[Dan the man]

I am interested in a high end Apple Lossless MacPro computer to DAC to headphone amp to headphone setup with eventual use as a source for a high end two channel sound room setup with Wilson speakers and tube amps.

There are four DACS that I am interested in regardless of price point.

1. Personus Central Station
2. Benchmark DAC 1 w/ or w/o USP
3. Lavry da10
4. Slim Devices Transporter

I want to have the ability to use the computer via Toslink or Ethernet or Airport to get the highest and most stable output. Right now I have balanced AKG 701 and soon the Grado Statements. Can I use two tube amps such as the Doge 6210 for balanced tube headphone listening?

How can this type of setup be achieved and what cables, software and settings on the Mac using itunes is needed?

Do I need an external hard drive to store the applelossless files and how much RAM in the MAC is needed to get optimal buffering for playing entire albums/redbook CD data copies?

I was also thinking of buying the OPO DigitalDV-970HD to be used as a transport for playing CD and SACD and feeding the digital output to one of the above DACS.

My understanding is that the Transporter is the only one without built-in headphone amps but is capable of using its wireless interface to receive music from multiple computers on a LAN.

Which DAC would give the best and most reliable SQ using the computer as the primary music source?

 

[lowmagnet]

I can give you what I use:

PowerMac (G5, dual 2.5GHz)
USB cable (sturdy, nothing fancy)
DAC1 USB
Headphone out to Sennheiser HD-650

Amplification:
I can't really discuss tube amplification or balanced since I run neither. I can't see why that wouldn't work from the DAC1, so long as the amplifier you're running to has the proper input impedance.

My HDD is internal. Internal/external doesn't seem to matter at all. I've got 2GB of RAM in my system, and I regularly use Aperture/Photoshop whilst listening.

iTunes won't be pre-buffering an entire album either in lossless format or from disc. It's best to rip with the more paranoid ripping option and not worry about it.

OPPO tests best out of all brands for DVD playback.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan the man /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am interested in a high end Apple Lossless MacPro computer to DAC to headphone amp to headphone setup with eventual use as a source for a high end two channel sound room setup with Wilson speakers and tube amps. **snip** How can this type of setup be achieved and what cables, software and settings on the Mac using itunes is needed?

No extra software is needed, besides iTunes.
You need a miniplug to TOSLINK cable. Either the one available from Apple, or a third party one, like the VdH Optocoupler MKII. The miniplug go into the MacPro's digital out and the TOSLINK into the external DAC.
Then analog RCA or balanced XLR from the DAC to the amplifier.

Quote:

Do I need an external hard drive to store the applelossless files and how much RAM in the MAC is needed to get optimal buffering for playing entire albums/redbook CD data copies?

No "fancy" hardware is needed to play Apple Lossless files.

I have an old PowerBook G4, which get the job done without any problems.
* 1.5GHz PowerBook G4
* 1GB Ram
* 100GB HDD


I don't know any of the mentioned DAC's, so I let someone else comment on those!

 

[xinoxide]

Ive done a bit of work with protools. and besides protools HD with the 192I/O racks, i havent heard anything better for playback than the digidesign digi002 rack. you could pick one up off ebay for like $700, amping from the outputs would be up to you, or the 002 rack has a headphone output on it. This rack is aimed at the upmost accuracy in audio. theres a reason why studios love it. i would use one myself even if just for playback, but im a fan of playing games and from what i recall, games dont like mme helper on asio drivers. this would also give you a chance to get into a bit of recording/producing, if you wanted to.

 

[hempcamp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif You need a miniplug to TOSLINK cable. Either the one available from Apple, or a third party one, like the VdH Optocoupler MKII. The miniplug go into the MacPro's digital out and the TOSLINK into the external DAC.

With the MacPro, the Toslink-to-Mini adapter isn't needed. The MacPro has full-size Toslink connectors.

--Chris

 

[Lord Chaos]

I'm using a three-year-old Powerbook to run my music system. The music is stored on an offboard USB hard disk, which is now approaching half full. I use Itunes to rip to Apple Lossless.

