Question About New 27" iMac and New Speakers Setup for FCPX Edit Suite

So, I ordered a new 27" iMac along with two new Monitor Speakers (the KRK Rokit 6"). My question is...how would I hook these speakers up to the 27" iMac. I'm used to a MacPro with an Audio Line In for my current speakers, but the iMac looks to only have a Headphone connector. Any suggestions on how to hook these babies up? Thanks for any help!

I have a similar model iMac, but not the latest edition. The sound & speakers in this baby are so good, there's a specs page on the Apple site. With the built in 17 watt amplifier & the amount of bass, separation & clarity makes one wonder why anyone would seek externals. However, since you have them, you can jack them out of the headphone's port or use a wireless set up, which might require an additional component.

TrixTrax, even cheapass Behringer monitors sound way better than the iMac internals :evil:

Yes, headphones out is the way to go.

Here's what I do (taken from Advanced Editing techniques in Final Cut Pro 5):

With just my iMac's internal speakers I first go to FCP 7 and...

Click the Viewer's Video tab, and in the lower-right corner of the Viewer, click the Generators button.

The Generators pop-up menu opens.

2. Choose Bars and Tone (NTSC) (I choose PAL as that's the system I use where I live)

The Bars and Tone Generator appears in the Viewer.

3. Click the Viewer's Play button.

A 1 kHz test tone plays. Notice that Final Cut Pro's Audio Meter holds steady at -12 dB while the test tone plays. This is an appropriate reference level for broadcast television.

(In the UK this level is -18dB)

However, if you intended to mix your sequence with more dynamic range than is required for television, you would need to lower the level of the test tone from its default -12 dB, as demonstrated in the following steps.

4. Click the Viewer's Stereo (a1a2) tab to display the test tone.

Toward the top of the Stereo tab, you'll see Level and Pan sliders. If you look closely, you'll notice the Level slider is set at -12 dB. This, of course, is exactly the same value displayed on Final Cut Pro's Audio Meter.

5.Move the Level slider down to -20, and check out Final Cut Pro's Audio Meter. (If the test tone is not playing, click the Play button to start playback once again.)

(In the UK this level is -18dB)

The Audio Meter now displays a level of -20 dB.

If you continued with this more dynamic reference level, you would mix in the dialogue at approximately the same volume level as this lower test tone, which, in turn, would give you more headroom, or more room above the dialogue level to mix in effects such as those explosions and revving car engines referred to earlier.

6. Set the Level slider back to -12 to ensure that the test tone plays at -12 dB.

7. Play the -12 dB test tone, and adjust your speakers so the tone sounds neither too loud nor too quiet.

The test tone should be loud enough so that you can hear it clearly, but not so loud that it kills your ears. As you mix your audio in Final Cut Pro, don't change the volume of your speakers. Maintaining a consistent playback level lets you get used to the volume you're working at, which, in turn, gives you a good feel for how your audio sounds. When it comes to volume, consistency is the key.

8. Once I've done this with just the iMac's internals, I leave my system volume where it is. Don't touch it. I then plug in my externals , play the tone and adjust the externals volume level to a comfortable level and I leave it there. I'm now all set.

You can optionally edit the Bars & Tone into the timeline and export as a Self contained Quicktime for import into FCPX to two the same thing.

I hope this helps.

Sorry I haven't partaken in anything "cheap-ass" yet, but I do enjoy a Bongiovi DPS Acoustics audio augmentation system installed on my Mac as the sound is magnificent.

So then do I need a "go-between" device to go from the speakers to the headphone jack on the iMac? Since each speaker has an output, obviously both can't feed into a single headphone jack. Any ideas on what I would need?

Thank you everyone.

Googling the back of these speakers it seems to me that you could use the type of headphone jack that would then split into a red/white left/right rca jack then into the speakers.

Just an FYI I work for a DJ company as well that use these types of adapters that also have an inline impedance regulator/noise reducer I believe. that go between our laptops and our mixing console. That may or may not be advisable. I'll defer to ones that may know better.

Just get a small mixer like a Behringer Xenyx802 and run the iMac into it and the speakers out of it. In the UK, they're £40. I've used one for years with no issues.

The Rockit 6" are powered speakers, so you don't need extra amplification, but you need a good volume control for them near to where you're working. I bought the SM Pro Passive Switch/Headphone amp:

www.markertek.com/Audio-Equipment/Speake...H-2.xhtml?SM-MPATCH2

It's built like a tank and has nice large volume knobs that make it easy to control volume quickly without messing with your computer settings. You can then run either balanced XLR or 1/4" jacks or unbalance RCAs. You can run two sources through the switch and turn the speakers on and off at will. There's also a headphone amp with its own volume control that is way easier to access than the iMac.

If you're planning on driving an external broadcast video monitor from either a Black Magic, AJA, or Matrox box, you can route all the audio through that interface and then to the SM Pro switch before they hit your KRKs. I really recommend having a manual switch because the volume control on the KRKs are on the back and hard to reach. Just leave your computer and KRKs set on full and control everything from the SM Pro. At $180, its a little spendy, but its all metal and pro.