LZL

My setup: MacPro (2006) iTunes Apple Lossless files -- USB -- DAC (Heed Dactilus III) -- Eclipse amplifier and speakers. I tried using my Ipad instead of the MacPro. I used the Apple camera-connector USB adaptor and plugged the iPad into the DAC. Everyhting was the same, except Ipad instead of MacPro. Audibly huge difference! The iPad-USB-DAC was definitely worse than the MacPro-USB-DAC combination. I thought that USB signal should be identical in both scenarios. Is this a jitter issue? Could someone help me explain why this difference between iPad and MacPro? Anyone uses iPad for serious audiophile listening? Lez

I am new to computer hi-fi. Yesterday I connected my new external DAC (Heed Dactilus III) to my MacPro (2006) and I also tried my iPad (2.gen) with a camera-connector-USB adaptor. The amplifier (Eclipse A501) and speakers (Eclipse 508) were the same. The music files were Apple Lossless files from iTunes. There was a noticeable difference in the sound quality. The iPad-USB-DAC was much worse than the MacPro-USB-DAC combination. I thought that USB signal should be identical in both scenarios. Could someone help me explain why this difference between iPad and MacPro? Thanks. Lez