Help Me Please! Lost in confusion over iMac Sound System Audioengine, Dac, Airport Express, Blah blah blah.

[intothemusic]

Hey, I'm new here, new to the audiophile speaker sound world, not new to music listening or music making just very ignorant on the technical aspects of it all. I usually listen to music via headphones. But I want to create a better sound system throughout my house. Here's my situation:

I have an imac intel core duo. i would like to play music off of only my computer (i have over 10,000 songs many lossless) and be able to use that throughout my house via various AE. I bought the audioengine speakers and use airport express to play it. It sounds like garbage. When I turn it up its utter distortion, I'm probably going to send them back for a replacement or a refund. Is it the speakers or my computer? I've been reading that I need to get a DAC. What components do i need to do to be able to stream high quality sound from my imac via the airport express?

I'm assuming I need to connect the imac to the dac (which one do I buy?) and then what? I also have a turntable and would like to be able to connect my turntable to whatever system i have going on to be able to use then when i feel like it too. (that's not a must but It would be nice) Do I sound confused? I am.

I have no idea what i'm doing. Someone told me I should get an integrated DAC with an Amp. If I do that, the audioengine's won't work right because they already have an amp? What do i do to make this as simple as possible? And will my computer recognize the DAC as my soundcard and stream that sound via the airport? The airport thingie is a must.

Please help! Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks very much!

Confused in Los Angeles CA.

[TimJo]

First of all, I am not an expert on this, so others should chime in if I misguide you.

If using the AirPort Express as a remote listening device is a requirement, then the only way to get better sound from the AirPort Express would be to buy external DAC's for each Express and connect them via optical cables. The DAC inside the Express is not of high quality, so using an external DAC is about the only option. (This is true with your Mac as well, but with the Mac itself, the connection between the Mac and the DAC can be optical, USB, or FireWire, depending on the DAC you buy.) An example of a DAC would be the HeadRoom Micro Dac, which run about $400 new. If you are talking about multiple devices, this would add up quickly.

There is also another system people seem to love as an alternative to the AirPort Express called the SqueezeBox, but I have no experience with this, and I am not sure if the internal DAC's in the SqueezeBox are any better than the AirPort Express. Other folks must have an opinion on this.

I hope this helps make thing less confusing.

Good luck.

[blessingx]

Welcome to Head-Fi.

Could we get a little better description of the problem? Exactly how severe is 'garbage'? The Airport Express is not the best DAC, but it isn't awful. So figuring out the problem first is necessary to fix it. Are you 'locking' your audio volume in iTunes and adjusting at speaker-level? The AudioEngines are pretty well respected (and advertising as having a good 'fit' with the Express), but of course it all depends on expectations.

And you can double-amp a single, use alternatives to the Airport Express (I use the Squeezebox, but did the Express previously), etc.

[intothemusic]

Originally Posted by TimJo

First of all, I am not an expert on this, so others should chime in if I misguide you.

If using the AirPort Express as a remote listening device is a requirement, then the only way to get better sound from the AirPort Express would be to buy external DAC's for each Express and connect them via optical cables. The DAC inside the Express is not of high quality, so using an external DAC is about the only option. (This is true with your Mac as well, but with the Mac itself, the connection between the Mac and the DAC can be optical, USB, or FireWire, depending on the DAC you buy.) An example of a DAC would be the HeadRoom Micro Dac, which run about $400 new. If you are talking about multiple devices, this would add up quickly.

There is also another system people seem to love as an alternative to the AirPort Express called the SqueezeBox, but I have no experience with this, and I am not sure if the internal DAC's in the SqueezeBox are any better than the AirPort Express. Other folks must have an opinion on this.

I hope this helps make thing less confusing.

Good luck.

Thanks! Ok, so i have no problem just buying one DAC. I would connect that one DAC to my airport express which would be connected to my speakers. I'm not looking for fantastic quality all over the house, mainly just in my office which is open air.

For some reason, i thought that i could make the DAC my soundcard from my computer. so all the sounds coming from my computer would be via the DAC. is that not how it works?

