[dshea_32665]

The new iBooks do not have the card slot either which is my situation. This is why I got the transit. I should be getting my AOS Piccolo DAC and JMT portable amp before too long and I will let you know how that affects things.

I must say however, that the Transit sounds quite good with my unamped Etys and is a clear step up from the apple sound card. I can't wait to get an amp to see if it gives the sound a bit more bass and space.

dshea

 

[hottyson]

I went to Comp USA last week and the sales lady said that their Apple rep was not in but that he had told her that the Powerbook G5's would come out in two months. Can anyone confirm that this is true?

I hope that it is. If they release it in two months I am hoping for the iBooks to drop to a clearance price or for Apple to come out with a more powerful upgraded iBook. (Sorry if I have gone off topic but it is in my nature.)

 

[3lusiv3]

I don't think PowerBooks are imminent but this page may help:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

I think the person you spoke to may have gotten the PowerBooks mixed up with the new iMac G5 rumours.

 

[hottyson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3lusiv3 I don't think PowerBooks are imminent but this page may help: http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ I think the person you spoke to may have gotten the PowerBooks mixed up with the new iMac G5 rumours.

Very cool Mac buying link! Thank you!

Yeah, I thought that it sounded too good to be true. The sixty years old? sales lady didn't seem too bright. She may have misunderstood what she heard.

 

[dknightd]

Very timely discussion for me.
I've been using an edirol ua-1x for this purpose, but it has developed
lots of noise, so for now I'm back to using a splitter cable out of
my iMac (17" LCD model) headphone jack. It is mediocre at best.
The Edirol unit was better than the headphone out, but its not working properly anymore.
Roland/Edirol do not seem to be standing behind their product so I'm looking for a new solution.
I'm trying to use my computer as the source for most of my tunes.
I have three different but related requirements.
1) Using only headphones (about 80% of my usage due to wife and kids)
2) Using powered speakers next to my computer (with support from my main stereo speakers)
3) Feeding signal to my main stereo when I can use it to crank tunes.

The M-audio audiophile (either usb or firewall) sound like they might
be my next step up. coments on one or the other? I'd love to be able
to dump $2k in to an external DAC but that is not likely to happen
soon, so, I need a midpriced unit that will work reasonaly well...

 

[3lusiv3]

There is a good review on the following page about the Roku Soundbridge:

http://www.macintouch.com/wirelessla...r26.html#aug25

 

[hedrick]

I'm using a Powermac G4 as the primary source for my hifi system. For music I'm using a NAD C372 integrated amp, feeding a pair of Vienna Haydn speakers. I have a Rel Q150E sub available, although at the moment I'm using it only for movies. (I.e. I have a system that's at the high end of mid-fi or the entry level of high end.) I'm using iTunes with Apple Lossless encoding ripped from CD's that I own or music purchased from Magnatune. (They sell uncompressed CD quality downloads without DRM, although you can also get compressed formats from them.)

I've tried several DACs: M-Audio Audiophile 2496 and Revolution 7.1 PCI cards, and Total Bithead and Edirol UA-1X USB interfaces. Note that even though the Bithead is a headphone amp, I'm actually connecting the output into the line input of the integrated amp.

Maybe I'm odd, but I prefer the sound from the Bithead and Edirol to either the of M-Audio cards. I think I prefer the Edirol to the Bithead slightly, but it takes me long enough to switch that I'm not sure I have a reliable comparison. The difference, if any, is small. Both report themselves as using a Burr-Brown 2902 DAC. This isn't considered a high end DAC, partly because it doesn't have the higher speed and resolution needed for newer output types. This doesn't mean it can't handle CD's well.

I haven't tried the Edirol's headphone output.

I had one very unsettling experience recently. I started hearing odd noises from the Bithead. It is only there when there's sound: when I turn off iTunes, it's silent. This apparently has to do with how the USB is connected. I had recently moved the Bithead to the USB connector on the back of an Apple display. When I put it on a hub connected to the back of the Powermac, the noise goes away. Both Bithead and Edirol get their power from USB. I'm guessing that the power from the display isn't clean, although the actual USB works fine.

Incidentally, I don't share the common low opinion of the builtin Apple sound outputs. The main reason I'm using an external card is because there's a very low staticky noise from both the headphone and line outputs. This isn't an issue with the iBook. If they have a high enough level for you, I suggest comparing iBook and Powerbook outputs very carefully with external sound cards before buying one. In some cases I think you won't need anything else.

 

[saxphile]

Hi dknightd,

I might have a simple solution for your problem. Go to Applications -> Utilities -> Midi/Audio Utility (with your UA-1X plugged in, of course). Check if your USB port was set to 8 bits (it should be 16 bits). This is a known issue with USB audio devices in OS X.

I personally use a Total BitHead myself and am very satisfied with it. This is probably the best solution for portability and sound quality. Although if you have an iMac the AX + good DAC solution sounds really good, too.

Cheers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dknightd Very timely discussion for me. I've been using an edirol ua-1x for this purpose, but it has developed lots of noise, so for now I'm back to using a splitter cable out of my iMac (17" LCD model) headphone jack. It is mediocre at best. The Edirol unit was better than the headphone out, but its not working properly anymore.

