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Portable Dac/Amp combo inside of macbook pro

post #1 of 8
6/3/12 at 8:14am
Thread Starter 

Hello, I searched, and this has never been done before. Also, i feel as if i posted this in the wrong place, so mods, feeeell freeee to move me.

 

Anyways, I have found that i always use my external drive and never use the internal DVD drive of my macbook pro. I am going to remove it, and that leaves a sizable empty space on the inside of my laptop. The dimensions of the space are 5 x 5.1 x 0.1 inches. I am comfortable with soldering, so i would assume i would have to make connections to the usb and headphone jack on the motherboard. I would run a wire out of the cd hole to connect headphones to. Any suggestions on DACs?

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post #2 of 8
8/10/12 at 1:11pm

What a great idea!!!! I'm a noob at this so I'll let the more experienced member help you out but I'll follow this thread closely. I have an old Macbook Pro laying around that I don't use right now and this might just give it a new purpose.

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post #3 of 8
8/10/12 at 1:28pm

I'm surprised nobody took notice of this. I think the ODAC would probably fit, but you'd need an amp on the outside. On the other hand, a taken apart Dragonfly should fit as well. I'd love to see someone actually attempt this!

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post #4 of 8
8/10/12 at 3:37pm

This is a genius idea. There is definitely enough space.

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post #5 of 8
8/10/12 at 4:25pm

The ODAC won't work as it needs to be then connected to another amplifier inside and that won't be enough room or sound good with cheap very flat amps if there are any that are less than a total of .1inches thick. Not including isolating the bottom solders and top components from the unibody itself.

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post #6 of 8
8/10/12 at 11:57pm

Instead of using an ODAC which requires an amp to be connected, why not just take a smaller package like the FiiO E17 and tap into internal USB for input then the normal headphone jack for output.

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post #7 of 8
8/11/12 at 12:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sygyzy View Post

Instead of using an ODAC which requires an amp to be connected, why not just take a smaller package like the FiiO E17 and tap into internal USB for input then the normal headphone jack for output.

Are you talking about using the E17's own DAC and USB chips and amplifer and then using some wires to connect to the headphone jack out? Not gonna happen.

 

It would require desoldering the jack, isolating it and then using a long wire across the computers insides. What if the plastic melts due to extreme heat and leaves metal to metal? Next, the E17 even it's PCB may be too thick. and lastly, any other option would be too ugly

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post #8 of 8
8/11/12 at 12:09am

I did say the ODAC needed an amp to complement it. The Dragonfly seems to be the best option, since it is even smaller and can drive headphones directly.

 

The whole idea is a bit ludicrous, but still quite thought-provoking.

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