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sensel

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  1. Boris, Another Apple product that might work is to run directly from a Mac Mini, which has an optical jack disguised as a minijack, like on the Express. Your music can reside directly on the Mini, connected to it via Firewire drive (faster than internal drives on older Minis) or, the Mini can just be a simple link in the wireless network. However, I suspect that as a wireless link, it might perform the same as an AE. But I wonder as a direct connection, would it be better? Apple put that optical connection there with a media center in mind. I am sure someone here will report that it is not a good idea for various reasons though.
  2. Hey everyone, this was a great discussion. I learned that audiophile - something I only dabbled in a number of years ago - has moved on to a stratosphere I no longer seem to be able to participate in. I'm fine with that. I have no desire to buy a Lamborghini Revention at the high end ($1.6 million) or a Porsche Carrera GT at the low end ($450,000). But I would not mind a Tesla S sedan (or probably its future lower price competitors) someday. Practical and sweet to drive (hopefully). Zed to 60 MPH in 5.6 seconds. No tailpipe. But I bet the tires and door handles are crap compared to the Lamborghini or the Porsche.
  3. Eloise wrote: "you are just taking the digital output of a standard TV, even then I would think there should be some way to set the output as stereo rather than Dolby Digital but this varies between TVs." This HDTV has no way to turn off OTA Dolby Digital. (It actually does have the ability as it has a stereo headphone jack - but there is no Dolby on/off for the user in the menu or even a pair of RCA jacks in the back for stereo only audio out.) I tried every setting and combination thereof. I also called Samsung about it (initially when I knew less about it but still, asked the right questions) and, just to be sure, today again. As expected, the first phone tech did not know the product and did not understand the concept of audio in versus audio out. When I told her there was no analog (RCA) audio out, she insisted there was and she used it on her TV. Just, unbelievable. The next level tech I ask to be moved up too, said there was no way to do it. But he came across as a real turkey too and treated me like I was underneath him. I also spoke with the concierge service of the store where I bought it and, they knew about the TV but, just didn't really know what to say to me. Weird. All of this is all basic audio and video stuff. You would think they would teach the phone techs the difference between audio in and out. So, I am returning a TV I like and got at a good price (it actually does have a lot of other features I wanted and is rated high by users and in reviews) because the only option is to listen, if you can call it that, on 3 Watt internal speakers or buy a whole new Dolby ready amp or receiver I don't want or need nor can I afford.
  4. Thanks Eloise. I don't have a cable or satellite receiver anymore. Just is not worth it for me. If you mean the Yamaha RX-595 receiver, it is too old to have that option. It's just stereo. Here is the page for it on the Yamaha web site: http://goo.gl/us4V1 But that is the right idea. I need to take the input from OTA and output it to stereo without the Dolby hissing monster. The HDTV I have sadly does not let you do that. I guess I am searching for a Dolby Digital remover that takes the input as TOSLINK.
  5. Steve N.: Thanks for the feedback. I have a few questions though about your answers. The Yamaha is an RX-595. I spoke to engineers at Magnepan in the mid 1990s when I bought the speakers direct. While they are vehement in not telling customers which receiver or amp brand or model to get, when I read the specks to them, they said it was a good and would work with the speakers. I play some high quality classical guitar CDs on it and just about everything else and am happy. Yes, I can blast it so load it hurts with no distortion (which I don't). So what is wrong with it again for my use with the MMGs? Why do you consider the AE DAC junk? Technically, what makes it a less desirable DAC than the next DAC up in quality? Also, as I mentioned, I did pick up the MCM DAC, which I can run TOSLINK from the AE to. For the moment, I will not be running direct from the computer. Although at some point, an older Mac Mini, which I will load up with my collection, will become part of this set up but, not for a year. Also, in a way, the main question is the over the air HDTV signals carrying Dolby and how to deal with that to the stereo. Right now, it looks like replacing the receiver with one that has Dolby processing to allow me to play on the MMGs not only music but also the Dolby HDTV sound would be the simplest solution. I have toyed with getting used amps in the past but, I'm just to f--cking old, busy with more important things, and poor for audiophile techno snobbery. I just want to focus on simplicity and ease of use. I don't want nor can I afford a Porsche but a Miata is fun and I drive a Mazda 6 Wagon most of the time. Todays better receivers are excellent, practical, and affordable. I just wish I could find a similar 4? Yamaha unit with HD radio built in and no XM.
  6. If you plug an (Apple style) TOSLINK optical cable into an AirPort Express getting music from your iTunes library on an iMac and run that cable to an MCM 24Bit/96K D/A Toslink/Coax Digital Input to Line Level Output Converter then the analog cable to a nice and plenty powerful enough for me 2 channel analog Yamaha receiver to some Magnepan MMG speakers - will that sound better than running a minijack to RCA cable from the Express to the same Yamaha and Magnepans? Doesn't the AirPort Express *already* have a digital to analog converter in it and, how does it compare to a decent 4? ready receiver with a D/A converter already in it for an incoming optical signal versus something like the MCM? I'm trying to keep that old Yamaha as it works perfect for me on the MMGs for music. But, to keep things short here, I may need to get a newer receiver with a TOSLINK audio in *anyhow* to process some over the air HDTV Dolby crud (even though I don't want surround) to the MMGs. The MCM converter does not process out the Dolby static. So if I have to go out and buy a whole new receiver, I'll just return the MCM (bought not knowing about over the air Dolby Digital from stations) and make sure the receiver has a good converter in it already. No, my TV, which is also otherwise perfect for what I need, cannot turn off the incoming over the air HDTV Dolby Digital.
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