Digital music questions
I'm somewhat new to hi res digital audio and I'm looking for some tips. I have been building my system and have purchased McIntosh c2700, which has a DAC built in, a 462 amp, and B&W 802d4s. Using Apple Music, I have been streaming music through a Macbook Pro via a USB cable to the DAC of the c2700 preamp.
The McIntosh preamp states the streaming quality is 44.1 kHz, which seem to be the low end of high-res streaming. I currently have so many subscriptions, including Sirius XM for the cars and Apple Music for my family, and more recently Nugs for concerts, (not to mention video subscriptions...seems it never ends), so I was hoping not to add another paid subscription.
That being said, am I leaving a lot on the table? Would a dedicated streamer sound a lot better than the Macbook Pro? Are there streamers without DACs, so I can use the McIntosh DAC without purchasing redundant equipment? I understand I cannot use Apple Music to get high res audio to the preamp, as they only provide it through Apple equipment at this time. Can I get a streamer that uses the DAC of the c2700 preamp? Finally, do I then need to add another subscription, such as Tidal or Qobuz, to get high res audio?
Thanks....it's a lot of questions, but I'm sure someone here can help!
Thanks for the varied opinions on this. I’m considering dipping in with a Bluesound, as a trial. The UI certainly does matter! @femoore12 you raise a very good point. How would I know if the Macintosh is decoding the signal or if it’s the MacBook Pro? I just seem to be stuck at 48K making me think it’s probably the latter. I’m not quite sure how to change this. I do have it coming out via USB. It would be interesting to see if this makes a big difference. |
@cmb13 If you are connecting to your MacBook to stream, then it’s the MacBook internal dac that is decoding the files. The only way to switch that in the mac without software like Roon, is through the midi utility and I know mine didn’t see the C2700 dac module. The Bluesound Node is a good way to start and I think you can bypass the internal Bluesound dac to use the module in your C2700. |
If you're connecting the Macbook via USB to the McIntosh, then the McIntosh is decoding the audio data. What's happening is unfortunately it seems the Apple Music app isn't switching the sampling rate automatically. You can switch it manually using the 'Audio MIDI Setup' utility if you know what the actual sample rate is. Otherwise, macOS is resampling the music to match whatever is set in 'Audio MIDI Setup'. I don't know why Apple can't quite get their act together on this but it is what it is.
There are players out there that will switch the sampling rate automatically. For example, Kodi can do this when the 'Output configuration' setting in System -> Audio is set to 'Best Match'. However none of these players are integrated with Apple Music streaming. |
@yage @cmb13 This why I use Roon on my Mac mini. I set it up as a Roon core and connected it to my C2700. The C2700 now shows the correct sampling rate. However, I don’t stream Apple Music through my system. Just the music I’ve purchased and downloaded from Apple, HD Tracks, etc. It also works correctly streaming from Qobuz and Tidal. I got tired of messing with the Midi utility. I previously had a Schiit Modi dac that the Apple Midi utility saw when it was plugged into the USB port or headphone port. I still had to select it in the midi utility. |
