2. digital
  3. 1195339412

Mac Laptop & Sound Cards

O.K., I know I'm years behind but I just got a MacBook Pro laptop and a pair of desktop speakers. Have loaded hundreds of my own tunes and bought a couple hundred iTunes. I am retiring real soon and have always used company laptops but never was able to load any software, thus the new Mac.

I've read through a number of threads and am confused. What is a simple (and relatively inexpensive) way to upgrade the sound quality I get out of my Audioengine speakers? (Believe it or not, I have no idea how a souncard works or even where it plugs in.)

Thanks, people.
tomryan
Ag insider logo xs@2x
drubin
3,274 posts
 
What's an HT box?
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Home Theater, it is just a chassis. Although I don't have one, I thought it was pretty common usage.
ckorody
643 posts
 
Gonna be better with a Mac - no doubt about it. You will be up and running in minutes - search this site and Audio Asylum's PC Forum.

Regardless of which platform you choose, you will have better sound quality (less jitter and distortion) then all but the very best CD transports - agaikn check the forums. The beauty of this approach is you can do so much more with so much less money - what's not to like?
tomryan OP
796 posts
 
Ckorody - Thanks for so much useful information!
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Ckorody, I thank you also. I can fully understand how I might use my Mac with music on its hard-drive and feed thru the USB port, but can you explain how a substantial external hard-drive located at the dac might be used with the Mac located elsewhere might be used to control it. I know that John Tucker at Exemplar is using a AES/EBU connection between his PC based system and his DAC one of which I own. It does not have a USB port. He is talking about a wireless connection to his laptop and using a program called Fubar.
More to discover