[paulchiu]

while testing new denon ah-d7000 with macbook pro through audio out of mbp directly to ah-d7000 or through either a x-can v3 or headroom max amp, i can easily see some background wind noise that almost sounds like the internal fan of the macbook pro. is this even possible?

then, i plug into an iphone instead and at the same sound level, the background noise went away. so not the denon

anyone with experience here?

thanks


paul

 

[paulchiu]

i called headroom about this and discussed with one of their experts this appears to be common with connecting with computers, macbooks in this case when the machine is doing hard drive intensive tasks while listening to music.
as the hard drive speeds, the sound is transferred to the analog connection. he did not explain why this is.
i can understand as the computer is loaded that things slow, but why would drive noise or motor sounds get passes. that part is still unanswered.

 

[limpidglitch]

well, copper is an excellent conductor for sound, not just electrons. I think what you are experiencing are simply microphonics.

 

[Feather225]

Quote:

Originally Posted by limpidglitch /img/forum/go_quote.gif well, copper is an excellent conductor for sound, not just electrons. I think what you are experiencing are simply microphonics.

Agree...did you try connect your D7000 to a DAC then Macbook pro?

 

[obobskivich]

honestly I'd guess more along the lines of junk onboard sound, don't care if you think apple is the best in the world, they still use crap components for their audio output (all laptops do, period.)

we're talking about $1000+ reference headphones here, why are you amp-less? honestly, there is no excuse, unless you're using a good receiver/preamp, these 'phones NEED an amplifier, period.

 

[paulchiu]

funny you should say that as headroom said one solution was to connect the macbook pro with an optical out to a DAC, then to an amp and then to the denon ah-d7000.

or

connect the denon ah-d7000 to the macbook pro's other side, away from the hard drive or cd drive.
this option is not possible as the analog/optical output is on the side of the hard drive.

so, i may have to use the 1st solution or buy an external cd/transport which means this denon ah-d7000 will likely sink more money for me.

paul






Quote:

Originally Posted by Feather225 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agree...did you try connect your D7000 to a DAC then Macbook pro?

 

[Feather225]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif honestly I'd guess more along the lines of junk onboard sound, don't care if you think apple is the best in the world, they still use crap components for their audio output (all laptops do, period.) we're talking about $1000+ reference headphones here, why are you amp-less? honestly, there is no excuse, unless you're using a good receiver/preamp, these 'phones NEED an amplifier, period.

All laptop sound cards are pretty suck man...the Mac ones too...thats why I bought the Duet Apogee for my Macbook Pro to connect to my Denon D7000...I know its probably still not a efficient set up, but my purpose is also to be portable, so...I don't think there is any portable DAC/AMP that can knock off Duet Apogee in the market right now...

 

[Feather225]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulchiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif funny you should say that as headroom said one solution was to connect the macbook pro with an optical out to a DAC, then to an amp and then to the denon ah-d7000. or connect the denon ah-d7000 to the macbook pro's other side, away from the hard drive or cd drive. this option is not possible as the analog/optical output is on the side of the hard drive. so, i may have to use the 1st solution or buy an external cd/transport which means this denon ah-d7000 will likely sink more money for me. paul

Yeah Man...IF you invested in a Denon D7000, you certainly need to invest in a decent Amp, and if you use Mac as your source, you certainly need to invest in a decent DAC...

Welcome to Head-Fi, sorry for your wallet.

Man, definitely look into the Duet~its certainly a good choice exclusive to Mac users.

 

[paulchiu]

i hear you, man.
i have amps.
the headroom max and a x-can v3

i just do not have a current and decent DAC

i can pull out a denon dvd player with sacd capabilities from the closet but it's big and not proper for my office.

so now the macbook pro's analog output is all i have outside of my ipods....

sorry, work in progress and these denon ah-d7000 are demanding monsters.

paul






Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif honestly I'd guess more along the lines of junk onboard sound, don't care if you think apple is the best in the world, they still use crap components for their audio output (all laptops do, period.) we're talking about $1000+ reference headphones here, why are you amp-less? honestly, there is no excuse, unless you're using a good receiver/preamp, these 'phones NEED an amplifier, period.

 

[BushGuy]

I have a different setup - an Aluminum MacBook/P51 amp/Darthbeyers - which works very nicely for me.

Accepting the card in your Pro could be worse - then the neat answer is your MacBook Pro/Pico amp/dac/D7000. This means you forget about the laptop card. The Pico is a one piece solution for both amp and dac. I just got my Pico yesterday and it is burning-in as I type.

 

[paulchiu]

is this the tool?

Amazon.com: Apogee Duet FireWire Interface: Musical Instruments

what the heck is it?

phantom powered? so, i can drive this with my camcorder's mike connects?
sounds like musician equipment.

what does that have to do with dac and headphone amp?

sorry for my ignorance




Quote:

Originally Posted by Feather225 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah Man...IF you invested in a Denon D7000, you certainly need to invest in a decent Amp, and if you use Mac as your source, you certainly need to invest in a decent DAC... Welcome to Head-Fi, sorry for your wallet. Man, definitely look into the Duet~its certainly a good choice exclusive to Mac users.

 

[subtle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulchiu /img/forum/go_quote.gif is this the tool? Amazon.com: Apogee Duet FireWire Interface: Musical Instruments what the heck is it? phantom powered? so, i can drive this with my camcorder's mike connects? sounds like musician equipment. what does that have to do with dac and headphone amp? sorry for my ignorance

Yes, that's the right tool. It's in all in one audio interface specifically made for Apple computers.

Apogee Electronics: Products: Duet

 

[paulchiu]

good

how does the amp sounds compared with say, a x-can v3, headroom bit-head or something far more expensive, like the grace m902?

thanks




Quote:

Originally Posted by subtle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, that's the right tool. It's in all in one audio interface specifically made for Apple computers. Apogee Electronics: Products: Duet

 

[subtle]

I can't answer your question because I don't an Apple computer and have never heard the Duet.

Perform an advanced search for Duet in "titles only" and select the source forum. You'll find an overwhelming amount of information and impressions there.

 

[tseryan]

For the price of the Duet, you might also consider a Predator, Pico, or iBasso amp with DAC. That solved the quiet high-pitched buzzing from my PC on-board sound card.