Thanks to Colin Shapiro for replying to my 5.1 question. That answers part of my question, so let me more clearly ask the rest of it: 1. What Mac audio hardware do you need to be able to play the 5.1 (i.e., 6 channels)? Just any one or more sound cards that together give you six output channels combined with however many amplifier channels to power 6 speakers? 2. Can I even plug into my Mac more than one audio card and expect Logic to be able to uses all of their collective outputs (i.e., as a single 5.1 mixdown output), or do I inherently have to choose between one audio card at a time? 3. Are there individual audio cards that have 6 or more outputs? I suppose there must be for ADAT usage. 4. From what you said, it sounds like the only available mastering medium for 5.1 is audio tracks on Logic itself or is there some means of mixing down through, say a DTS encoder/decoder of some sort to DAT? Or I suppose ADAT would work, albeit expensive. Thanks for the info!

Gary Morrison wrote: >Thanks to Colin Shapiro for replying to my 5.1 question. That answers part of >my question, so let me more clearly ask the rest of it: Sorry I took so long to reply to this post - I've been very busy working (on Logic) :-) > 1. What Mac audio hardware do you need to be able to play the 5.1 (i.e., 6 > channels)? Just any one or more sound cards that together give you six > output channels combined with however many amplifier channels to power 6 > speakers? I use the Sonorus STUDI/O card. You can get up to 16 digital ins and outs via lightpipe connections. Some folks on LUG even use 2 of these cards. It helps to have a surround amp and a mixing desk that can interface with it. I use the Mackie d8b desk which accepts the lightpipe connections via the extra DI/O cards and Yamaha's DSP-A1 amp. > 2. Can I even plug into my Mac more than one audio card and expect >Logic to be > able to uses all of their collective outputs (i.e., as a single >5.1 mixdown > output), or do I inherently have to choose between one audio card at a > time? > > 3. Are there individual audio cards that have 6 or more outputs? I suppose > there must be for ADAT usage. See above.... > 4. From what you said, it sounds like the only available mastering >medium for > 5.1 is audio tracks on Logic itself or is there some means of mixing down > through, say a DTS encoder/decoder of some sort to DAT? Or I >suppose ADAT > would work, albeit expensive. Sorry - pass. Let me know if you solve this one. Hope this helps... Regards - Colin