[intothemusic]

Originally Posted by blessingx

Welcome to Head-Fi.

Could we get a little better description of the problem? Exactly how severe is 'garbage'? The Airport Express is not the best DAC, but it isn't awful. So figuring out the problem first is necessary to fix it. Are you 'locking' your audio volume in iTunes and adjusting at speaker-level? The AudioEngines are pretty well respected (and advertising as having a good 'fit' with the Express), but of course it all depends on expectations.

And you can double-amp a single, use alternatives to the Airport Express (I use the Squeezebox, but did the Express previously), etc.

The audioengines just sound REALLY REALLY distorted at high levels. I didn't lock the sound via itunes. But I will try that. I'm honestly surprised the audioengines get such crazy great reviews. I am not completely detailed over sound quality, but this is seriously muddled at high volumes, there's no way anyone would think it sounds good.it's painful to listen to. Granted, they are very powerful speakers that go quite LOUD but they just don't sound good at high volumes. I have the b&w zeppelin that sounds fantastic at high levels, so i just don't get it. maybe i got a pair of bad speakers or something.

ideally what i would like to do is to be able to stream high quality music from my computer all over my house. i didn't realize that the airport express has it's own soundcard.... so i guess hooking up a sound card to the express and then hooking up the express to the speakers is the way to go?

[blessingx]

Well your signal is going to be digital until it exits the APX (so any earlier soundcard is actually bypassed) and from there its combo mini jack it will output digital (optical) or analog (mini). If you use the optical you can feed a separate DAC that should outperform the one inside the APX (or your computer). This is likely only an improvement and not so radical that if you don't like the speaker performance currently you're going to love the end result with another $400-$1000 added to the mix. If you don't like the AudioEngines I doubt this fix with correct that. It sounds like the speakers may be your weak link (though they seem loved by many). Do you have the 2s or 5s? The 2s likely have more of an issue at high volumes from what I've read.

[intothemusic]

I have the audioengine 5s. (i also have the 2's but haven't used them yet). Just now i tested out it's competitor the sierra sound smart speakers (less well known) and the audioengines are definitely better in terms of power and actually even sound. I think that the locking itunes volume thing might have been my issue. I was turning itunes all the way up and then turning up the speakers and it was hellish. It's sounding better! What i would like is to be able to differentiate the instrument sounds very clearly, i think that's why i need the DAC. What would that be called? When there's different sounds coming from all angles. I told you i'm novice! I just know what i like to hear

Which dac do you think I should buy? So having a speaker with amps and having an amp integrated DAC is not an issue? I'm not over amping?

thanks again for the insights. i think i'm entering some audiophiliac world and it's all over for me now. i never knew this all existed!!

[Bones13]

Before hauling off and buying new stuff, consider testing some of the parts that you have.

1) play your iPod(or other stereo source) directly thru your powered speakers. Does this sound good/bad. Perhaps the speakers will sound great, then you know they are not the problem.

2) hook the APX to a friends stereo system, and play music thru it. If this sounds good, then it probably not the APX.

3) If either of these sounds like "garbage" then you know where your problem is.

4) On the off chance that there are computer issues, how does the sound from the computer speakers/headphone out stack up?


I would isolate the problem before throwing money at a solution. I am using the APX in 2 different locations, albeit thru a stereo reciever (APX acting as the DAC) into nice speakers, and find the sound to be quite good.

If you read this forum much at all, you will get another DAC anyways, but why get it if its the speaker SQ or at least volume SQ that is the issue. You might need to be looking at a nice set of bookshelf speakers and an amp for them first. The slippery slope continues.

[intothemusic]

bones, i tried hooking up the audioengines to my ipod to see if they sounded better. the mistake i made is that again i turned up the ipod volume and then the speaker volume too. there was still distortion. so i guess i'll try it by locking the ipod volume?

i think no matter what i want a DAC. for sure. if i can get better quality out of my music, why not!

[intothemusic]

also, i listen to music on my imac via my headphones which are made by sennheiser. sounds fantastic. i want THAT sound coming out of my speakers.