completely puzzled !!!

[lpv]

Hi all.

Would you please watch this video I've made. I recently bought Rotel RA-11 with Kef Q300. I've posted some questions on this forum how to set up my amp and speakers to work with Macbook Pro. I'm completely puzzled with what I can here from the speakers. Here's the video to demonstrate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnZ7J8lSjQ&feature=youtu.be

Soud enhancer on mac is switched off, no equalizer, just bass +4 and trable +4 on Rotel ... and I'm getting this weird clipping on high and low frequencies. So last few days instead of enjoy the music I'm woried to even turn any music on. This is happening with majority of tracks. What I'm doing wrong?

I'm using new cables for speakers as well as new optical cable to connect mac with amp...

with the old, cheap and simple sony amp and speakers I could turn on sound enhancer on mac and do whatever I want with eq settings and never got any clippling/ distortion.. with rotel and kef I can't even think of sound enhancer to be on and need to be very carefull with eq in itunes.. in the best world just turn it off... but then the music sounds dull, lifeless...

is it something faulty? any component of my new hi hi?

it's not something I expected !

any help please? advice?

 

[lpv]

sorry for my poor english

 

[El Hefe]

Have you tried using the other optical input ont he Rotel?

 

[ID.]

Not sure what it is I should be listening for. Am I missing the distortion because it sounds like part of the song to me?

Does it happen at all volumes? How high do you have the volume. What happens when you turn bass and treble back to 0? I'm guessing it is due to a having the bass and treble turned up (shouldn't really be necessary) combined with having the volume too high (many modern amps I've used are at maximim volume by 12 o'clock on the dial, so may already be clipping at that point, especially if you've turned the tone controls up.

 

[Overdose]

Hi all.

Would you please watch this video I've made. I recently bought Rotel RA-11 with Kef Q300. I've posted some questions on this forum how to set up my amp and speakers to work with Macbook Pro. I'm completely puzzled with what I can here from the speakers. Here's the video to demonstrate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnZ7J8lSjQ&feature=youtu.be

Soud enhancer on mac is switched off, no equalizer, just bass +4 and trable +4 on Rotel ... and I'm getting this weird clipping on high and low frequencies. So last few days instead of enjoy the music I'm woried to even turn any music on. This is happening with majority of tracks. What I'm doing wrong?

I'm using new cables for speakers as well as new optical cable to connect mac with amp...

with the old, cheap and simple sony amp and speakers I could turn on sound enhancer on mac and do whatever I want with eq settings and never got any clippling/ distortion.. with rotel and kef I can't even think of sound enhancer to be on and need to be very carefull with eq in itunes.. in the best world just turn it off... but then the music sounds dull, lifeless...

is it something faulty? any component of my new hi hi?

it's not something I expected !

any help please? advice?

It definitely sounds like clipping and is most likely amplifier related, rather than the Mac. Check settings in 'Audio Midi setup' first though (Applicatins>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup).

You need to try and balance the computer system volume with the amp volume to eliminate it. Try increasing the iTunes and system volume to max and controlling the volume with the amp alone first. Next, then try controlling the volume from iTunes, with the 'Max' setting being at the loudest volume you are likely to listen at, this might for example be at the 09:00 position on the amp.

 

[lpv]

First of all... it happens all volumes. Volume goes up to 100. I've recorded this video on volume 10 settings. Same happening on second optical input.

The clipping It is not part of the song. In ' Audio Midi Setup' I've got: 44,1 khz and 16 bit. I'm using optical input on my Rotel to take advantage of built in DAC. Connecting mac with amp this way I have to use toslink so I can't control mac volume because it's disabled when used with toslink.

... but hang on.. Overdose - you're right ! turning down itines volume to about 75% helped !!!

invaluable help from what's hi fi forum !!!

Many thanks !

[ that's why I asked in first palce for help with connection and set up here]

 

[BigH]

If you look on the itunes or Mac forums you will lots about the best settings.

Do you have this problem with spotify?

 

[lpv]

I'm not using Spotify so can't comment on that...

 

[BigH]

I'm not using Spotify so can't comment on that...

Free trial for 6 months. I had some clicking sounds on certain sites but none on spotify or if I play them via something like Windows Media player, that is on internet radio.

 

[Craig M.]

Do you have another source you can connect by optical? You really shouldn't have to turn the volume down in iTunes to stop the clipping sound. I've had 4 different Macs connected by optical to various DACs, always with the iTunes volume at full, and never had this problem.

 

[fr0g]

My first suggestion would be to play some music in another app. Don't do OSX so haven't a clue what. But that would rule out the computer and rule in a setting in itunes.

Then you can take it from there.

 

[Craig M.]

VLC media player.

 

[Overdose]

First of all... it happens all volumes. Volume goes up to 100. I've recorded this video on volume 10 settings. Same happening on second optical input.

The clipping It is not part of the song. In ' Audio Midi Setup' I've got: 44,1 khz and 16 bit. I'm using optical input on my Rotel to take advantage of built in DAC. Connecting mac with amp this way I have to use toslink so I can't control mac volume because it's disabled when used with toslink.

... but hang on.. Overdose - you're right ! turning down itines volume to about 75% helped !!!

invaluable help from what's hi fi forum !!!

Many thanks !

