USB audio versus the Mac Powerbook: “I’m having trouble finding an answer to this question. How does one get S/PDIF in and out of a G3 Powerbook? I have Apple’s 266mhz/14″ screen model with lots of horsepower and memory, successfully running Digital Performer 2.51 by MOTU. I see lots of nifty gadgets for machines that have USB ports (i.e.: Opcode’s Sonicport and Datport) but alas – no USB port on this ‘new’ Powerbook. There must be a way to use either the Ethernet or PCMCIA inputs, shouldn’t there? Are there adapters that can simulate a USB port? I’m trying to keep this compact and inexpensive, so I’m ruling out an outboard PCI card rack.”
There are two solutions, and don’t think either of them properly fit in to your criteria. The solution that we know works well is to get an expansion chassis and interface card at which point you can take your pick of any number of available PCI cards that will do this. Some good brands of expansion chassis are Bit3, Second Wave, and Magma. The only other immediately available option comes from a company called Digigram. They make a variety of digital audio products for Mac and PC laptops and do have at least one that will work on your machine. They aren’t cheap though.
Even if there were hardware to convert one of your ports into a USB port, it wouldn’t do you any good because there are no Apple drivers to make their USB ports do audio yet (HELLO APPLE?). The only other solution is to wait until the next range of G3 laptops come out in a few weeks. These will have USB built in, but the driver issue may or may not be solved by that time.