Playstation 2 + Mac Pro + ...

I have a Mac Pro and Playstation 2 with an LCD monitor with AV inputs, S Video, Line In, etc... plus a set of Klipsch THX speakers (2.1). I want them all to play nice together so I can switch from work on the Mac to Playstation while sharing the speakers and LCD display. So far I can get the Playstation 2 to work on the LCD but the audio does not come through the Klipsch speakers. The Mac Pro works with the speakers if they are plugged directly into the Mac Pro's sound card port.

The PS2 and the Mac Pro both have Digital Optical Audio jacks, but the speakers and LCD display do not. So it seems I have to work with analog connections.

Any ideas?

You can get a tv tuner card and that would work perfect for what you're trying to do. Check out macmall.com, they have quite a few different tv tuner cards that all work with mac and the price on them aren't too bad.

Thanks! I was hoping that having a monitor with TV capabilities would be enough, but maybe you're right. I need to check the monitor's menu interface to see if there's a way to switch the audio output to the external speakers, and also in the PS2 options. If that doesn't work I'll go for the TV tuner.

Weird, I only see one TV Tuner card for Mac on Macmall.com and it's $149.00. That costs more than the PlayStation 2!

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=381502&Redir=1

There must be a less expensive way.

Must have looked in the wrong place... Here is the list I'm referring to.

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/search/search~id~222296896~search~TV+Tuners.asp

Cool, thanks again! I got a cheap one.

np let me know if you need any help setting it up.

Finally!

I just got it (after 3 and a half weeks) but it seems like MacMall sent me the wrong item. It's similar, but the connector sockets for the S-video and audio inputs are so close together my plugs won't fit side by side, plus there's only one Audio In connector, so I don't know if it does stereo or not.

I ordered this one hoping that the plugs would fit:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=7119356&Redir=1

But they sent me this one which I didn't want:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=7119115&Redir=1

tom
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Oops, and double oops! First they send me a card I didn't order, and now I realzie that the Mac Pro only accepts PCIe (PCI Express) cards, which are totally different from the old PCI standard and incompatible. (Even the slot connector is laid out backwards.)

Looks like there may not yet be any PCIe TV Tuners available.

So, when MacMall lists a PCI device as PC and Mac compatible, it probably won't work in an Intel Mac.

Before you go and purchase anything, I have a simpler solution, as I do a very similar thing, if you are doing what I think. You have a mac & a PS2, and have a set of nice speakers hooked up to your mac. You want to use the speaker through both, and your LCD TV has AV inputs. If your TV has speakers, I suspect that it has a headphone jack. If you have a headphone jack, a male-male mini audio plug going from your TV headphone jack to your mac line in jack. This should allow you to pipe your PS2 audio through your mac and out through your nice speakers. My setup is very similar, although I'm running mine through my XP box, but the principle is the same. The only thing I can't help you with is how to adjust the different volumes on the Mac, but I'm sure someone else can chime in to help you.

Thanks! That's a great idea, but there is no headphone jack on my montior.

There is a digital optical audio out jack on the PS 2 and the Mac Pro has digital optical audio in/out jacks. I should have tried that first, but it's a challenge to find those cables around town.

All this trouble just so I can practice at Guitar Hero II in my office!

Good luck trying to find the right cables, try Radio Shack or an Audio/Video place, they usually have cool stuff like that there. I wish I had the problem of having to find fancy cables...