Unable to Format New CD's with Apple Super Drive

[krs]

Never tried this, but if you are willing to spend a few dollars you could probably get a USB to optical or coax adapter to link the Mac to the Yamaha unit directly.
Something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07SR7BYD6/
or similar - would require a bit of research to see if that would work.

But that approach would save you time.

 

[hoody]

Thanks for that, I'll have a look on some local sites for something like that tomorrow. I'd been thinking about cables, but the adaptor seems a good idea.

 

[usagora]

BTW: If the drive is an Apple external USB Optical "SuperDrive", They will not normally work with any Mac that originally came with a built-in optical drive. Also be aware that apparently it is very easy to install a disk upside down on the units, I cannot recall if the Apple logo goes on the top or the bottom to work properly. Bad design!!!

Wow, I never dreamed that would be confusing, but apparently you're not alone since Apple even mentions it:

Get help with the slot-loading SuperDrive on your Mac computer

Follow the steps below if you need help setting up or using your Apple USB SuperDrive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, or built-in SuperDrive.

support.apple.com

To me, the black, rubberized side is fairly obviously designed to sit on the desk and the sleek aluminum side is meant to be seen. This is how it always appears in marketing photos as well. Upside down just looks...wrong. Same thing as the Mac Mini or Apple TV, which have similar undersides (though of course their functionality won't be affected if placed upside down, but it would just look really odd).

 

[hoody]

I've found a DAC here the same as the one in the link from KRS. It's made in China and I'm thinking it's the same one. My next question is, can I use the RCA plugs to transfer music from the macbook air to the Yamaha hard drive. I don't even know how I'd set up the macbook to do this.

 

[krs]

Hoody - The DAC I posted a link to was just the first random one I came across without doing any research or even reading the description at the time.
I did however read the description on the amazon.ca site now and they seem to have all the right words including "Mac compatible"
I would try to find some other info, maybe reviews and a copy of the user manual.
For transfer from the Mac to the Yamaha, I would use the optical connection on the unit since the Yamaha has an optical input that will record to (I think) the Yamaha hard drive. I haven't checked that either.
Using the optical connection would keep everything digital, if you use the RCA plugs you would end up with a digital-to-analog conversion in the DAC unit and then an anlog-to-digital conversion in the Yamaha which would mean deteriorated quality of the recording.
As to set up - and again, I have not tried that or have even ever used a USB audio device on a Mac, the USB port should show up in System Preferences>Sound.
Maybe post this in the Digital Lifestyle>Music section of this forum to get some input from people who have used the Mac USB ports for this type of purpose.

PS: Take a look at this thread to see if it gives you some ideas

Digital Audio out of my Mac Air to a Stereo Receiver (Thunderbolt???)

Other than my headphone out (from my Mac) to my stereo receiver, is there a digital solution? My receiver has optical in, HDMI in, RCA in and 3.5mm in (Headphone size cable). Is there a USB to Optical cable out there? Can I use Thunderbolt as an audio out?? Is there another solution I am not...

www.mac-forums.com

BTW-there are some Macs that have a combined analog & digital output, for those you would just need the optical cable and no USB converter.

Another relevant link

How to replace the missing optical-digital audio output on newer Macs

Apple dropped S/PDIF from its headphone jack in 2016 MacBook Pros and 2017 iMacs.

www.macworld.com

Behringer is a very reputable company when it comes to audio equipment

More good info:

Connecting iMac 2012 to an Yamaha Amplifier

I just bought a 2012 iMac and I want to connect it to my Yamaha Amplifier. On my previous PC setup I had an external audio card which connected to the Amplifier via an optical cable. However, I do...

apple.stackexchange.com

Looks as if your 2012 iMac does include an optical port (integrated with the headphone output), so it seems all you need is the cable to connect to the optical input of your Yamaha unit provided the Yamaha allows recording on the harddrive from its optical input.
Your manual will give you that info.

 

[hoody]

Thanks again for the time you've all put in on this, it's much appreciated. Now it's confession time. I also have a Yamaha RXV757 tuner/amp and found that I can drag and drop music from iTunes on to a USB stick and play them on this units USB input. I have to apologise that the old memory keeps letting me down and makes look daft. I might save some money and get myself an external ssd and use that exclusively for music. A 250Gb would be plenty and I could take it with me and use it away from home. I found that with the USB drive, I couldn't partition it which is why I thought of the ssd

 

[MacInWin]

You should be able to partition a USB drive. It's just another storage device that can be (or should be able to be) formatted any way you want.

 

[pm-r]

Looks as if your 2012 iMac does include an optical port (integrated with the headphone output),

FWIW: I just discovered when looking for some completely different information, that Apple began removing the optical (Toslink) part of the sound port beginning in 2016. Apparently, they decided that analog was good'nuf for all users!!!



- Patrick
=======

 

[krs]

You should be able to partition a USB drive. It's just another storage device that can be (or should be able to be) formatted any way you want.

