iFire and Apple Pro speakers

ATPM 10.02 - Review: iFire

Apple sells Apple Pro Speakers for their G4 machines. I don't think they're supported on later model G5 machines, so they don't have much of a future. They require an unusual audio connector that provides firewire-level power as well as ditigal sound output.

As the G4s move into the twilight unsold speakers are being dumped on the market. Dealmac listed a Small Dog computer price of $15 for demo models (open box) with a $3 shipping credit.

Turns out other machines can use these -- if one buys a Griffin iFire. Griffin's site has a very limited description, but the this and this review gives a much better picture. The iFire is mouse-sized converter that gets its power from a firewire port -- or a an iPod charger or other firewire-type power source. It has a standard analog audio in jack, so it's doing D/A conversion . It's a bit disconcerting that the iBook/iPod is translating the digital music to an analog output, then the iFire is converting the analog signal to a digital signal for these speakers, which in turn translate it to an analog output (sound waves). Seems like one could do with fewer D/A conversions. Good thing I'm not an aesthete. We do need to get better about digital output.

Too bad the AirPort Express doesn't support these speakers!

I've ordered both the iFire on the Apple Pro speakers from Small Dog. The combination was $50 (I'm surprised Small Dog isn't bundling them), but this is still a good price. I'll either use them with my iBook and/or iPod in the kitchen (powered off my iPod charger) or upstairs powered from the firewire PCI card in my XP machine. In both cases I'm getting a compact set of speakers and I don't have to fuss with yet another power brick!

These aren't really travel speakers, they're a peculiar niche product of high quality compact sound sources.

I'll update this posting after I get my toys.

Update: I got my speakers from Small Dog computing today. They came without packaging, manual, etc. They were dusty, dirty, and spartan. They work just fine though, and a damp cloth made them look fine too. The iFire is smaller than I'd expected, it's a bit thicker than an iPod mini. I never read the directions, it was obvious how to hook it up. I experimented with putting the speakers on my iBook, but for now they're on my XP machine upstairs. The PCI firewire card (Orange Micro) is powering the iFire, in turn the iFire is managing the speakers. It's quite compact and much neater than traditional PC speakers (no power brick!).

They're not the greatest speakers for rock and roll or R&B (limited bass), but Jazz sounds terrific (good mid-range).

MacZealots.com - Comparable applications for Windows and OS X

MacZealots.com - Articles - From Windows To OS X: The Applications

The list is interesting in both directions. He understated the choices on the PC, but I still found some PC apps of interest to match the OS X apps I use. (I need to work on both platforms.)

BestBuyCable - Serial ATA (SATA) Cables and IDE Adaptors

BestBuyCable - Serial ATA (SATA) Cables and IDE Adaptors

A very wide variety of cables, mostly inexpensive. I would be careful about low cost firewire cables.

Laptop Speakers: Nice job assembling views of Amazon and other products

Laptop Speakers

This appears to be a meta-vendor site. They aggregate products in a value-added fashion, incorporate some reviews, and point to the real vendor. Nice job on laptop speakers -- best collection I've seen.

Outlook OST File Recovery - ExchangeRecovery (was ost2pst.exe?)

OST File Recovery, Repair Orphaned Offline Storage Files, Recover Corrupted Data

This is a fairly costly tool for recovering from a number of Outlook/Exchange synchronization disasters. I think it was derived from ost2pst.exe. The latter can be downloaded from several sites, though I wonder if the distribution is legal.

It will, among other things, convert an "orphaned" OST file into a useable PST file.

OS X Services: there's stuff there I need to look at! Copying tables from Safari

Safari 1.2 (Part 5): "Don Andrachuk wrote: 'Actually, Safari, at least in Panther, already has that capability and more: Just select the page elements you wish to copy in Safari, pull down the Safari:Services:TextEdit menu and select New Window Containing Selection. An untitled TextEdit window will be opened containing styled and formatted text, graphics and *live links* based on the Safari page's content.'"

Email Aliases in Apple Mail (Mail.app)

JustinFrench.com: Email Aliases in Apple Mail

Ok. So what does this mean?