 

[dshea_32665]

Hedrick, I agree with you on the Apple outputs. One day when I was going between my Transit and the headphone jack, there were a few tracks I liked the apple output better. In fact, it was that observation that inspired the beginning of this thread. Since I am a relative newbie and I tend to devour information when I get hooked on a new hobby, I was trying to find out if there was any definitive technical information on how the apple sound card rates and what it would be comparable to. I bought the Transit not so much for its sound, similar to you, but because I am going to be hooking up an external DAC and I needed an optical out. That being said, I do like the Transit sound very much. Never tried the Edirol.

dshea

 

[raif]

remember that the transit output, although backed by an opamp, is still designed as a line out and really doesn't drive headphones all that well. I always thought that it sounded ok, then I hooked it up to a simple cmoy and the difference was like night and day.

 

[dknightd]

saxphile, You nailed it. My USB audio output had been switched to 8 bit. Don't know how that happened. No wonder it sounded so crappy! Too bad the tech people at edirol didn't suggest I check that. (after I discovered it I let them know so that perhaps they can help the next person out...)
I couldn't wait for a solution to my problem with the Edirol, I had people coming over and didn't want to have flip CDs all night (Plus I've got some live music on my computer that has not been written to CD yet and I didn't really feel like ripping dozens of CDs - don't worry it is backed up on a second HD onsite, and others offsite).
I bought an M-audio audiophile firewire. It worked fine right out of the box and got me through my event. Next day I was playing with the other options the audiophile has and noticed the usb 8 bit problem. Wish I had seen your post before I bought the audiophile, could have saved myself $200. I actually thought about returning it, but I have 4 other Macs so I'm sure I can find a good use for the Edirol on one of those.
Preliminary observations (what do they call audio "observations"? Audiations?). The audiophile has alot of flexibility, some of which I'm actually going to find useful. The headphone out on the audiophile is cleaner than the builtin headphone jack, and more dynamic and spatial than both the edirol and built in. I suspect it is not as good as a dedicated headphone amp, but it is pretty darn good. The jury is still out on which drives my stereo better - the edirol and audiophile seem very close in this regard. The audiophile puts out more power/volume to all outputs than either edirol or builtin with no signs of clipping.
Right now I'm driving the audiophile with firewire bus power. Anybody play with comparing the sound using bus v.s. external power on this device. M-audio tells me it will use firewire bus power if it is available (not sure if they are right, the person I talked to didn't exude confidence) so I might hack a firewire cable to remove power from it. I've got to guess that a good external power supply would be better than drawing it from the firewire bus, but maybe not. Again, anybody play with this?

 

[hedrick]

I have just done some additional trials, this time with a good amp (NAD C372). I still like the Edirol UA-1X as a line output.

Whether it works with a headphone depends upon the phone. It's OK with my Sennheiser 580 (not very different from my Total Bithead), but it's not even close to driving my AKG K340's. (These are an old classic hybrid electrostatic / dynamic model.)

In order to get good results I had to switch to a powered USB hub. Otherwise I was getting hash from the computer. In fact even with the powered hub I can hear it if I plug the line outs into my NAD, turn it all the way up, and use the 580 phones. But at any reasonable volume it can't be heard.

Incidentally, I believe the phones sound better using the Edirol's headphone output than the NAD's with the Edirol feeding the NAD.

 

[saxphile]

A couple of suggestions for using computer as a source.

1. Connect USB devices to your CPU directly (i.e. not the port at the front of your computer or on any hub). If you must use a hub, use a high quality, externally powered one. But that's still not as good as the ports on the CPU.

2. A laptop is almost certainly a cleaner source than a desktop due to difference in design. The tolerance for electric-magetic interference is much higher for a desktop, so there's a good chance that you'll hear some noise. This can only be solved by using an external sound card and keeping it far away from the computer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hedrick Whether it works with a headphone depends upon the phone. It's OK with my Sennheiser 580 (not very different from my Total Bithead), but it's not even close to driving my AKG K340's. (These are an old classic hybrid electrostatic / dynamic model.)

What are you comparing the UA-1X against? The built-in headphone jacks or the TBH? If it's the TBH I wouldn't be surprised at all since it's one little potent amp and K340 is quite demanding in terms of power.

Also, how do you rate TBH against the built-in jacks? I found the difference to be so signifcant on iBook that I can't listen through the built-in jack anymore. On good cans like HD650 or K271S the built-in jack sounds flat and punchless, not to mention the static noise. On my PX200, however, the difference is less noticable.

 

[triodesteve]

I'm using an iBook G4 (no fan) connected via USB to a TwinDac Plus dac. For more HD space, I'm using a Toshiba 80g 2.5mm HD in a McAlly case (connected via Firewire). Although I'm sure it's still breaking in (Blackgates in the TwinDac) this combo beats the Sony SCD777Es that I listened to previously. Also, the entire thing runs on battery power. No $$$ power cords, no AC regenerators or filters.
Next step, remote control...Bluetooth PDA and Salling software?

Steve

 

[saxphile]

Interesting, I'm planning to do the exact opposite. I'm going to get myself a SACD player and a proper amp because I'm starting to find my current setup (iBook + TBH) lacking in certain respects.

What amp did you use with your SCD777ES?

BTW, bluetooth remote? But how far away can you get when you're using headphones?