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lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME
Nokia XS-110G-A
Linksys Velop MX5300

1 edit

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Should These Speakers With Integrated USB DAC Be Good Enough?

I currently have a setup on my iMac with an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra hooked up via USB and Bose Music Monitor Speakers (please don't let the Bose bias your response).

I have FLAC files that I play through the Ultra and the Bose speakers. That's all I use the Ultra for, to listen to music. To do this, I am still running Lion.

I would like to run Mavericks on my iMac. Whether or not there are Fast Track Ultra drivers for each progression of the OS (since M-Audio was bought by Avid, and the Ultra I have is discontinued), I am not sure, and don't want to take a chance on.

Would purchasing the speakers in the following link, and no longer using a separate DAC interface, sound as good as my current setup if the speakers are connected directly to USB? Thanks.

»www.amazon.com/Audioengi ··· speakers

Edit: Would using this DAC with the speakers make a big difference in sound?

»audioengineusa.com/Store ··· -Bit-DAC

Jehu
Premium Member
join:2002-09-13
MA

Jehu

Premium Member

If I understand correctly, you're asking if speakers (new or old) connected to your Mac line/headphone out will sound as good as connected to USB DAC?

I would say categorically no, especially since you are running FLAC. Laptops just don't have the stuff to properly amp decent audio components. In addition, the DAC chips in Laptops are not comparable to dedicated DAC.

I would always run with an external DAC for computer audio if the option is available.

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME
Nokia XS-110G-A
Linksys Velop MX5300

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Thanks. I've been looking into it a little more and and am going to get this external DAC:

»audioengineusa.com/Store ··· -Bit-DAC

The price is right and I have 30 days to decide on both the Speakers and the DAC (I decided when I purchase these they will both be from AudioEngine directly). It may take about a week to get both items. I'm going to have to sell a couple of things first.

mediaguy
Politically Incorrect
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join:2014-01-22
Guitar Town
·T-Mobile
Netgear CM500
TP-Link Archer A7

mediaguy to lordpuffer

Premium Member

to lordpuffer
The speakers you linked to include a built-in DAC, so the separate D1 DAC would be redundant (and an additional cost with no benefit). The speakers can be connected directly via USB and should sound great - the version of those speakers without the internal converter have been highly rated in several publications. While the built-in DAC is probably not studio caliber, I'd bet it sounds as good as your original M-Audio interface. Audioengine makes some good products, and compared to the Bose speakers, I'd expect the performance to be stunning.

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME
Nokia XS-110G-A
Linksys Velop MX5300

1 edit

lordpuffer

Premium Member

I know that the speakers have a built-in DAC, but I did read (I believe on their site) that using the separate D1 will produce better sound when connected to the speakers if you bypass the built-in DAC. It may just be a sales pitch to sell the D1.

I agree that it may be redundant, however, the D1 does have both an easily accessible volume control and headphone jack. I believe that the volume control for the speakers, if I use the built-in DAC, is in the rear of one of the speakers and will not be as easily accessible based on where I plan to put them.

Found it:
quote:
While the DAC in the A2+ is better than what might be built in to most computers, adding a 24 bit DAC like our D1 or D3 would still be a benefit to audio quality. With a DAC like the D1 you also add features like a headphone output and optical input.
»audioengineusa.com/Store ··· Speakers

robbin
Mod
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX

robbin

Mod

The speakers only have a 16 bit DAC so the 24 bit DAC in the separate D1 is definitely better. However to take advantage of that quality you need to use the optical input as the USB is only 16bit. Here's a review of the D1.

»www.custompcreview.com/r ··· 15438/5/

(Did you consider the A5s?)

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME
Nokia XS-110G-A
Linksys Velop MX5300

3 edits

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Thanks for the review link robbin.....I'll look into the 16 bit vs 24 bit.

Yes, I looked at the A5s, and although I would rather have them, there are 2 reasons that I cannot.

1. Too expensive for my budget right now, and;
2. They weigh about 30 lbs together, and with the junky desk I have to put them on, and everything that I currently have on the desk (mainly my iMac), they may be too heavy for it.

Edit: I read over the article, and it says that to go through USB it will be 24-bit/96kHz, and to go through optical it will be 24-bit/192kHz. I didn't see that USB drops down to 16 bit. Am I correct?