[ that's why I asked in first palce for help with connection and set up here]

No, that is not correct. The volume control is digital and is system controlled whether you use the analogue or digital audio out through the headphone socket. It sounds like the DAC/preamp stage in the Rotel is the problem.

Try EQ in iTunes and set the amp tone controls to mid position. EQ on the fly until you get the sound you like, you can monitor for clipping at the same time.

 

[lpv]

I did connect cd transport via optical to amp so it uses rotel's amp internal DAC and there was no clipping.

I did try Vlc and same problem as with itunes.. turning volume down in both players by 25% solved problem..

do you really think amp or dac may be faulty?

I did play with different eq settings but on some tracks even with eq off there's still lots of clipping when itunes volume is set to maximum..

one more thing - when used 3,5mm audio cable on mac end and amp line inputs ( bypassing rotel's DAC) there's no clipping and sound is lower quality

 

[Overdose]

It am fairly sure now that the output from the Mac/iTunes is a touch too much for the Rotel and its preamp section is being overdriven. I had a similar problem in the past with an audio interface. iTunes must have less attenuation at higher settings, particularly on Macs and so will provide a signal higher than some preamps can handle.

Simply leave the iTunes at a predetermined volume below clipping and control the volume with the amp remote. This is probably the only way to solve the problem quickly, cheaply and easily.

Edit: Songbird is another media player for Mac OSX and it has a higher signal attenuation at max volume, so does not cause the clipping issue (at least it didn't for me). You could try it to eliminate the computer as a problem. At any rate, it's not really a fault, more a limitation that can be worked around.

 

[lpv]

thanks overdose ! that seems to be the best solution... I'll try songbird as well.

now the amp and the speakers sound as they should

 

[lpv]

Dear all.

this is what i did:

swaped rotel ra-11 with marantz pm 6400, added arcam rdac. kept q300.. music comes from macbook pro... simply amazing !!! rotel and marantz is like night and day... rotel - flat, dull, cold, clinical, no bass at all, clipping at high and low frequencies as I described above !!! listened rotel for a week and hated every day... kef's with rotel were lifeless and really poor.

first few minutes with marantz and rdac and everything changed.. for good... rich and smooth bass, sweat treble.. lovely midtons.. all started to sing...

itunes sound enhancer off, itunes eq off and sound from marantz, arcam and kef ? spot on love it !

did try rotel with rdac.. built in rotel's dac is lower sq than arcam rdac... rotel is simply not for my taste.

enjoy the music !!!

 

[Overdose]

Glad you got it sorted.

 

[ID.]

Does it need to be on full volume to ensure a bit perfect feed?

I noticed that the app., Bit Perfect, turns my Mac's volume to full whenever I'm taking a feed from the optical output. It is noticeable that I have to run my amplification at a lower volume when the imput comes from my Mac than when using the CD section or taking a feed from other devices.

 

[lpv]

I believe Overdose explained it best.. please check his post above.. he came to the conclusion that it's Rotel limitations...

I've got the same with Rotel amp.. feed from CD player was ok in terms of volume but when switched to mac optical it was too much, hence clliping... turning down volume in itunes to about 75% helped...

 

[BigH]

Do you mean Marantz 6004?

 

[Overdose]

No, the Marantz is the amp that replaced the Rotel.

 

[Zax89swe]

you mean pm6004 becouse I cant find a model named pm6400, Im about to replace my ´pm6004 to a rotel ra-11 for better sound?

 

[busb]

Hi all.

Would you please watch this video I've made. I recently bought Rotel RA-11 with Kef Q300. I've posted some questions on this forum how to set up my amp and speakers to work with Macbook Pro. I'm completely puzzled with what I can here from the speakers. Here's the video to demonstrate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnZ7J8lSjQ&feature=youtu.be

Soud enhancer on mac is switched off, no equalizer, just bass +4 and trable +4 on Rotel ... and I'm getting this weird clipping on high and low frequencies. So last few days instead of enjoy the music I'm woried to even turn any music on. This is happening with majority of tracks. What I'm doing wrong?

I'm using new cables for speakers as well as new optical cable to connect mac with amp...

with the old, cheap and simple sony amp and speakers I could turn on sound enhancer on mac and do whatever I want with eq settings and never got any clippling/ distortion.. with rotel and kef I can't even think of sound enhancer to be on and need to be very carefull with eq in itunes.. in the best world just turn it off... but then the music sounds dull, lifeless...

is it something faulty? any component of my new hi hi?

it's not something I expected !

any help please? advice?

Glad you got it sorted but did you not have the tone controls turned up on the Rotel that may have explained the distortion?

 

[lpv]

busb - I did try all possible connections/ settings in itunes, on mac and on rotel...

zax - I would stronglty suggest you audition rotel ra-11 before spending money... rotel produce really clinical sound.. lots of midtones and lack of bass.. cold sound.

Please tell us more about your set up... I don't know what you streaming from, what is your source? Mine is 100% macbook. If that's the case in your situation I can highly recommend adding decent DAC. I bought for Marantz 6400 Arcam rDac... and like I said before - warm, open sound with right amount of low, mid and high frequencies... works a treat with Kef Q300.

Rotel RA-11 cost £499 at the moment.

Marantz PM6400 £229.95 + Arcam rDac £229 [ bought from Richer Sounds] = £458.95... cheaper and works much better for me then Rotel

if you've got any questions about Rotel I'm happy to help.. but please audition it first !