[Macworld]

Post your comments for Review: Four desktop amplifiers/DACs here

[jaemon888]

Might as well bring a good DAC to the party.

AMC US24192

Digital/Analog-Wandler 24Bit/192kHz
http://www.amc-hifi....=0;2;10;85;195;

There is one with vacuum tubes as well

AMC US24192vt
http://www.amc-hifi....=0;2;10;85;100;

They make awesome amps too...

us site is http://www.amchome.com/ though its not been updated in years... they spend their time making really nice and not horribly expensive hifi stuff.

[dreyfus]

I went through a load of these setups (7, if I remember correctly) and really had problems to find something I like. I finally ended with a kind of detour... I now use the awesome Apogee Duet 2 audio interface and connected two KRK Rokit 6 speakers using the Duet's balanced outputs. The Duet makes for a terrific headphone amp, and the speakers, while butt-ugly, are as neutral as I could find and put you right in the middle of the music. And, of course, it does double-duty as one of the best audio interfaces I have heard.

[monospaced]

These solutions are kind of ridiculous, especially when considering features for the money. For the price of a 2-channel amp listed above and a pair of speakers, someone could buy a decent 5.1 A/V amp with more power and tons more features and expandability.

[dreyfus]

monospaced, on 26 March 2012 - 08:22 AM, said:

These solutions are kind of ridiculous, especially when considering features for the money. For the price of a 2-channel amp listed above and a pair of speakers, someone could buy a decent 5.1 A/V amp with more power and tons more features and expandability.

Solutions targeting audiophiles are not about "features for the money", actually most products catering to these people have sound as the only feature, some high-end amplifiers have a volume knob as the only adjustable component. People who are happy with a 5.1 or 7.1 system for sub $1k are not audiophiles and should have zero need for attaching a DAC to any Mac. There are some multi-channel high end systems available, but they are in the price range of a moderate BMW. (I do not mean to say that audio-maniacs are better people, we are quite nuts actually, but I think you were assuming a wrong target audience for the products reviewed here.)

[mattwardfh]

jaemon888, on 26 March 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

Might as well bring a good DAC to the party.

AMC US24192

Digital/Analog-Wandler 24Bit/192kHz
http://www.amc-hifi....=0;2;10;85;195;

There is one with vacuum tubes as well

AMC US24192vt
http://www.amc-hifi....=0;2;10;85;100;

They make awesome amps too...

us site is http://www.amchome.com/ though its not been updated in years... they spend their time making really nice and not horribly expensive hifi stuff.

Those look like nice DACs—they also look like full-size stereo components. The focus here was on things that would be convenient for spaces where full-size components may not work well.

We will be reviewing at least one small, stand-alone DAC soon.

[mattwardfh]

monospaced, on 26 March 2012 - 08:22 AM, said:

These solutions are kind of ridiculous, especially when considering features for the money. For the price of a 2-channel amp listed above and a pair of speakers, someone could buy a decent 5.1 A/V amp with more power and tons more features and expandability.

I pointed out in the piece that for the price of some of these units (pretty much anything above the Topping), you could get a full-size stereo component. I didn't mention home theater receivers explicitly because the was on 2-channel here. But I did have them in mind when I wrote that since they tend to have built-in DACs.

However, a full-size stereo component is frequently going to be too big for a desktop setting. If you just want to use your Mac, iPod, etc. as part of a small system, you won't need the extra features and expandability. That's like pointing out that you can get a PC tower for the same price as a Mac mini. It's true, but it ignores the issue that more and bigger are not always better.

Especially if you have a spare set of speakers that aren't in use, or want something less obtrusive than a full-size component, amps like these are a great solution.

This post has been edited by mattwardfh: 26 March 2012 - 09:22 AM

[darkprints]

Is there a way to output a line-out signal from my iMac, and bypass the iMac's headphone preamp?

