Computer Speakers.....
There are a few things I really do not like, some of them does not have to do with computers, and some of them does.
As a notebook use, with a frequent use of a external monitor, I've gotten around to live with the mess of cables on my desk, but on I cannot live with the scratch, boom noise when I plugin my external speakers (5 year old 2.1 system, which is working just fine - just ask the neighbors).
This means that I've been hunting high and low for some speakers which would work via either fiber (bloody expensive), or USB (also not cheap - until now - that is I've missed out on some things).
I was in the local MacShop yesterday to order a new Macbook Pro (more about that later), and asked if they knew of any [stag]USB speakers[/stag] which where 1) ok'ish 2) working with OSX. And they pointed me in the direction of Logitech Z-5, but after some research I figured out that they do not come with a power supply (damn). They also mentioned [stag]Logitech Z-10[/stag] which officially are only supported with Microsoft Windows - dooh...
Well it turns out that the only thing which officially does not work with OSX is the info display on the right speaker (no you know - it's the right one, and no it's not mentioned in the documentation).
After a bit of research, I found a tool (LogitechLCDTool) which can show some information on the display, and the next step was to figure out how to switch from lineout to USB Audio.... AppleScript here we come.
If found this blog entry, which have a script which works, but as I do not need to switch back to lineout (disconnecting the speakers is enough), I modified the script to:
-- snip --
tell application "/Applications/LogitechLCDTool.app" to activate
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.sound"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "System Preferences"
tell tab group 1 of window "Sound"
click radio button "Output"
set selected of row 2 of table 1 of scroll area 1 to true
set deviceselected to "Z-10 USB Speaker"
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
-- snip --
As you can see I also launch 'LogitechLCDTool' - less clicking around....
Just a small thing, due to some issues with OSX 10.5.x and iTunes 8.x you should have a look here and here
But back to the speakers them self, well as everyone says; they are good, the bad thing is the touch panel which is kind of crap... do a google and find a review or two....
As a notebook use, with a frequent use of a external monitor, I've gotten around to live with the mess of cables on my desk, but on I cannot live with the scratch, boom noise when I plugin my external speakers (5 year old 2.1 system, which is working just fine - just ask the neighbors).
This means that I've been hunting high and low for some speakers which would work via either fiber (bloody expensive), or USB (also not cheap - until now - that is I've missed out on some things).
I was in the local MacShop yesterday to order a new Macbook Pro (more about that later), and asked if they knew of any [stag]USB speakers[/stag] which where 1) ok'ish 2) working with OSX. And they pointed me in the direction of Logitech Z-5, but after some research I figured out that they do not come with a power supply (damn). They also mentioned [stag]Logitech Z-10[/stag] which officially are only supported with Microsoft Windows - dooh...
Well it turns out that the only thing which officially does not work with OSX is the info display on the right speaker (no you know - it's the right one, and no it's not mentioned in the documentation).
After a bit of research, I found a tool (LogitechLCDTool) which can show some information on the display, and the next step was to figure out how to switch from lineout to USB Audio.... AppleScript here we come.
If found this blog entry, which have a script which works, but as I do not need to switch back to lineout (disconnecting the speakers is enough), I modified the script to:
-- snip --
tell application "/Applications/LogitechLCDTool.app" to activate
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.sound"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "System Preferences"
tell tab group 1 of window "Sound"
click radio button "Output"
set selected of row 2 of table 1 of scroll area 1 to true
set deviceselected to "Z-10 USB Speaker"
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
-- snip --
As you can see I also launch 'LogitechLCDTool' - less clicking around....
Just a small thing, due to some issues with OSX 10.5.x and iTunes 8.x you should have a look here and here
But back to the speakers them self, well as everyone says; they are good, the bad thing is the touch panel which is kind of crap... do a google and find a review or two....
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