DAC for iMac

[andyfincham]

Hi All

I have all my music on my early 2009 iMac, which streams via Apple TV in the living room and throgh a B&W A5 in the kitchen wirelessly. Would a DAC connected to the iMac improve the sound quality and if so which one should I go for under £300?

 

[MajorFubar]

Others may disagree, but...

I found adding a £300 DAC to my 2011 Mac Mini didn't make ground-shaking differences. In my case it's a HRT II+, which was very highly regarded at the time (2012). It was bought for me as a long service award by my employer so I don't feel like I mis-spent my own money, but knowing what I know now and disregarding the hype, I feel that £300 spent elsewhere on my system would have reaped greater rewards.

 

[John Duncan]

What would the DAC be between? Is the Apple TV plugged into anything other than the television? I can't see it making a difference to the B&W, and plugging it in via an analogue input feels like defeating the purpose of the device.

 

[andyfincham]

Hi again

The iMac streams wirelessly to the Apple TV which is connected to a Pioneer receiver LX55 and Paradigm cinema speakers and the aformentioned B&W in the kitchen

 

[andyfincham]

and thank you for your answers so far!

 

[AL13N]

I have all my music on my early 2009 iMac, which streams via Apple TV in the living room and throgh a B&W A5 in the kitchen wirelessly. Would a DAC connected to the iMac improve the sound quality...

No.

The Apple TV is using the DAC section of the Pioneer receiver and the B&W A5 its own internal DAC.

 

[emperor's new clothes]

For higher res transmission than ATV to your Pioneer, perhaps something like a NAD usb wireless dac @£299 which was recommended by HiFi World in Nov. issue. Worked better with a Mac than Windows PC in their report.FWITIW, my iMac feeds an rPac via USB with excellent results for the money

 

[MajorFubar]

Still think it's worth adding a cautionary warning that unless you really think the SQ from your iMac/Airplay devices is severely lacking, £300 elsewhere might give you a better VFM reward. Make sure you can either try before you buy or return it if you're not impressed. Trouble is, sometimes it's difficult not to be impressed by the SQ of new electronics because of expectation-bias, or beause it just sounds different.

 

[andyfincham]

Okay

Thank you for all your responses, much appreciated

 

[DavieCee]

I have my ATV connected to my amp through a Beresford Caiman DAC using the digital out. It may help, it may not but it certainly doesn't make it worse and as the spare connection is there......

Where I do notice a big difference is if I connect my Macbook Pro to the DAC using USB. It is noticeably better than either the ATV or the MBP using the digital earphone socket.

As a summary, there is a benefit to be had in connecting an iMac to a DAC using a USB connection. IMHO.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I have also found that a 'wired' connection is far superior to wireless streaming.