Instead of using iTunes/iMac/headphone jack, I have been using my iPod + Pocketdock Line Out USB to connect to my audio system. It would be convenient to connect directly from the iMac.
http://www.sendstati...ineout-usb.html

This post has been edited by darkprints: 26 March 2012 - 10:45 AM

[monospaced]

dreyfus, on 26 March 2012 - 08:36 AM, said:

Solutions targeting audiophiles are not about "features for the money", actually most products catering to these people have sound as the only feature, some high-end amplifiers have a volume knob as the only adjustable component. People who are happy with a 5.1 or 7.1 system for sub $1k are not audiophiles and should have zero need for attaching a DAC to any Mac. There are some multi-channel high end systems available, but they are in the price range of a moderate BMW. (I do not mean to say that audio-maniacs are better people, we are quite nuts actually, but I think you were assuming a wrong target audience for the products reviewed here.)

Targeting audiophiles who want to listen to iTunes tracks through their Macs on an old pair of speakers sitting around? Gotcha. I am an audiophile, so I have to admit that simply adding a Class D amp and a DAC won't do much for a 256 AAC.

[SCitron]

How do I get the audio from my iMac into these DACs? Please explain. The only audio out on my computer is from an 1/8" mini-audio jack. Can I use USB?

[darkprints]

SCitron, on 26 March 2012 - 11:25 AM, said:

How do I get the audio from my iMac into these DACs? Please explain. The only audio out on my computer is from an 1/8" mini-audio jack. Can I use USB?

Both the headphone jack and USB output go through the iMac's preamp (volume, tone controls). See my post #8.

[SCitron]

darkprints, on 26 March 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

SCitron, on 26 March 2012 - 11:25 AM, said:

How do I get the audio from my iMac into these DACs? Please explain. The only audio out on my computer is from an 1/8" mini-audio jack. Can I use USB?

Both the headphone jack and USB output go through the iMac's preamp (volume, tone controls). See my post #8.

Sorry. I'm still confused. It looks like the PocketDock is great for connecting an iPhone or iPod to some other device by by-passing the iPhone/iPod's headphone amp. Wonderful. But how do I use the PocketDock to go from my iMac to the input of a DAC? What's the advantage in this configuration?

[Ch1llP1ll]

darkprints, on 26 March 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

SCitron, on 26 March 2012 - 11:25 AM, said:

How do I get the audio from my iMac into these DACs? Please explain. The only audio out on my computer is from an 1/8" mini-audio jack. Can I use USB?

Both the headphone jack and USB output go through the iMac's preamp (volume, tone controls). See my post #8.

Are you quite sure? I have two different USB DACs---one with a built-in amp---and two different Macs, and no combination of the two allows me to control the volume using the system-level volume control or balance. In fact, I strongly suggest that the USB is as pure a digital-out as the Optical out. The only way to affect the audio delivered to my USB DACs from either Mac is to adjust the volume in the source application, which manipulates the digital data directly, and is an entirely different proposition to using "pre-amps".
Based on a previous discussion elsewhere with CoreAudio professionals, I've concluded that if the system-level volume controls do anything to the volume of audio passed to external USB DACs, it's by talking directly to those devices and modifying their own volume controls.
Either way: the Mac's "pre-amps" are not involved.

[mattwardfh]

darkprints, on 26 March 2012 - 10:44 AM, said:

Is there a way to output a line-out signal from my iMac, and bypass the iMac's headphone preamp?

Instead of using iTunes/iMac/headphone jack, I have been using my iPod + Pocketdock Line Out USB to connect to my audio system. It would be convenient to connect directly from the iMac.
http://www.sendstati...ineout-usb.html

Yes—that is the purpose of the DACs in each of these amps. They take the audio data outside of the Mac before converting it to analog, thus avoiding using the Mac's analog circuitry entirely. With the USB amps, just use a USB cable to connect the amp to your Mac. With the Dia or Neuhaus, you can also use a 3.5mm to Toslink optical digital cable to use the Mac's built-in digital audio output (which also bypasses its analog circuitry) to feed the DAC.

Since you already have an audio system, what you probably want is a stand-alone DAC. Take a look at models from Fiio, NuForce, and AudioEngine to start.

Since you're using a purely digital signal to feed the DAC, and, assuming the DAC's circuitry is better than that built into the iPod (which is a pretty safe assumption), it will sound even better than taking the analog line out from your iPod with the pocket dock.

This post has been edited by mattwardfh: 26 March 2012 - 01:46 PM