Can I hook this up via the optical input with my iMac? My iMac doesn't have an optical out. I was wrong. It seems that my iMac's headphone out is a "Headphone out /optical digital audio out port." So I guess that I need the correct cable. What would this cable be called? One end headphone and the other end regular optical? Thanks.
lordpuffer

lordpuffer

Premium Member

I spoke with AudioEngine tech support this morning and got most of the answers that I need.

However, there is one that I cannot figure out. I have FLAC files on both my PC running Win 7 Home Premium 64bit and on my Mac running 10.7.5 On my PC, I use MediaMonkey to play and manage my FLAC songs. On my Mac, right now I don't use anything for my sound system is taken apart.

The question is, how do I find whether a particular FLAC file is 16 or 24 bit, and how do I find the kHz for that particular song? I cannot find this on either my PC or my Mac. Thanks.

Jehu
Premium Member
join:2002-09-13
MA

Jehu to lordpuffer

Premium Member

to lordpuffer
Oops that's what I get for not clicking links...

a 24 bit dac, just because it is 24 bit, is not going to do anything better unless you have 24 bit flacs. That said, their 24 bit dedicated DAC might just be a better DAC than the one built into the speakers.

I don't know much about MMonkey, but I'd bet you can add a column in the library view that displays Format and/or Kind. Otherwise you should be able to right-click on a file in the file manager and see the encoding properties.

For Mac, I dunno. I know iTunes displays that type of information, but I think iTunes makes you convert Flac on import.

robbin
Mod
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX

robbin to lordpuffer

Mod

to lordpuffer
said by lordpuffer:

The question is, how do I find whether a particular FLAC file is 16 or 24 bit

If it came from a CD then it is 16 bit. I bought the Beatles USB Green Apple box set a few years ago. It is 24 bit. You can also download 24 bit music (google it). But that is only part of what you need to be looking at.

I looked at the specs for the two DACs --TI/Burr Brown PCM2704C and AK4396. A few specs stand out.

Dynamic Range -- 90dB min and 98dB typical for the TI and 114dB min / 120dB typical for the AK.

S/N -- 90dB min and 98dB typical for the TI and 114dB min / 120dB typical for the AK.

Interchannel Isolation -- 60dB min and 70dB typical for the TI and 100 dB min / 120dB typical for the AK.

All other things equal, 16 bit audio will sound better with the DAC in the D1.

»www.ti.com/lit/ds/sbfs03 ··· 036a.pdf
»www.akm.com/akm/en/file/ ··· 96VF.pdf

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Thanks robbin. Yes, all of my music came from my CDs, so I guess they are all 16-bit. So, I don't need to use the optical input and can just use the USB with the D1.
lordpuffer

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Just an update....I ordered the A2+ Speakers and the D1. I should get them in about a week. I already did a clean install of Mavericks on my Mac, and will post again once I receive them, set them up and give a listen.
lordpuffer

1 edit

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Question: Before I receive the D1 and A2+ Speakers on Friday, I have a question about the D1 and my iMac (running Mavericks 10.9.2).

Since it seems that the D1 will turn on as soon as it is plugged into a USB port, what happens when I turn my iMac off? Do I have to unplug the D1 first? Or, can I turn my iMac off and on with the D1 still connected? I cannot find the answer to this by looking at the D1 info on audioengine's website, or on the Set Up Guide which I've downloaded. Thanks.

»audioengineusa.com/Store ··· -Bit-DAC

Jehu
Premium Member
join:2002-09-13
MA

Jehu

Premium Member

You should be fine leaving the DAC connected. It's good practice to turn the volume knob all the way down before startup/shutdown as sometimes computers can send a high-volume pop or noise through on startup/shutdown.

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Thanks Jehu
lordpuffer

lordpuffer

Premium Member

Click for full size
Desk Setup
Click for full size
Right Speaker
Click for full size
Left Speaker
Click for full size
D1
Here are the A2+s and the D1 set up. They sound awesome! Much better than the Fast Track Ultra and the Bose (I sold both to purchase these )

BTW, many people in the reviews said that the A2+s will need a subwoofer. Not IMO. They have some nice bass. No need for a subwoofer.

Thanks for your help everyone!