i've been using macs to make music for a long time now, but i've been doing all of my tracking using an adat. my adat broke recently and i'm in the market for a new computer, too. i used optical i/o to interface between my mixer and adat. will i be able to plug the mixer right into a g5 as if it were an adat, or do i need a separate sound card for that? sorry if this seems like a stupid question, i just can't get a straight answer anywhere.

Hi,

I don't personaly own a G5 but sure seems like it wont be a problem to connect digital i/o to a G5

"The Power Mac G5 comes with audio capabilities that are not usually found on personal computers. The state-of-the-art optical digital audio in and out ports use the S/PDIF protocol over Toslink cables for connecting to 5.1 surround-sound speaker systems and more."

The question is what kind of software are you planning to use?
Most probably you wont have the same kind of connections to your mixer using software to record your audio...
Their are big chances you will use the softaware to mix your audio

i currently use bias deck and cubase sx. i was planning on using my extermal mixer just for live tracking... interfacing the mics, etc with the computer... i've been arranging and mixing tracks on my macs for years, i've just never attempted recording multiple tracks to a mac at once.

Well it looks like this will be no problem with your G5.
Has anyone else interfaced their G5 with a digital mixer?