I agree, but I have also never partitioned a USB Flash Drive so I just tried it.
Used a 32 GB Verbatim that had already been formatted for the Mac but was otherwise unused.
I created 4 equal partitions - no problem. Worked exactly the way I expected.

 

[krs]

FWIW: I just discovered when looking for some completely different information, that Apple began removing the optical (Toslink) part of the sound port beginning in 2016. Apparently, they decided that analog was good'nuf for all users!!!

What I found interesting when doing this little bit of research (which actually only took a few minutes, thanks to google) is that the information about the 2012 iMac on 'every mac' does not mention the optical output anywhere, at least not that I could find readily.
MacTracker however does.

I noticed that before, "every mac" seems to be used more frequently to determine a specific Mac's capabilities but it's not always totally accurate or complete.

 

[pm-r]

I noticed that before, "every mac" seems to be used more frequently to determine a specific Mac's capabilities but it's not always totally accurate or complete.

"every mac" for its MacBook listing does list:

Mid-2010
Details: Has a single "combined optical digital output/headphone out (user-selectable analog audio line in)" port (the same as the mic/headphone port used by the iPhone).

Early 2015
Details: *Single analog audio output/headphone jack. Supports Apple iPhone headset with remote and microphone.

No In between year 2010 -2015 models listed which I thought of as bit strange as I thought there were some other year models in between.

As you say, maybe not totally complete. I haven't checked with MacTracker.


EDIT:
My opps...!!! I was looking up the MacBooks specs, not the iMac's!!!



- Patrick
=======

 

[krs]

Patrick,

Take a look at the 2012 iMac - that's the only one I looked at.
Maybe the comment about the optical out is hidden in the description somewhere.

The MacBook is another kettle of fish -the ports you listed have the single quad connector port that supports both line out and Mike in as well as the optical connection - like 'one size fits all'

 

[pm-r]

Talk about confusing reading Apple's input:

Headphone out/optical audio out: You can also use this port for both optical digital audio output and analog audio output. Connect external speakers, headphones, or optical digital audio equipment. For analog headphone/line output, use a standard audio cable with a 3.5 mm metal plug. For optical digital audio, use a Toslink cable with a Toslink miniplug adapter or a fiber-optic cable with a 3.5 mm plastic or nylon optical plug.

Audio port
Audio port
Analog audio in: You can use this port to connect stereo equipment to your Mac with a stereo miniplug-to-RCA cable adapter.

Audio in/optical audio in: You can also use this port for both digital optical and analog audio input. For analog audio input, use a 3.5 mm mini phone jack or a stereo miniplug-to-RCA cable adapter to connect stereo equipment. For digital optical audio input, use a standard Toslink cable with a Toslink miniplug adapter. Digital optical audio input uses the S/PDIF protocol.

About the audio ports on Mac

See the different types of audio ports that may be available on your Mac.

support.apple.com

And lots more confusing info via some of these hits:

2012 iMac audio digital or analog - Google Search

But I discovered that one's Mac displays the info needed in Software Information -> Audio. at least in my 2011 27" iMac, see the screenshot below:





- Patrick
=======

 

[hoody]

Good old apple. They like to keep us on our toes. I assume this means I have the option to use an adapter and optical cable.
As for the USB partitioning, I tried another one and it wouldn't work either. So I'll have to get up the shops and buy a new one.
KRS, here's the audio choices for the macbook, I'll do the imac a bit later.

 

[krs]

The 2012 iMac (which you mentioned in your first post) includes the optical connection.

What year is your MacBook? It obviously doesn't.
And the optical audio was only available on some Macs for a few years, it's no longer there on the new ones.
If you check MacTracker it will tell you if a specific Mac has the optical connection or not.

 

[hoody]

Hi,
It's mid 2013 and mactracker (thanks) confirms it has no optical. Sorry for confusing things.

 

[krs]

Oh well,
Back to the USB-to-optical converter IF (and you should double-check that) the Yamaha will take a signal from the optical input directly to the Yamaha hard drive.

 

[hoody]

I checked today on the iMac. It's late 2012 and has no mention of the dual output, only headphones. I looked on mactracker too and no mention of it on there either.

 

[krs]

MacTracker shows analog/optical combo output for me for the 2012 iMac, but I thought you corrected that and you actually had a 2013 iMac?

However MacTracker shows the combo analog/optical output for 2013 iMac as well.
Pix of what I see on MacTracker for the 2012 iMac is below.

This is why you don't see it in your screen shot:

Does iMac have optical audio out?
3.5 mm headphone jack: S/PDIF optical digital output

The S/PDIF optical digital output is automatically selected when an S/PDIF optical digital output device is detected on the external combination audio port.

 

[hoody]

No sorry. The iMac is late 2012. The macbook air is mid 2013. I must be getting worse than I thought. I do have the combo on the iMac. So as far as I can see, the computer detects the optical converter and TosLink and lets me record (line out). Is that right?