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Plugging an iMac into a DAC

post #1 of 17
10/22/09 at 4:10pm
Thread Starter 
Hey,
I'm getting a new iMac soon wanting it to be the source for my DAC. Currently, I use TC7520 connected with a Belkin PureAV USB cable. I heard that the optical signal may be a better choice than USB, but I've no idea what cable to buy as a Mac uses a mini-jack optical connector. I've found some cheap adapters on eBay, but I don't really trust them. As for a new DAC I'd probably get an MHDT Paradisea and I'm not sure what connection would be better than.
Any ideas?
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post #2 of 17
10/22/09 at 4:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeycam View Post
Hey,
I'm getting a new iMac soon wanting it to be the source for my DAC. Currently, I use TC7520 connected with a Belkin PureAV USB cable. I heard that the optical signal may be a better choice than USB, but I've no idea what cable to buy as a Mac uses a mini-jack optical connector. I've found some cheap adapters on eBay, but I don't really trust them. As for a new DAC I'd probably get an MHDT Paradisea and I'm not sure what connection would be better than.
Any ideas?
There is no reason not to trust a cheap adapter. All it needs to do is provide a narrow tip that fits into the mini headphone jack. The light will get through just fine. Apple offers more choices -- USB, Firewire and optical. I have a digital transport that allows me to A/B optical and USB. I can't hear a difference on a very resolving system. I haven't tried firewire, but I doubt it would be any different. The DAC is important. The cable that carries the data to it...not so much.

P
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post #3 of 17
10/22/09 at 4:44pm
Optical and USB should perform roughly the same, though a large amount of traffic on the USB bus (say, from an external hard drive) can result in some funny results. FireWire is optimal, but FireWire DACs are relatively rare.
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post #4 of 17
10/22/09 at 4:52pm
I've have tried both optical and USB, I can't tell them apart sonically. I prefer optical because I like the fancy red light. Cheap adapters work perfectly.
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post #5 of 17
10/22/09 at 5:00pm
Cheap adapters on optical do not actually transmit signal, as mentioned above. They just allow a full-size cable to line up properly. Cheap is fine.

That being said, there is little to recommend optical over USB intrinsically -- if it sounds different, it's because the DAC has a different implementation for that input, not because the format is inherently different.
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post #6 of 17
10/22/09 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
Okay, thanks. At the moment I'm still whining between PC and a Mac, I'm doing some ABX tests now with the same song in FLAC and ALAC and unfortunately, the FLAC sounds better. >.>
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post #7 of 17
10/22/09 at 6:19pm
I've used the optical out for a while now both with a Cambridge 840C acting as a DAC and now a DacMagic. I use the Sys Concepts cables because they offer a mini-standard cable, the quality is good, and the price is very reasonable.

Having the optical digital output is one of the many joys of Mac ownership...go ahead and take advantage of it
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post #8 of 17
10/22/09 at 7:14pm
van den Hul has mini→toslink cable (Optocoupler).
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post #9 of 17
10/22/09 at 7:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeycam View Post
Okay, thanks. At the moment I'm still whining between PC and a Mac, I'm doing some ABX tests now with the same song in FLAC and ALAC and unfortunately, the FLAC sounds better. >.>
You can do FLAC on any platform. Songbird supports it natively. That's my favorite music player ATM.

(The shuffle seems to be on Radiohead kick today. Which I've just been going with.)
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post #10 of 17
10/22/09 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydieselnut View Post
I've used the optical out for a while now both with a Cambridge 840C acting as a DAC and now a DacMagic. I use the Sys Concepts cables because they offer a mini-standard cable, the quality is good, and the price is very reasonable.

Having the optical digital output is one of the many joys of Mac ownership...go ahead and take advantage of it
That's nice, do they ship international?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sebhelyesfarku View Post
van den Hul has mini→toslink cable (Optocoupler).
Unfortunately, VDH is too expensive for me. That's nice that they sell one, though.

@ALAC
Could anybody deny my thoughts that ALAC sounds worse than FLAC? It sounds ridiculous as both of them are lossless, but from what I experienced in the ABX tests (using foobar, TC7520 and Creative Aurvana Live, which are rebrand of D1000), I hear the noticably difference between FLAC and ALAC or mp3 320kbps. I can't really tell the difference between ALAC and mp3, though. Could it be that ALAC is somehow worse?
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post #11 of 17
10/22/09 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeycam View Post
That's nice, do they ship international?


Unfortunately, VDH is too expensive for me. That's nice that they sell one, though.

@ALAC
Could anybody deny my thoughts that ALAC sounds worse than FLAC? It sounds ridiculous as both of them are lossless, but from what I experienced in the ABX tests (using foobar, TC7520 and Creative Aurvana Live, which are rebrand of D1000), I hear the noticably difference between FLAC and ALAC or mp3 320kbps. I can't really tell the difference between ALAC and mp3, though. Could it be that ALAC is somehow worse?
Perhaps you transcoded the ALAC files from the mp3 files instead of the FLAC files on accident? This would explain why ALAC and the mp3 files sound the same (they are) whereas the FLAC files have all the original information and thus the 'best' quality.
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post #12 of 17
10/22/09 at 8:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xxbaker View Post
Perhaps you transcoded the ALAC files from the mp3 files instead of the FLAC files on accident? This would explain why ALAC and the mp3 files sound the same (they are) whereas the FLAC files have all the original information and thus the 'best' quality.
Nope, unfortunately I encoded an ALAC and mp3 from the same FLAC file.
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post #13 of 17
10/22/09 at 9:50pm
Sys Concepts is in Canada and shipped to me...maybe they'll ship international.

I went through three Octocouplers trying to find one that wasn't all scratched up on the connectors...it might just be my luck here in the US.

I really can't comment on the FLAC vs ALAC but I have downloaded close to 1,000 of my cds into iTunes in ALAC format with error correction on and have A/B the ALAC file against the cd and can't tell a difference. However, my ears might be made out of lead
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post #14 of 17
10/22/09 at 10:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydieselnut View Post
I really can't comment on the FLAC vs ALAC but I have downloaded close to 1,000 of my cds into iTunes in ALAC format with error correction on and have A/B the ALAC file against the cd and can't tell a difference. However, my ears might be made out of lead
That's what I wanted to hear. I already feel lost in that thing, not sure if I really hear the difference or guess only. I'll do some more testing when I get my pair of K701s.
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post #15 of 17
10/22/09 at 10:16pm
Before I undertook this "cd archiving" project (dumping all my albums into iTunes) I did a lot of research and talked to people I trust. You'll always have your EAC devotees and I'm happy for them...I just like the simplicity of iTunes. If I had it to do over I'd do them all an AIFF because I have plenty of disk space. However, I like having things in ALAC because it makes my iPod more useful...it holds so much more. One day when Apple releases the 4TB Touch I'll start from the beginning and do it all over again

Trust your ears, but remember that these are quality formats and should produce very good sound.
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