- Joined
- Dec 26, 2009
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
- Location
- Redmond, WA
- Your Mac's Specs
- 17" MacBookPro2.5 8gb RAM
I just joined the dark side (enjoying every minute) a few days ago, going from the Evil Empires PC software to the MBP 17" (freaking nice display!).
The story is I have an extremely high end 2 channel stereo and purchased an Audio Research DAC (DAC7) in order to integrate a PC into the mix and control the playback via remote control.
I was happy with Win7 sound quality until I plopped a CD into my player (still using the DAC7 though) and at that time I noticed the SQ wasn't that great on the PC.
Took the plunge buying a Mac since I heard (no pun intended) the Mac has the best USB audio support as far as sound quality. The idea is to use the MBP to playback my ripped .wav files (.AIFF).
However, I would like to get a firewire device that I could use with the PC or MAC, but if the best sounding device is only going to work on the Mac, I would nix usage with the PC.
So my first question is, what firewire audio device has these features?:
1) Firewire in
2) Balanced digital XLR out
3) Hi-Res (24/192), preferred, but not a deal breaker
I've looked on the net and it seems the devices that are available are way overkill in a sense where they are for recording and have fifty million inputs for mic etc.
I'm looking for the best sounding "bridge" (firewire to balanced xlr) if you will, at a price point up to $1k as the DAC7 is about $3,200 so it wouldn't make sense to spend more for the bridge than the DAC.
My second question is: What, if any tweaks are there on the MBP to make usb audio sound its best? Does 4gb vs 8gb ram make a difference in sound?
Any input is appreciated!
Joel
The story is I have an extremely high end 2 channel stereo and purchased an Audio Research DAC (DAC7) in order to integrate a PC into the mix and control the playback via remote control.
I was happy with Win7 sound quality until I plopped a CD into my player (still using the DAC7 though) and at that time I noticed the SQ wasn't that great on the PC.
Took the plunge buying a Mac since I heard (no pun intended) the Mac has the best USB audio support as far as sound quality. The idea is to use the MBP to playback my ripped .wav files (.AIFF).
However, I would like to get a firewire device that I could use with the PC or MAC, but if the best sounding device is only going to work on the Mac, I would nix usage with the PC.
So my first question is, what firewire audio device has these features?:
1) Firewire in
2) Balanced digital XLR out
3) Hi-Res (24/192), preferred, but not a deal breaker
I've looked on the net and it seems the devices that are available are way overkill in a sense where they are for recording and have fifty million inputs for mic etc.
I'm looking for the best sounding "bridge" (firewire to balanced xlr) if you will, at a price point up to $1k as the DAC7 is about $3,200 so it wouldn't make sense to spend more for the bridge than the DAC.
My second question is: What, if any tweaks are there on the MBP to make usb audio sound its best? Does 4gb vs 8gb ram make a difference in sound?
Any input is appreciated!
Joel
