Temporary measures

Guys in desperation tonight I have used my JVC DVD to play some CDs.

NO sorry no great revelatons, it basically sounds shite. However I notice it has an optical connection on it.

Now in fairness I am a muppet on this type of techonology, it seems to sit in a bunch of connectoers saying video out.

So I am assuming I can't connect the mac to it and play out via the stereo, i.e. a temporary dac?

 

I expect the DVD just has optical out. You could try connecting it to an optical in on your Mac and then on via the analogue outs on the Mac etc.

Paul

 

More permanent measures

To run your uber Olive kit with a digital source you need a CDX. An XPS as well would also be good, but one or two of Tone's power cables will give your revealing 52/Supercap the kind of signal feed to provide you with the musical satisfction you so desire from your CDs.

 

Don't worry Gary - I'm sure Steven will "get it" eventually, maybe when Salisbury start making harddrive servers

Still, all I can say is that the MacDac combination produced for the first time, a sound that I found enjoyable. In comparison to be fair, the Naim CD player sounded broken.

I'm hopefully picking up an M Audio Audiophile Firewire later and will report back, it's only £200 so I'm not expecting miracles, but the ability to archive my mates rare dub 10"'s at 24/96 onto DVD is certainly intriguing

 

Merlin, how do the firewire one work? I am guessing processing the signal via the firewire to a digital output?

How does your computer deal with the sound of this, is it going through any form of amplification?

Steven. Its not fair to draw the comparison with your own meanderings. I have done the comparison in the context of my system and the dac/mac combination sounded better.

Just finding a comparable dac 64 for 300 quid

My 200gig harddrive arrived, but its the wrong connection, curse all this ATA crap, why don't they give stuff meaningful names!

I have also ordered 10 metres of toslink so that the DAC can go with the hifi and not the mac.

Can't wait.

 

I wonder if Steven's tried toslink yet?

 

Gary

The Firewire Audiophile plugs into the four pin Firewire port on your Mac. By using Firewire, the M Audio is able to slave to the Mac's clock, or vice versa. I'm hoping this helps with jitter but only time will tell.

The Audiophile features both A/D and D/A converters capable of 24bit/96khz rez. It's also got SPDIF in/out plus interface software to enable access to the Mac's audio core (apparently!) So this little £200 box should be able to do the following.

1. Convert the digital out from the Mac to analogue for connection to the hifi.

2. Convert firewire to SPDIF for connection to other digital devices

3. Allow digital archiving of all your favourite vinyl onto the Mac at DVD Audio quality (these can then be played back in any DVD player offering superior sound to CD)

4. Provide the Mac with a digital input (should you want to say record off DAB freeview)

Not bad for £200! Still it may well sound absolutely dire in which case I'll still need the digital interface as my Powerbook has no Toslink output.

 

Sounds interesting, do you feel this could be an alternative to my Dac route? Or would I be wasting a perfectly good digital output?
I have the latest firewire 800 on this mac its a different connection though are there devises that connect? I know I could do a search but really I havn't got a name to go on!

Was interested in the look of some of these home digitial streaming devises using you earthnet connection, however the one I was espcailly interested in I can't remember the name of, so I can't find the site! Looks like a stainless steel metal tube with a digital read out of whats playing from the harddrive. A bit like the squeeze box its also compatible with itunes and comes with a remote (Currently the only obsticle I have with my plan, although the mouse is wireless!)

 

I'll let you know Gary. Theoretically, the firewire interface should have inherently less jitter due to the ability to salve to an external clock, but that will depend on the unit's qualities in other areas. The idea of sticking some of those 12"'s on the Mac though must be tempting

 

What connector are you looking for? I know a little something about these matters so feel free to ask.

//lamboy

 

What is it that makes the mac better than a pc here?

 

Built in optical inputs and outputs.

PLus its a mac and not a PC, always a bonus.

 

I'm not too clued up on this but aren't the optical ins and outs on the soundcard? And thus it's just a case of picking an appropriate one? And your mac just happens to have a half decent one as standard? I'd imagine a 3rd party specialist one would be better wouldn't it?

 

Mo ask yourself this.

Why does ProTools, the primary interface between computer and music harddware choose the mac as its premier platform?

The amount of sound cards avaiable for the mac has always been limited. But at the end of the day DVDa and SACD works right out the box, to 5.1 with no need for extra hardware. Job done.

 

OK, I asked myself that. But having never heard of "protools" I was unable to answer myself

I wasn't having a dig at macs. I've only used one once for a few mins. Not long enough to become familiar with it and make an opinion.

I was just curious if there was any other benifits to using a Mac over a PC apart from it being a competent solution "out the box".

I intend to change my soundcard for something with a digital out in the future so I can connect it to my DAC. I'll also be wanting something with a good selection of inputs as my brother's a musician and we're looking to do some recording and such this way too.

 

Mo,

The official Mac line goes like this

You do have instant access to a 24/96 platform which I understand to be easier than having to run third party software on a PC to bypass Windows Media's SR Limitations.

I'm new to all this but my decision to go with a Mac was based purely on the fact that they are COOL

Having said that, I can't get my new Firewire interface working It seems that I cannot find the installation file on the drivers CD. Oh well, nought to do now until the shops open again on Tuesday

 

Fair enough.

I'll be looking to upgrade my PC bit by bit though rather than start from scratch.

I'm probably missing something obvious here but, what's the big deal about 24/96? Your CDs are only 16/44.1! Or does this mean if played through the Mac (or apropriate PC) thye'll be upsampled? I'm lost when people start talking about this in hifi terms, never mind computers

 

merlin, if its a driver problem firstly did OSX need one?

If so goto www.versiontracker.com

Click on the OSX tab and type in a search for the software you need.

 

Thanks for that Gary.

Sadly the Mac isn't setup for internet usage yet - I'm having security issues on the PC and don't want to risk the same thing with the Powerbook, so will be getting a new account, firewall and Anti Virus software before it goes anywhere near the web!

MO, the 24/96 platform won't do a great deal for your CD's but if you are into making music then all processing can be carried out at the higher resolution prior to down converting to CD. Plus digitised vinyl could sound interesting.

Still, it's nothing you cannot do with a PC and some add ons.

 

I've never had anti virus software for the mac.