Firewire Question for iMac

iMacs produced between 1998-2009 had Firewire 400 (6 pin). iMacs produced after October 2009 had Firewire 800 (9 pin). All new iMacs have Firewire 800 (9 pin). There's a good reference article here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1394

The Weiss Dac 2 has Firewire 400, so if your iMac is older than Oct 2009, you'll need a FW 400 cable like this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/1394A66012/

If your iMac is newer than Oct 2009, you'll need a FW400 to FW800 cable like this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/1394B96012/

Or you can use a FW400 cable with a FW800 adaptor on one end:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/FIR1369AD/

Mingles thanks so much for your response. It was very helpful. Since my FW800 port is being used for an external HD I will use the FW400 for the Weiss. It will be a straight 6 pin to 6 pin.

Not sure why my iMac has both FW400 and FW800 but heck, I'll take it!

I have had good luck with Audioquest Forest Firewire 6 to 9 pin cables. Some sellers on Amazon sell them at quite reasonable prices.

I've just found a Pioneer DVD Elite DVD 47Ai player with iLink (aka FireWire).

I want to rip my personal CD's to Apple Lossless format via FireWire and store them on the Mac. Where will I find the necessary drivers to see FireWire as an input choice on my Mac running 10.5? Or do I need to upgrade to 10.6 and load Garage Band to get FireWire input drivers?

Or am I completely wrongheaded, and I really need some intermediate hardware that I don't know about yet?

thanks very much for any tips/tricks.
Bruce