[H5N1]

As title... AND how does the digital-out perform...

 

[Mercuttio]

Personally, I avoid using the sound on my powerbook whenever I can. Why? It seems as though there's some sort of internal noise (sounds almost like compression, maybe) when I'm performing any sort of computationally intensive task. It also pales in comparison to my EMU 0404 in my PC... it just isn't as crisp or as clear, you know? Otherwise, it performs well... but if I'm using my powerbook, then chances are I'm using Photoshop or Lightwave.

 

[dshea_32665]

If your budget would allow it, you might to up to $160.00 and buy a Waveterminal U24. It is a simple small unit that is a real war horse and the sound is in a whole other league. I have the Transit and the Waveterminal, and the Waveterminal sounds great with an amp, or plugged into my external DAC. The Transit alone isn't a huge difference from the headphone out. Apple headphone outs are not too bad actually. The Transit will sound a bit brighter and slightly more detailed, but their is something with the sound that isn't quite right to my ears. When I went to the U24, I got a much fuller sound with greater detail, balance and soundstage.

Just my $.02.

If you are still wanting to buy a Transit, PM and I will sell you mine at a good price.

dshea

 

[Jeff E]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshea_32665 If your budget would allow it, you might to up to $160.00 and buy a Waveterminal U24. It is a simple small unit that is a real war horse and the sound is in a whole other league. I have the Transit and the Waveterminal, and the Waveterminal sounds great with an amp, or plugged into my external DAC. The Transit alone isn't a huge difference from the headphone out. Apple headphone outs are not too bad actually. The Transit will sound a bit brighter and slightly more detailed, but their is something with the sound that isn't quite right to my ears. When I went to the U24, I got a much fuller sound with greater detail, balance and soundstage. Just my $.02. If you are still wanting to buy a Transit, PM and I will sell you mine at a good price. dshea

How admirable to see someone being critical of equipment they wish to sell. Good for you.

 

[Nospam]

The Transit worked ok with my iBook, except for a very annoying problem that also exists with the headphone out: I heard static every time the hard drive did a lot of reading or writing

Well, there was also the problem with the crappy M-Audio drivers...

 

[blessingx]

Never heard the digital out of the 17" (only Mac portable with), but I'd be willing to wager it's nice enough to pair nicely with a DAC/amp setup if that's what you're aiming for. Personally I'd love to work with CoreAudio directly and not have to worry about drivers with an external card just for a digital signal.

 

[h-man]

If the optical out on the 17" powerbook is from the same card as the optical out on my G5 powermac, then it will sound pretty good when paired with an external dac.

 

[3lusiv3]

PowerBooks have very good built-in audio out. I think you would have to get a pretty good sound card to hear a difference.

 

[Mercuttio]

Powerbook sound out is nothing like sound out on a G5 mac... everything is far closer together on the Powerbook board, so there's more noise when something is running or processing.

 

[3lusiv3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercuttio Powerbook sound out is nothing like sound out on a G5 mac... everything is far closer together on the Powerbook board, so there's more noise when something is running or processing.

I don't hear any noise on my powerbook.

 

[sacundim]

I understand not all Powerbook models sound as good. It's the newer ones that have the better sound quality.

I have a 15" Powerbook at work, and it has the best sounding internal audio of any computer I've ever tried, by far, but that's because most computers aren't even decent.