AXelris

Dear all, I recently purchased the Sennheiser PC 360, unfortunately it does not work on my Mac as from what I've read is that its not able to drive the microphone on the 360. What I did was to go with a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro, however it only works on Win 7 boot camp. I also own a Sennheiser HD 650 and never had anything to drive it only connected directly to my Macs 3.5mm output. I intend in future to purchase a Benchmark Dac1 HDR to drive my 650s but right now that seems to be out of my budget. I use the microphone mainly for communicating in games, also for some vlogging and possibly some sound / voice recording. Another choice I'm considering refund both the 360 and the X-fi and go for the blue yeti and HD 650s, however my headphones still would not be fully driven. Is anyone able to suggest alternative methods ie other external soundcards / DACs etc that work for Mac and PC which I can also use my microphone? I also hear some people using the Asus Xonar and Astro Mixamp but I'm unsure if they work for Mac. Cheers. PS. sorry if its in the wrong section only place i knew where it would fit. Could someone possibly advise me on

Thanks for all the responses and feedback! I'm using the Sonic Studio Amarra software but believe I would only hear a difference once I get my DAC. Is there anything I should look out for when testing the DAC? My music is ripped AIFF and Apple Lossless. Is there anything else I can do to improve my sound quality for future upgrades? Besides changing my DAC / Cans / Speakers. Much appreciated. Thanks Andy

Hi all, been a reader of computer audiophile for sometime and have recently decided to invest in some audio equipment. Here are some questions I have: 1stly, I'm looking to purchase the Benchmark DAC1 HDR, using it with Sennheiser HD650 and BM5a Mk2 speakers. How does the preamp help my setup? I've seen some people suggesting using a power amp, do I really need one? 2ndly, is there a difference in soundcard / quality from iMac 27" i5 and the Macbook Pro 15" 2009 model? I connected my HD650 via audio jack and I've noticed some differences could it just be me? Next, for my setup, do I need an external soundcard? Lastly, for the audio midi setup on my mac, should I leave my output at 96khz or only for 96khz songs? does it make any difference? Thanks all for your time. PS. Thank you Chris for such a wonderful website. Its intuitive, informative and easy to use. Regards Andy Leong