Macbook Pro Audio Quality

[aaronylee]

I just got the new macbook pro that was updated on Tuesday.

I was really surprised when I plugged in my DT 880s and found that the laptop was actually able to drive them unamped, and the sound wasn't half bad either!

Has anyone else noticed this with past macbook pros? This is my first one so I wasn't sure if they had changed the audio card or not.

[skeeder]

Mac's are unique machines, I've noticed that when it comes to multimedia they are just a step above...its not surprising to me by any means...but I think if you were to plug you DT880's into a regular amp you'd notice what your missing.

[ozz]

mine sounds good thru the senn 580's its last years mac pro also noticed
the optical out to the integra 10.5 sounds good.

[gz76]

I use HD25-1's with my MacBook Pro as they seem to be the best match from my arsenal. I wouldn't say it sounds that great tho.

I have a DA-100/HP-100 combo on the shopping list to help fix this problem.

[senns&nonsense]

Not gonna be a popular opinion but I believe people with Macs have a completely different decision from those with PCs. The standard advice about....

- needing to get away from the noise in the box
- neeeding to get an external DAC to improve what is on the sound card
- needing an amp to drive good phones
- and on and on and on.....

is all less relevant to us so-called Apple fanboys. Yes, improvements can still be made and I have indulged in some. But the sound out of Macs (at least those produced in the last coupla years) is quite strong and refined. The upgrade for Mac owners is much more subtle. The cheapest way for a mac owner to get good SQ? Buy some really great phones and plug them into the back. Not my choice (at least right now) but that should be a real option for the music lover smart enough to have bought a Mac. Simple, less expensive, and 90%+ of what you are likely to achieve by spending a lot more.

[spongezone]

Originally Posted by senns&nonsense

Not gonna be a popular opinion but I believe people with Macs have a completely different decision from those with PCs. The standard advice about....

- needing to get away from the noise in the box
- neeeding to get an external DAC to improve what is on the sound card
- needing an amp to drive good phones
- and on and on and on.....

is all less relevant to us so-called Apple fanboys. Yes, improvements can still be made and I have indulged in some. But the sound out of Macs (at least those produced in the last coupla years) is quite strong and refined. The upgrade for Mac owners is much more subtle. The cheapest way for a mac owner to get good SQ? Buy some really great phones and plug them into the back. Not my choice (at least right now) but that should be a real option for the music lover smart enough to have bought a Mac. Simple, less expensive, and 90%+ of what you are likely to achieve by spending a lot more.

The implication there is that all PCs are the same. I swear, some Apple fanboys are drinking stronger koolaid than the people buying silver power cables for their computers. I don't doubt the sound quality is good, but certainly not something that can't be improved with a good soundcard, or DAC + amp. I imagine your average beige box plus an average soundcard like an X-fi would beat the sound quality on a new Macbook Pro.

[Pangaea]

Originally Posted by senns&nonsense

Not gonna be a popular opinion but I believe people with Macs have a completely different decision from those with PCs. The standard advice about....

- needing to get away from the noise in the box
- neeeding to get an external DAC to improve what is on the sound card
- needing an amp to drive good phones
- and on and on and on.....

is all less relevant to us so-called Apple fanboys. Yes, improvements can still be made and I have indulged in some. But the sound out of Macs (at least those produced in the last coupla years) is quite strong and refined. The upgrade for Mac owners is much more subtle. The cheapest way for a mac owner to get good SQ? Buy some really great phones and plug them into the back. Not my choice (at least right now) but that should be a real option for the music lover smart enough to have bought a Mac. Simple, less expensive, and 90%+ of what you are likely to achieve by spending a lot more.

I agree- macs sound very good right out of the gate. When I got my iMac this past yr after a long line of PCs I was shocked to hear how good music sounded coming out of the speakers. Plus I couldn't even find em (They are in the back).

[senns&nonsense]

No Spongey, the implication was not that all PCs sound the same. I am sure some people pick and choose components and spend a lot of money to make sure their beige boxes sound decent. The implication of my post was that the average PC bought for some purpose other than audio sounds like crud whereas every Mac sounds great straight from the beautifully designed box without regard to whether the buyer asks/cares/knows about the SQ.

I am a fanboy because I made the switch 2 years ago starting with one macmini and now my household (I have a home office and 2 kids who are home-schooled) has 5 Macs and we are down to 1 PC which is still one too many. I am a fanboy because Apple has improved our lives, made us more productive, taken away the hassle of running a home network, and surprises us almost every day with what we are able to do without ever thinking about spyware, viruses, crashing, incompatibility, networking or really anything other than the substance of what we are working on (or listening to!!). I truly do not care that much about Apple Inc, but I have tremendous gratitude for what they have designed and delivered.

[spongezone]

That's fine. To each his own. My computer voodoo magic switch was to Linux, and I enjoy picking and choosing compenents (to maximize the price\performance ratio, not spending a lot of money).

I agree, it's nice that Apple is delivering a great out of the box experience. However, it seems to me that someone with a ~$500 pair of headphones would gain from using an external DAC and amp no matter what computer they're using.

[senns&nonsense]

Agreed. There are certainly still gains to be had especially, as you pointed out, when spending $$$ on the phones.