digital mac living
Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC)
With a digital-to-analog converter, you can use your computer to output your music to your speakers through your amplifier. This is so call “Computer As Source” or “Computer Audio Source”. If you are using a Mac, you can either output your digital audio through the USB or
with a Monster Cable ILS100TM-1M Toslink-to-Mini Optical Digital-Audio Interconnect.
As digital music is getting more and more popular, we are more often using our Mac to manage and play our music especially when we have a great app iTunes for music management. However, using a Mac to play digital music is still not ready to some people’s mind and to certain level, there are worries that the music quality would degrade. There are actually ways to improve that, here we show you how.
How to play your digital music ?
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
USB/SPDIF
RCA / SLR
USB
USB Amplifier
If you do not have an amplifier or you do not want to go for the DAC approach, you can get a USB amplifier. These USB amplifier has DAC built-in and can convert the music from digital to analog.
In the market, there are a number of DACs or USB amplifier you can choose from.
The DAC1 USB (USB DAC) is a reference-quality, 2-channel 192-kHz 24-bit digital-to-analog audio converter featuring Benchmark's Advanced USB Audio™ technology, UltraLock™ clock system, and HPA2™ headphone amplifier. 
The DAC1 USB is natively compatible with Mac OS X. As a native device, there are no drivers or other invasive software required to install or configure. The DAC1 USB is a true plug-and-play DAC USB, and is designed to begin playback immediately after the unit is connected to a USB port for the first time. The device allows SPDIF, AES, Toslink and USB input, and RCA and XLA output.
The Stello DA100 Signature is a really good all around DAC that can accept almost any digital source. The device can upsample to 24/96 or 24/192 and you can also bypass the upsample feature if you prefer to listen to the original source. 
The Stello DA100 Signature natively supports up to 24/96 via all inputs except USB. The USB input natively accepts 16/44.1 material and will downsample anything above 16/44.1. The device allows AES/EBU, Coaxial, Toslink, I2S and USB input, and RCA and XLA output.
The Perfect Wave DAC (PWD) is a remarkable product that exceeds the capability of the current crops of digital to analog converters by providing uncompromised performance. It supports any media sent over a network, retrieved from a hard drive, a CD or a stream from Internet. 
The PWD has 7 digital inputs that include 2 I2S over HDMI, an optical Toslink, coaxial SPDIF, balanced AES/EBU, 24 bit 96 kHz USB and the network Bridge, and RCA and XLA output.
Cambridge Audio DacMagic is a digital-to-analog converter that offers the most affordable and efficient way to upgrade your Mac, network music devices, CD player to truly high end sound quality. 
It can support up to 2 digital sources - network music devices, iPod or CD player connected concurrently using SPDIF or Toslink inputs. You can also connect DacMagic directly to your Mac using a USB connection (no driver required). Once upsampled, it offers both balanced XLR outputs and unbalanced RCA outputs.
Connect the NuForce Icon using the USB to your Mac, and output to your Mac or High-end headphones. 
It has USB for your input, and line out, 3.5 mm and a LAN port that is for NuForce cable connecting to your speakers.
Want to know more?
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digital mac living @ 2009
