[portaprostud]

Where and what exactly is the line out on my macbook? On the left side with all the ports, there is an opening for a computer lock, a headphone out, then another "out." Is this second out the line out? I'm trying to find a way to get the cleanest possible signal out of my macbook without all the attendant beeps and whistles which I normally hear due to the processor....

 

[Currawong]

The headphone out is the line out. It also doubles as a mini-optical port.

 

[whaleyboy]

The "other" out is the microphone input.

You use the one with the little headphone symbol as your optical out.

 

[portaprostud]

OK, I keep hearing from others however, how "clean" the signal is through the line out on a macbook. Yet, I constantly hear beeps and other assorted mechanical noises, likely generated by the processor.

Do I have to tolerate this whenever listening to music on my macbook, or is there a workaround?

Apparently, the new macbook has less issues with processor generated noise, but I just got this boo a few months ago! And I'm keepin' it.

 

[saintalfonzo]

In reality, you're not going to get a cleaner signal from a mac. That's just mac fanboyeurism, although you shouldn't be hearing beeps and such. What are you running besides music when this happens? What kind of external gear ( amp / dac / phones ) are you using?

 

[krmathis]

The MacBook have a 3.5mm combined headphone and optical out jack.
Its optical out are bit-perfect (withe the correct iTunes settings), and a nice way to feed an external DAC.

Enjoy!

 

[whaleyboy]

I have moved to using my Mac as my source pretty much exclusively.

I use the optical out and the only time I get some unexpected noise is when some annoying website plays music unexpectedly.

Does your headphone cable have a bad connection? I can easily imagine a bad plug/socket creating static.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whaleyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use the optical out and the only time I get some unexpected noise is when some annoying website plays music unexpectedly.

Yeah, that can be quite annoying.
Even one more reason to stream through an AirPort Express...

 

[portaprostud]

Actually, the processor noise is well documented on the new macbooks (intel processors). It consists of beeps, whistles, etc. as the processor starts up operations. It's obvious when you start listening to a song on itunes for the first time after not using it for a while.

Overall, I'm underwhelmed with quality. I used to have a G3 powerbook, and was very pleased with sound quality on that one. The macbook is fine, but never leaves me feeling like it's an exceptional listening experience.

 

[bigshot]

My white Macbook has an intel processor and from the optical out there are absolutely no beeps or whistles. It is bitperfect. Flawless. I have documented this myself with my own Macbook, so your information is obviously incorrect.

See ya
Steve

 

[Currawong]

I'm pretty sure I remember some noise from the analogue output of my MacBook Pro. None from the optical though.

 

[krmathis]

^ I have never heard any noise from the optical out on my MacBook (ok I have a Pro one) either.
The analog one I have actually never used, so don't know about that one.

 

[whaleyboy]

FWIW, I have only used the analog outputs to drive external speakers. I only use those for games and background music.

Anyway, the optical out does not have any (evident to me) sound artifacts at all. I am very pleased with the Mac as a (digital) source and I am using an Intel based iMac right now as my desktop.

 

[Harry Manback]

Wouldn't you have to tell the Macbook that you want to use the headphone out as line level output in some way?  Otherwise, it's sending out an amplified signal, and not true "Line Out".
 
I've looked in the sound settings and the midi utility, but I don't see any way to choose to send out a line level signal.