Use Firewire Solo Interface with my laptop and speakers???

[admin_exported]

Hi there everyone.

I am a guitar and on my macbook I use garageband recording software. To connect my electric guitar to the macbook with a 'Firewire Solo Recording Interface'. I am planning to get a Cambridge Audio 640A amplifier and some speakers (something like the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's), and play my music in itunes into the amplifier and speakers. However, I have heard that the soundcard in laptops in not very good, and therefore the sound wouldn't be very good.

I have decided I have three options -

1. Buy a DAC (such as the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic) and run it between the laptop and amp.

2. Buy an Apple Airport Express and stream my music to the amp and speakers

3. Now this is why I mentioned the recording interface - would the sound quality of my itunes music be much improved if I were to use my Firewire Solo between my macbook and the 640A amp? It has firewire for connection with the computer, and on the back it has two balanced line outputs - would it be possible to connect these to the amp?

Of these options what would be my best bet? Is the quality of the airport express streaming gd? And would using the fire solo be possible, and if so would it improve the sound (perhaps I could use it as the computer's soundcard, or maybe it does a simular job to a DAC? I don't know really.

Any help would be thoroughly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks.

 

[John Duncan]

M-Audio make good DACs, and the Firewire Solo is basically acting as an external soundcard. The way you have it configured, I think that you'd get results which are pretty close to a DACMagic (or beresford etc) just by plugging it in to your amp, without having to spend all that money, subject to the following caveats.

My concerns are twofold: firstly, the outputs are balanced, whereas the inputs on your amp are unbalanced. I'm fairly sure that you can connect the two and it simply becomes an unbalanced curcuit, but I need to do some checking. Secondly, the connectors look like 1/4" jacks instead of the RCA connectors on your amp, in which case you need a couple of these:

to connect them up using standard stereo interconnects.