@stuartbmw3 .. looks good. Please let us know how you like the DAC and cable arrangement. Best.
MAC to DAC connectivity
I am waiting delivery of my first dedicated DAC. I decided to try a MHDT Orchid (non oversampling R2R dac). It is on its way from the designer in Taiwan.
Here is my question. My MAC is about 20 cable feet away from my integrated amp. That is longer than a single USB cable can run. SO I believe I have two options:
1) use a USB clarifier/re-clocker like the Wyred 4 Sound Recovery unit. With this I think I could run two 10' USB cables from the MAC to the DAC and get a "better" signal to the DAC.
2) Run a short USB cable into a USB/SPDIF converter like the Schiit Eitr, and then run a longer SPDIF RCA cable to the DAC.
Which option seems to be the smartest of the two? The cost is pretty much the same when I look at all the cabling and hardware options.
I am really new at DAC/MAC solutions so starting from scratch. After I get it set up the next round of questions will be around the options interns of players on the MAC.
Thanks for your input.
Here is my question. My MAC is about 20 cable feet away from my integrated amp. That is longer than a single USB cable can run. SO I believe I have two options:
1) use a USB clarifier/re-clocker like the Wyred 4 Sound Recovery unit. With this I think I could run two 10' USB cables from the MAC to the DAC and get a "better" signal to the DAC.
2) Run a short USB cable into a USB/SPDIF converter like the Schiit Eitr, and then run a longer SPDIF RCA cable to the DAC.
Which option seems to be the smartest of the two? The cost is pretty much the same when I look at all the cabling and hardware options.
I am really new at DAC/MAC solutions so starting from scratch. After I get it set up the next round of questions will be around the options interns of players on the MAC.
Thanks for your input.
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- 16 posts total
I have both USB and Ethernet interfaces to my DAC, using S/PDIF coax. I can do WIFI as well using an Ethernet-WIFI adapter. By far, the best SQ is achieved using Ethernet, but the devil is always in the details. If you use a converter for Ethernet to S/PDIF or USB to S/PDIF, the input and output cables must be great quality or the SQ will suffer. These distances are really a non-starter for USB IME. I would suggest the following: 1) connect an AQVOX switch to your router using a long generic CAT5 or 6 Ethernet cable. 2) Use a high-quality 0.5m Ethernet cable like the Wireworld Platinum from AQVOX to an isolator, 3) Use a EMO EN-70e isolator: https://www.emosystems.com/?s=en-70e 4) Run a second 1.5m high-quality Ethernet cable (Wireworld Platinum) from the isolator to a low-jitter Ethernet Renderer like the Interchange: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=156409.0 Then run a high-quality 1.5m BNC-BNC S/PDIF cable from the Interchange to your DAC. This will deliver optimum SQ using the shortest cables and the best converters. Steve N. Empirical Audio |
Does anyone know if there is a way to get optical output from the MAC to the D2's optical input? I have been using the usb input and the optical out from the D2 into my Krell. Sound is pretty decent but wondered if the optical from the MAC is possible. @audiosaurusrex .. depends on when the Mac was built. When Apple finally released their updated Mac mini last year the optical-out was no longer. Optical-out was abandoned sooner for at least some, if not all, of their other computers: https://www.macworld.com/article/3205890/how-to-replace-the-missing-optical-digital-audio-output-on-newer-macs.html |
- 16 posts total