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Need a little help, suggestions with speaker set-up

post #1 of 3
11/6/10 at 10:16pm
Thread Starter 

  I have :

iMac 27"

2.8 GHz QuadCore i7

8GB DDR3 SDRAM 2x4

2TB Serial ATA Drive

ATIO RTadeon HD 4850

 

 Whatever that means.... but probably better than average.

 

  I want to upgrade the audio on it. I just bought Audioengine A5"s  http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-5

 

  Someone on MacRumors suggested I combine the A5's with the Nuforce uDAC-2. I don't understand it, is this to link to my home stereo or does it also benifit the computer output to the A5's quality?

 

  Is the DAC in the A5's or in the iMac? I gather the idea to add the Nuforce is to upgrade the DAC? So, I spend big bucks on this iMac, I'd expect if the DAC is within it, that it is of good quality. How would I know if buying this Nuforce if I was really upgrading anything, maybe my Mac has better in it?

 

 I would like to get the best out of these speakers, any recommendations here? I also have a home stereo (JBL Studio Monitors) other top end components that I wouldn't mind connecting the computer to in order to use my iTunes through....

 

  Thanks for any info-

Robes-

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post #2 of 3
11/7/10 at 1:19am
Welcome to Head-Fi!

Your iMac already has a DAC inside. You can connect it to the Audioengine A5s by plugging a 1/8" stereo jack into the headphone jack on the iMac and then to the jacks on your A5s.

If you want, however, you can use an external DAC with your computer. The 1/8" jack on all Intel Macs (except the new MacBook Air, IIRC) does double duty as an optical out. It looks like the nuForce is a USB DAC, though, so you'd connect it to a USB port. Also, some DACs connect via a coaxial cable.

I can't say whether that DAC would improve your sound since I haven't listened to one. However, it looks to me like one of the biggest benefits of the nuForce is that it has a headphone amp built in. If you are planning to use headphones with it, then it might be a good idea.

If not, my recommendation would be to connect the A5s directly to the iMac to see how it works. If you're not getting any buzzing, humming, pops, clicks, etc. then you might be happy just running the A5s directly from the iMac. Some might talk about huge sound improvements, etc., but if you're not getting audible problems (and, trust me, you'll know when you hear them) then improvements in digital sources are incremental. You can pay a lot for very minor improvements or just be happy that the sound is good enough and that you didn't have to buy anything more.
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post #3 of 3
11/7/10 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 

  Thanks for the reply Uncle-

 

  You answered all my questions & I will try it as is first & go from there. Thanks again, much appreciated!!

 

Robes-

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