I'm curious how you guys get the most out of your lossless files, and how you play them on your home system. My vinyl sounds great and my digital music doesn't.
I'm pretty sure I want to get a stand-alone DAC (no pre-amp / no wifi) to connect my MacBook Pro to my home stereo via RCA and USB cables. I'll use iTunes and Apple Lossless files, or maybe play iTunes through my iPad (which would be better, but that would involve getting AirPort or figuring out how to get Home Sharing to work with it).
I'm looking at these two models at the moment. They seem solid and in my price range (<$200):
• JDS Labs, Stand Alone ODAC (http://www.jdslabs.com/products/46/standalone-odac/)
• Audio Engine D1 (http://audioengineusa.com/Store/D1-24-Bit-DAC)
What do you guys have going?
If you're just trying to hook your computer up to your stereo receiver, Allow me to save you about $195
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00004Z5CP
:roll:
I Dont have one yet, but you hear nothing but good things about the D1.
Another to look at is schitt audio. Terrible name. Supposedly great, very affordable DAC's.
eta link: http://schiit.com/products/modi
Obviously I misunderstood if you're rolling your eyes. Based on what he posted though, he just wants to "hook his MacBook up to his stereo via RCA and USB?
Quote from: antelope19 on January 12, 2014, 02:26:55 PM
Obviously I misunderstood if you're rolling your eyes. Based on what he posted though, he just wants to "hook his MacBook up to his stereo via RCA and USB?
don't make me roll my eyes at you a second time. he wants to "get the most out of" his lossless files.
a stand alone DAC will bypass your computers sound card and improve the sound.
he did not say, "can someone link me to the crappiest cables on amazon?" :evil:
My music goes: iMac > Airplay via wifi > Apple TV > optical audio out > receiver
A lot of my music is Apple Lossless. I don't bother with anything above 16 bit, which I've read is the max Airplay will handle. I certainly don't qualify as an audiophile, but when I pipe music to the main system it sounds good to me.
If you aren't concerned with going above 16 bits, the Airplay route could be a good solution. You wouldn't have to worry about having your MBP tethered to a system, either. If you have no use for the video functions of Apple TV, an Airport Express will also output audio over Airplay (you can use it as your wifi router or just in client mode for music). A new ATV actually costs less than AE, but you can buy a used AE on Amazon for $50.
Here's an interesting discussion (http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/best-way-itunes-and-apple-tv-output-high-resolution-music-files-14437/).
Quote from: mbw on January 12, 2014, 02:41:50 PM
Quote from: antelope19 on January 12, 2014, 02:26:55 PM
Obviously I misunderstood if you're rolling your eyes. Based on what he posted though, he just wants to "hook his MacBook up to his stereo via RCA and USB?
don't make me roll my eyes at you a second time. he wants to "get the most out of" his lossless files.
a stand alone DAC will bypass your computers sound card and improve the sound.
he did not say, "can someone link me to the crappiest cables on amazon?" :evil:
Lol. Ok, ok. I'm done here.
Quote from: mbw on January 12, 2014, 02:16:02 PM
:roll:
I Dont have one yet, but you hear nothing but good things about the D1.
Another to look at is schitt audio. Terrible name. Supposedly great, very affordable DAC's.
eta link: http://schiit.com/products/modi
I always knew Modi was a piece of schiit.
I've heard good things about the Dragonfly:
http://www.audioquest.com/usb_digital_analog_converter/dragonfly-dac
Terry
Quote from: barnesy305 on January 12, 2014, 05:50:41 PM
Quote from: mbw on January 12, 2014, 02:16:02 PM
:roll:
I Dont have one yet, but you hear nothing but good things about the D1.
Another to look at is schitt audio. Terrible name. Supposedly great, very affordable DAC's.
eta link: http://schiit.com/products/modi
I always knew Modi was a piece of schiit.
:clap:
Quote from: barnesy305 on January 12, 2014, 05:50:41 PM
Quote from: mbw on January 12, 2014, 02:16:02 PM
:roll:
I Dont have one yet, but you hear nothing but good things about the D1.
Another to look at is schitt audio. Terrible name. Supposedly great, very affordable DAC's.
eta link: http://schiit.com/products/modi
I always knew Modi was a piece of schiit.
:hereitisyousentimentalbastard :hereitisyousentimentalbastard :hereitisyousentimentalbastard :hereitisyousentimentalbastard :hereitisyousentimentalbastard
Oh, man. That's gold.
Also, there are various ways to tweak Foobar to playback "better" - if you use it... check it out...
My own experience is very limited - I did the cheap RCA cable route and killed my JVC... I did the Squeezebox thing, but could never get it to work right... I got a Denon and did some HDMI playback via my wife's lappy, but the Denon got hit by lightning...
Now, I'm slowly saving my penny's for something...
Terry
Quote from: mbw on January 12, 2014, 02:16:02 PM
:roll:
I Dont have one yet, but you hear nothing but good things about the D1.
Another to look at is schitt audio. Terrible name. Supposedly great, very affordable DAC's.
eta link: http://schiit.com/products/modi
Send me the loot and I'll pick this up for you...
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/4235311301.html
Terry
Quote from: twatts on January 12, 2014, 11:04:43 PM
Also, there are various ways to tweak Foobar to playback "better" - if you use it... check it out...
My own experience is very limited - I did the cheap RCA cable route and killed my JVC... I did the Squeezebox thing, but could never get it to work right... I got a Denon and did some HDMI playback via my wife's lappy, but the Denon got hit by lightning...
Now, I'm slowly saving my penny's for something...
Terry
Damn, that's some bad luck!!!!
Oh yeah... this guy lives in my neighborhood: http://www.kandkaudio.com/digitalaudio.html
I went to a yard sale at his house and bought a power supply from him: http://www.oneac.com/
I didn't realize who he was until a couple of months later...
Terry
I have a Pro Tools Digi003 hooked up to my Mac and it has a fairly decent DAC. I used to use it for playback of my itunes library. Currently, I just go out of the headphone jack of my imac and use a combination of airport express (air tunes) and apple tvs to power various speakers around my house via wifi. They sound great and no different to my ears than through the Pro Tools DAC. It's all MP3 though. Playing FLAC or vinyl through my systems directly does sound better but the MP3s sound great and I can control the whole house with my phone through the Apple Remote app (free).
I also use this cheapo amp to power various ceiling speakers around the house and outside through Airport Express and could not be happier with it. When I bought it, it was $99, but the current price is still a steal. This amp kicks ass for most utilitarian needs....
http://www.parts-express.com/audiosource-amp100-2-ch-source-switching-power-amplifier--302-601
one day I hope to have a set up like that
dont even have a pair of speakers in this place :shakehead:
If your amp has Optical/TOSlink inputs and you have a mac product, you should be using Optical and skipping the conversion stage in your computer altogether.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022902&p_id=1556&format=2
Thank you guys for the feedback and generally awesome 'paug banter.