Griffin 4019-FIRESS FireWave Surround Sound for Macs
By: Griffin Technology Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 17
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 On: 2008-06-24
Works nicely, great sound out of a MacBook and Logitech 5.1 speaker system. I had to go around twice on the installation to get everything to work, but may have been operator error.
On: 2008-02-17
Love this product! Install was quick and easy, just had to tell the Mini to play through The Griffin instead of the speaker jack, plugged in the Logitech surround speaker system that I was using on my Windows PC, and what great sound I had! The Griffin unit is a nice compliment to the Mac Minis appearance as well. If you want better that ordinary 2 speaker sound from your Mac, this is the way to go! Price was nice too here on Amazon, and a lot less hassle than trying to score one on Ebay!
On: 2007-12-14
I recently switched over to a MacMini from a PC which had an audio card. My surround sound speaker system only had the three plug input...no optical which meant they were useless with the MacMini. After some searching around, I found the FireWave which allows me to use my old speakers with my new MacMini. It works great and doesnt cost an arm and a leg.
 On: 2007-11-09
The FireWave is the only solution I could find to have surround sound with my iMac. So, in that way it is awesome. But there are a few issues with configuring it properly and the firewire passthrough is a little funky.
But all in all, it does its job and makes movies sound great on my mac
On: 2007-10-19
This device is great overall. The product is is easy to set up and use. The footprint is small and the unit is light so it can be stacked on other devices. Worth every penny.
On: 2007-10-17
this is the product you require to give your mac mini true 5.1 surround sound! its easy to setup and even simpler to configure: insert the supplied cd and let it install necessary files. once installed you attach the fireware via supplied firewire lead and attached to 5.1 speakers as instructed....all simple straightforward and an all round easy fix!
the card itself sounds luscious and full with articulate sound and superb 5.1 effects...simple software allows you to configure card to your own taste and preferences and musical equipment.
I full endorse and recomend this card to any mac mini owner.
On: 2007-10-10
I bought this FireWave to provide 5.1 speaker outputs from my MacPro. It works fine, but I found that buying a set of Logitech Z-5500 speakers and using the Macs optical output a better route to go. Bottom line is that if you have a Mac running OSX 10.3.9 and above, but no surround outputs, this FireWire driven external sound card works well. If you have an optical output (MacPro, MacBookPro, etc.) consider new speakers with an optical audio input.
On: 2007-09-03
After switching to mac over a year and a half ago, Ive been looking for exactly this and very happy with the unit. Now i can finally use my 5.1 creative setup with my Mac and it sounds perfect. Very happy with the price and product. If you only have 1 firewire port and use other firewire devices, you will want to look into a firewire hub since the Macbooks and Macbook Pros only have 1 firewire 400 port. Since the unit is bus-powered, that is one less power adapter I have to hide behind the desk.
I highly recommend this product for anyone looking to connect speaker setups that typically would only be used with desktop pcs. Im using this device currently with my creative theater works 5.1 which originally connected to my pc with 3 cables and now connects to firewave and then to my Macbook Pro.
On: 2007-03-09
Besides the short firewire cable provided, this product is great, with awesome sound quality. It is well worth the purchase if you want 5.1 for on a mac.
The only other drawback is that the case doesnt match my Macpro very well.
On: 2007-02-28
This is an external firewire sound card enclosed in a small white compact case, which provides Surround Sound, Dolby Digital processors supporting up to five channels and a subwoofer. It comes with software CD and a firewire cable, which draws its power from your computer. While I do not own a 5.1 surround sound set of speakers I did connect it to my JBL Creature II speakers into my G4 Power PC laptop and was able to enjoy my iTunes songs with a greater degree of pleasure. Watching DVD movies also sounds so much better using the FireWave.
The device did not initially work, however after contacting the Griffin help desk (no 1-800 number) I was able to obtain the help needed to get the device working. Support for the FirwWave is located on Griffins home page [...] under Hardware (RocketFM).
Since I am not a technophile these are from the Griffin website as far as the technical specifications:
"Audio Ports: 3 - 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo minijacks (Left/Right, Center/Subwoofer, Left Surround/Right Surround)
FireWire Ports: 2
Supported Audio Formats: Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II
Additional audio configurations are supported through Mac OS Xs Audio MIDI Setup utility
Frequency Response: 20-20,000Hz
Line-out voltage: 2Vpp
Size: 132mm (5.20") wide x 77mm (2.83") deep x 25mm (0.98") tall
Listening to surround sound while on my G4 Power Pc is a real treat. You just do not realize the quality of sound that the FireWire helps produce through your external speakers. Im going to be acquiring a 5.1 set of speakers in the near future, as I know that the full capability of the FireWave will shine forth.
