Apple Mac Laptop + Amp and Speakers

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Hello all... I could do with a little advice if anyone has 5 minutes. I have a MacBook Pro Apple Mac laptop with an optical mini jack output. I want to buy an Amp and pair of speakers to sit next to my laptop when I'm working. (all my music is stored on the laptop). As the laptop will be outputting audio digitally, I will need an Amp which supports a digital input if possible. This will help to get the quality of my input almost to that of a CD player, as all my music is encoded to a high standard. I listen to Blues/Funk/Soul mainly, I like sound systems to have a rounded powerful bass sound, and would be interested in fairly small bookshelf speakers as space is an issue. I had a listen to a 'NAD C315BEE' amp powering a pair of 'Q Acoustic 1020i' speakers the other day and was quite impressed, however I don't think the NAD has an optical input, and the package only came to £270 and my budget is around £500 so I could stretch for something better, if something exists better exists!? Any other thoughts for an amp and speakers? Many thanks for your time, John.
 
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Anonymous

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An amp with a digital input... there aren't many. Naim do one but it's over £2000. Your only options are an AV amp, or a standard analogue amp with an external DAC or MiniDisc recorder etc.
 

John Duncan

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You don't need an amp with a digital input - doesn't that socket double up as digital out and headphone socket? So take a headphone jack-to-rca lead and plug it into any amp you want. There are discussions on this on my 'iMac' thread elsewhere.

This notwithstanding, you could find a USB DAC and use that as the output (which would improve matters somewhat).
 

Andy Clough

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Or you could add a pair of Audioengine A5 active speakers (£200). They have 45 watts per channel amplification built in, two 3.5mm audio inputs on the left speaker and a handy USB output on the top.

They produce a rich, expressive sound with a solid underpinning of bass. We voted them best active speakers in our 2007 Awards.
 
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Anonymous

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[quote user="montymoose"]Hello all...

I could do with a little advice if anyone has 5 minutes. I have a MacBook Pro Apple Mac laptop with an optical mini jack output. I want to buy an Amp and pair of speakers to sit next to my laptop when I'm working. (all my music is stored on the laptop).

As the laptop will be outputting audio digitally, I will need an Amp which supports a digital input if possible. This will help to get the quality of my input almost to that of a CD player, as all my music is encoded to a high standard.

I listen to Blues/Funk/Soul mainly, I like sound systems to have a rounded powerful bass sound, and would be interested in fairly small bookshelf speakers as space is an issue.

I had a listen to a 'NAD C315BEE' amp powering a pair of 'Q Acoustic 1020i' speakers the other day and was quite impressed, however I don't think the NAD has an optical input, and the package only came to £270 and my budget is around £500 so I could stretch for something better, if something exists better exists!?

Any other thoughts for an amp and speakers?

Many thanks for your time,

John.[/quote]
Hi John, I also happen to own a macbook pro. For music I use sennheisers hd650 headphones. The first time I tried this I didn't expect much, since my pc was only ok when listening through these high quality headphones..I was in for a surprise though...quite shocked how good it all sounded. So much so, I could well live without a cd-player/hifi system. Even without an external dac and without headphone amp it produces a very enjoyable sound! I would even go so far that adding a musical fidelity X-can v3 didn't change much! (I wouldn't have bought it if I got the macbook before I purchased the x-can)I also have an external soundcard for professional use, but haven't bothered to use it with my mac- mainly because I take the macbook with me everywhere I go.As far as I know amps with a digital input are a rarity. The ones that are there, like Naim's supernait are just too expensive. So, if you feel the need for an upgrade in sound your only option is an external dac. Try before you buy though...I'm not so sure that any dac in your price range would give much better sound.Conclusion: try an external dac. My guess is, however, that you are better of spending your money on a good amp and speakers.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
[quote user="Andy Clough"]
Or you could add a pair of Audioengine A5 active speakers (£200). They have 45 watts per channel amplification built in, two 3.5mm audio inputs on the left speaker and a handy USB output on the top.

They produce a rich, expressive sound with a solid underpinning of bass. We voted them best active speakers in our 2007 Awards.

[/quote]Good advice! Next step up would probably be the Avis...or some high quality headphones!
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Well I had been doing some research myself and I dont know if this helps ;

I purchased this amp with DAC and have not yet received it but it is considered one of the best value DACs.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ZERO-24-192-DAC-D-A-CONVERTOR-HEAD-FI-AMP-BRAND-NEW_W0QQitemZ330222119157QQihZ014QQcategoryZ14978QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem is the only place its available.

A review can be found here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/review-zero-24-bit-192khz-dac-headphone-amp-pre-amp-269458/

Or you could go since youre on a mac with http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php
 

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