How to play music from a mac mini through my amp

[Sago]

Hi there

I recently bought a new mac mini and would like to use the old one to play music through my amp. This is a Marantz PM5010OSE and it has an aux function and a large headphones jack, but no usb or 3mm jack connections, no wifi, and no bluetooth. The mini has usb2 and firewire connectors, wireless and bluetooth.

I linked the two from the mini's headphones output using an rca cable to the aux input on the amp, but there is no sound. Can you advise me please on what I'm doing wrong?

I'm also wondering if as an alternative I could stream from the mini to the tuner, and if this might be possible what extra gizmo I might need??

Thanks

 

[Ketan Bharadia]

Hello, connecting to the Marantz amp this way means you have two volume controls. One on the Mac and the other on the amp. It's worth checking the volume level on your Mac. It may be set too low.

 

[ID.]

As the headphone output doubles as an optical (digital) output, my personal preference is to use an optical cable to connect the Mac Mini to a DAC and then RCA cables to the amp. This is basically what I use for my office system.

When using the digital output it is best to have the Mac's volume at full and control the volume from your amp.

If you wanted to go wireless you could buy an Apple TV and use airplay to stream to the Apple TV. You can then either use RCAs from the Apple TV to your amp or use a DAC between the Apple TV and amp (digital optical connection) to improve the sound. I also use this setup to stream music to my living room. When listening in my living room I use the Apple remote control app which I have downloaded onto my iPhone.

 

[davedotco]

The cheapest, simplest solution is a Behringer UCA202 usb dac, available on line for £20-25. Plug and play into the mini, phono out to you amplifier.

Yes, that simple and that cheap.

 

[Sago]

Many thanks for all of the suggestions. I tried it again and now it works fine - a loose connection previously.

 

[TrevC]

The cheapest, simplest solution is a Behringer UCA202 usb dac, available on line for £20-25. Plug and play into the mini, phono out to you amplifier.

Yes, that simple and that cheap.

Those Behringer DACs are extraordinary, aren't they. Playing a CD on my computer now sounds just as good as my £300 Marantz CD player.