The Powerbook is connected to a DAC1 USB for headphone use in my living room, and also to the power amp, bypassing the original pre-amp. The Powerbook also runs Slimserver and is connected to the Squeezebox in the bedroom by an Ethernet cable. I prefer wired connections. There's a second DAC1 in the bedroom, driving another set of headphones.

It all sounds really good. There are never any skips in the music over the Squeezebox system. Occasionally when the Powerbook is very busy--usually several applications open at once--I get a very brief skip through the USB. It's only noticeable for how it affects the beat of the music: something happens quicker than I'm expecting. Your Macbook, being considerably faster, shouldn't have this problem.

I can't say it's the best system in the world, but it's good enough to keep my psycho-acoustic interpretation system very happy.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hempcamp /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the MacPro, the Toslink-to-Mini adapter isn't needed. The MacPro has full-size Toslink connectors. --Chris

Thanks for the correction.
I was under the impression that all current Apple computers still used a miniplug optical out...

 

[Comfy]

My setup is an Intel iMac and a Lavry DA10 feeding balanced Senn HD650s.
I've got a mini-toslink to toslink cable going from the Mac to the Lavry. Voilá, bitperfect. Of course, you must turn off the sound enhancements and other bs from iTunes, if you haven't already.

 

[lowmagnet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the correction. I was under the impression that all current Apple computers still used a miniplug optical out...

The iMacs, MacBooks and Mac Mini have a combination 1/8" and optical jack but the pro desktops are standard size TOS, since they have the real estate for them.

Mine is dead on my tower, so I use USB.

 

[Dan the man]

What Balanced headphone amp are you using?

 

[Dan the man]

Can anyone tell me which of the DACs with USB support have delt with the jitter problem described below?

I cannot decide between the Transporter, SB/DAC1/USB, SB/Brick/USB, SB/Lavry etc. I want to stay in the 2K range.




That is correct. Some of the USB-interface DACs I have measured have ridiculously high jitter. There is also the problem of ground-loops, that affects the performance.

Quote:

Could someone explain to me why this is the case? My understanding is that the USB interface protocol contains error correction and clocking mechanism just like the old serial interface did, whereas the sPDIF does not. So, theoretically, there should be NO jitter at all when going through the USB. What am I missing here?
QUOTE
You're missing the fact that as almost always implemented, the USB interface lacks a high-precision,local clock to control the remote DAC. This is because, again as almost always implemented, the DAC does not communicate back to the USB data source to control the flow of data.

As I understand it, the USB spec does include the possibility of implementing bidirectional communication so that the DAC clock can become the system master clock, but no-one has yet done that. If they do, the DAC clock can now be a high-precision VCXO rather than the usually sloppy PLL, with a significant reduction in jitter.

I'll try to find some references for you to study.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

 

[Dan the man]

Does the Lavry DA10 have a USB input with I2S?

 

[Petyot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan the man /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was also thinking of buying the OPO DigitalDV-970HD to be used as a transport for playing CD and SACD and feeding the digital output to one of the above DACS.

If that may help you regarding the Oppo, my setup is :

Oppo 970HD >> Musiland Md-10 >> Little Dot II++ >> Headphones (HD600 most of the time)

I am very happy with that setup.

Pierre

 

[audioengr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan the man /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can anyone tell me which of the DACs with USB support have delt with the jitter problem described below? As I understand it, the USB spec does include the possibility of implementing bidirectional communication so that the DAC clock can become the system master clock, but no-one has yet done that. If they do, the DAC clock can now be a high-precision VCXO rather than the usually sloppy PLL, with a significant reduction in jitter.

Only a few of the Wavelength DAC's do asynchronous USB protocol. No converters do it.

However, the "driverless" firmware combined with the TAS1020A is quite low in jitter if a low-jitter clock is used.

Steve N.

 

[Scrith]

I've used the Lavry DA10 and the Benchmark DAC1 USB.

I highly recommend the Benchmark DAC1 USB. The Lavry is great too, but nothing beats the simplicity of going directly to the DAC via a well-engineered USB approach.