Submitted by rom661 on Tue, 06/30/2009 - 21:30
Hey everyone.
I am thinking about upgrading my Mac mini to either a newer version or a Macbook. I am in the industry and have four DAC's on hand for comparison. My question is a computer one: I understand that there is a new USB format that will permit 24/176. I have seen some references to it on the site but none addressing my simplistic questions.
First of all, is there something in the pipeline and, if so, what will be needed to take advantage of it? Obviously the DAC will have to be able to handle it but will it mean replacing the replacement I am considering? I really just need more memory so that I can run Amarra for the moment.
Thanks for the guidance on the computer end of things.
Rick
Audio Research DAC8, Mac mini w/4g ram, SSD, Audio Research REF 5, Sutherland 20/20 , Vandersteen 5A's, Audioquest cabling, VPI Classic w/Benz LP
It is possible to provide 176.4k and 192k over USB currently, but all the devices that support this use custom drivers. I understand from what Gordon (at Wavelength) reports it's possible to build a USB device, which uses the standard USB Audio Drivers built into Windows and Mac, and supports 176.4 and 192k and asynchronous transfer - but there are non on the market that I'm aware of. Also the USB devices that support 192k with custom drivers only support it to their internal DACs and don't output it via SPDIF.
Having said all that, apart from needing custom drivers, there is no inherent advantage of using USB to provide AES or SPDIF into a DAC over using FireWire that is supported on all current Macs (the only recent Man NOT to support FireWire was the Unibody 13" MacBook which has now been replaced). From a M-Audio ProFire 610 or RME FireFace 400k you can use 176.4 and 192k into SPDIF or AES (with adaptors).
Hope I've helped
Eloise.
Mac OSX 10.5 with iTunes (mostly ALAC) --USB--> Musical Fidelity A1008 --> B&W CDM 7NT (iPhone remote)
Very hepful, thank you. I had surgery today on my right hand and i'm limited to one hand typing so forgive my brevity or the effects percocet may have on my lucidity. So basically the issue is irrelevant in terms os a mac purchase as regards the usb.
Unfortunately part of my interest is figuring out what dacs to offer to my retail customers and most want to use a mac mini or notebook and firewire limits the choices on dacs. We do fairly high end stuff but i don't want to exclude music lovers with a more moderate budget.
hey, ignoring caps and how long this took, the left hand isn't so bad. just never let the right hand know what it's doing.
Thanks again.
Rick
Audio Research DAC8, Mac mini w/4g ram, SSD, Audio Research REF 5, Sutherland 20/20 , Vandersteen 5A's, Audioquest cabling, VPI Classic w/Benz LP