(hopefully in 2015) broadwell mbpro worth waiting for?

[livelistenlearn]

ladies & gents,

using a mbpro (early 2011 2.2Ghz quad-core i7) which will be 4 years old in a few months.

due to several considerations (inc. power/reliability for daily pro use, os pref, tax relief, etc), have been thinking of upgrading.

now that audiophilia has been added to the equation, wondering if one should wait for the (long awaited) broadwell mbpros?

“fanless" tech sounds cool. + apple’s current prices for customised SSD upgrades is kind of depressing.

1. to wait or not to wait?

2. would also appreciate input from anyone running 2014 gen of retina mbpros (13” or 15”) for audio, in terms of pros and cons.

thank you.

[beanbag]

ladies & gents,

using a mbpro (early 2011 2.2Ghz quad-core i7) which will be 4 years old in a few months.

due to several considerations (inc. power/reliability for daily pro use, os pref, tax relief, etc), have been thinking of upgrading.

now that audiophilia has been added to the equation, wondering if one should wait for the (long awaited) broadwell mbpros?

“fanless" tech sounds cool. + apple’s current prices for customised SSD upgrades is kind of depressing.

1. to wait or not to wait?

2. would also appreciate input from anyone running 2014 gen of retina mbpros (13” or 15”) for audio, in terms of pros and cons.

thank you.

 

The reason I am waiting is the ability to run 4k resolution at 60 Hz.

 

Audio issues are mostly irrelevant, imho

[livelistenlearn]

The reason I am waiting is the ability to run 4k resolution at 60 Hz.

 

Audio issues are mostly irrelevant, imho

 

cool. thanks for highlighting 4K video potential. chalk up one more consideration for waiting.

 

iyo, "fanless" attribute of broadwell implementation (that may hopefully reduce/do away with fan noise/jitter) not enticing/significant audio-wise?

[beanbag]

cool. thanks for highlighting 4K video potential. chalk up one more consideration for waiting.

 

iyo, "fanless" attribute of broadwell implementation (that may hopefully reduce/do away with fan noise/jitter) not enticing/significant audio-wise?

 

I would only worry about acoustical noise and not electrical noise thrown on top of your signal.

 

First of all, because I think it is all BS and not really a problem.

And second, you can get a Schiit wyrd or ipurifier or whatever, if you really think that is a problem.

 

I have a fanned mac mini with a spinning hard drive that is behind my monitor and I cannot hear it even at night with no other noise.

[christopher3393]

I'm considering waiting for Skylake: Skylake (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Skylake chips will have the biggest PC innovations in the last 10 years, Intel believes.

[Skeptic]

I'm considering waiting for Skylake: Skylake (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Skylake chips will have the biggest PC innovations in the last 10 years, Intel believes.

And Skylake may be here sooner than you might think.

 

Broadwell was quite delayed, however this delay has apparently not impacted the Skylake schedule at all.

[livelistenlearn]

I would only worry about acoustical noise and not electrical noise thrown on top of your signal.

 

First of all, because I think it is all BS and not really a problem.

And second, you can get a Schiit wyrd or ipurifier or whatever, if you really think that is a problem.

 

I have a fanned mac mini with a spinning hard drive that is behind my monitor and I cannot hear it even at night with no other noise.

 

beanbag,

 

point(s) taken, viewpoint respected.

 

tbh, am not sure if fan operation/noise is a significant factor for my system. primarily because have heard not (yet) music off a fanless system. but others here, including some forumers i respect, have modded minis to be fanless, in pursuit of better playback and posted extensively about it.

 

so, the thought of an in-built solution that does not require surgery on a mac (a field in which one's experience is limited to installing a SSD) sounds appealing.

 

cheers.

btw, do i take it that your recommendation is to wait?

[livelistenlearn]

I'm considering waiting for Skylake: Skylake (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Skylake chips will have the biggest PC innovations in the last 10 years, Intel believes.

christopher3393 + Skeptic,

 

thanks for the lead/link.

quote: "Skylake's release to market is expected to be unusually soon after Broadwell’s.”

think apple will go to market with broadwell on-board for next gen mbpros. if am proven wrong, and they choose skylake, will be happier.

cheers.

[beanbag]

This is what I would do:

 

In a completely quiet room, do you hear your computer's fan?

 

If yes, then either wait for the Broadwell, or do what everybody else does and buy a mac mini for your music and tuck it away somewhere where you can't hear it.

 

If no, then new vs old computer will have nothing to do with audio quality, so buy or wait for purely other reasons.

[livelistenlearn]

This is what I would do:

 

In a completely quiet room, do you hear your computer's fan?

 

If yes, then either wait for the Broadwell, or do what everybody else does and buy a mac mini for your music and tuck it away somewhere where you can't hear it.

 

If no, then new vs old computer will have nothing to do with audio quality, so buy or wait for purely other reasons.

 

good point re: listening to a mbpro fan from listening position. have not tried that. will give it a shot when it’s nice + quiet.

agreed, mac mini makes a lot of $ sense. but am fond of portable audio as well.

current mbpro is being deployed as source for both hi-fi system + IEM/headphone listening on-the-go.

plan is to invest in a newer mbpro for daily pro use.

and, either selling off this one, or using it as a dedicated source for hi-fi system + back-up system.

cheers.

[extracampine]

Now that we're nearer the Broadwell and Skylake release dates, any further thoughts on using these in the audiophile PC?

[livelistenlearn]

Now that we're nearer the Broadwell and Skylake release dates, any further thoughts on using these in the audiophile PC?

 

thinking good. been rolling (and rocking) with 13” mid-2014 mbp 3ghz i7 (16gb ram) since Jan. sounds fun. screen adds value.

fyi, can’t hear fan noise when listening to music playback.

fan audibility only when doing “heavy" video/photo edits with screen a foot or so away.

that said, am apple fanboy. will probably pick up skylake version when it materialises.

and, it WILL sound better (LOL).

cheers.