposed). Those used a special mini-jack that carries audio and power.

The ones I just bought are the latter. One can use them on any Mac using a small device from Griffin (can't remember the name) that separates the cable into a standard audio mini-jack and a FireWire connector used to draw power. I thought I had one of those new and boxed ready to be used, but I can't find it. It looks like I'll try and sell those speakers quickly again, and maybe someday find the famous Harman/Kardo Soundsticks and iSub, which are (and sound!) beautiful.

 

[Bunsen]

All about Cube speakers.

See up in the top right corner of this page where it says "Search..."?

 

[Osgeld]

never noticed it before, what does that do

 

[Dog Cow]

Bah. Tell it the right words, and it will show you things you've never before seen. 8-o

 

[~Coxy]

the Apple Pro Speakers later bundled with the iMac G4 and some PowerMac G4 were semi-spherical and didn't have the three holes (the speakers' membranes are exposed).
The ones I just bought are the latter. One can use them on any Mac using a small device from Griffin (can't remember the name) that separates the cable into a standard audio mini-jack and a FireWire connector used to draw power.

I had some of the Apple "Pro" Speakers and they originally came with removable transparent covers to complete the roudness of the sphere, and had the three holes that you remember form the Cube's speakers.

The device from Griffin was called the iFire, I believe.