FireWave ships for $[...] and requires Mac OS X Panther or later. They have an updated download - V1.0.0Software for Macs running 10.4 or higher.
The Griffin FireWave definitely enhances your laptops speakers far and above anything that you can imagine. I only wish Apple would provide such technology. (Authors personal comment.)
I would recommend to anyone owning either a Power PC, or MacPro laptop or Mac mini to acquire one of these devices and start enjoying the audio side of computing. I do not own any computer games, however I would have to believe that with the FireWave being employed you would have to experience a great deal of pleasure in playing your latest games.
On: 2007-02-06
I spent lots of time trying to find a decent sound card for my macbook--one that could work with my 4.1 klipsch system and also look like it belonged on my desk. The Firewave does all of the above, with a few exceptions.
I found that my mac sometimes cannot figure out how to send sound from mono sources (internet content and movies from my digital camera) when it is in the surround sound (Pro Logic II) mode. I have to restart the program with the surround option turned off in order to hear the sound. I look forward to software updates that will fix this problem in the future.
However, for my iTunes and iDVD sound, the FireWave is perfect: it sends clear 3D sound to all of my speakers. I think it is worth the hassle and I would make this purchase again.
 On: 2006-12-21
I used an optical audio cable to connect a Logitech Surround system (replacing my Revolution card) when I bought a Mac Pro. The cable is 25 bucks available practically anywhere.
On: 2006-11-11
It does what Griffin says. You can pipe 5.1 surround out of your mac. Ive used it for a few months now with really no complaints. I especially like that the accompanying software is a standalone application rather than a preference pane. I think thats why there have not been any conflicts. Im using mine with a logitech surround speaker set and it sounds great. I still wish there were more sophisticated internal audio cards for the Mac Pro but this device gets the job done and it looks pretty classy too.
I give it 4 stars because ocassionally it will have static filled audio with some podcasts and the audio cut out a few times during call of duty 2 for the mac.
 On: 2006-11-10
Good idea but no way to adjust volume for each speaker. When volume is turned past medium there is a loud irritating vibration on low frequencies that was not present before the FireWave was connect up.
On: 2006-11-10
When I upgraded from a G4 to a MacPro I found out late that I couldnt use my M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (not really a bad thing) so I needed a way to get my sound out to my great 5.1 Swan speakers. I searched and searched for something reasonable and finally came across the FireWave. It was very easy to connect and even easier to use. I was particularly thrilled with the DD decoding and my DVDs sound great and EyeTV even better than before. When Griffin gets the software really dialed this will be a 5 star product.
 On: 2006-10-07
Ive been trying to use the Firewave with a G5 iMac and a Logitech 5.1 setup. My results are very inconsistent. I cannot get the "virtual surround" Prologic II mode to work at all. Just silence when its turned on. Surround sound DVDs and DVD-As :: sometimes theyll play in surround sound, sometimes theyll just be silent. Its impossible to tell what makes what work or not. There is nothing in the Troubleshooting guide that comes with the product that helps you out with these issues. Probably a waste of your money.
On: 2006-09-10
After installing the software on the CD and testing out the Firewave card . . . I started to notice that the songs from my iTunes were skipping quite a bit. I played around the Firewave settings for a while but nothing helped with the skipping problem. This problem is frequent enough for one not to just ignore it . . . this is in fact would be what I consider a show-stopper. The other minor issue is that the Firewave application has to be running all the time if you want surround sound. The settings in the Firewave app keep resetting themselves with each time you open the application, thus requiring the user to manually set the settings everytime the Firewave application is opened. That is absolutely asinine.
*********** UPDATE ***********
okay, ive contacted the company about the problem and they believed it was due to a faulty firewire cable that came with the product. they shipped a free cable out to me, and it fixed the problem.
On: 2006-03-08
I am using this with a PPC mac mini and it works great! This is the first true external 5.1 audio solution for the mac and it does not dissapoint. It uses a combination of the mac midi settings and its own software. Audio quality is crisp and clean. I would recommend this product for sure!
It was really easy to setup. All you had to do was plug it in and it showed up right away in the midi settings. Just select it as your prefered device and you are good to go!
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