MAC to SSP

[Nolan B]

Does anyone know what signal the DACs in the SSP 600 like the most? Currently I send 16/44.1, but its possible to upconvert the signal to 24/96 if I use a mini to optical connection out of the MAC. Currently I am using an M-Audio transport which limits it.


Any thoughts? How have you hooked up your mac with best results?

[Oddiophile]

Nolan,

I know very little about this but came across a really neat online computer audio magazine that may well answer your questions. The link is:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/

Jim

[Nolan B]

thanks or the link, some interesting reading...i think my question is more of a SSP 60 question then computer hook up.

On the same not though how has is everyone connection their mac to their SSP?

[Audio_ElF]

I don't have an SSP600 but here is some general advice.

Simplest connection from MacMini to a DAC or Processor is via a mini-optical to optical cable. Unfortunately these are not particularly common and most people use a mini-toslink adapter which can cause connection troubles - to me it either works or it doesn't with digital so I wouldn't say it's a loss of quality unless you get dropouts. A reasonably priced cable is the Monster LightSpeed 100. It fits into the mini-optical output of a Mac computer and connects to any standard Toslink via the standard connector on the opposite end. $35

It's usually best to stick with the native bit depth and sample rate of the file you're trying to playback. Unfortunately the Mac doesn't support automatic changing of the sample rate. You really have too choices - keep the settings (in Audio Midi panel found in Applications/Utilities) at 16/44.1 bit unless you are playing back high resolution files. Or you can set it at 24/96 or 24/88.2 for all files and let iTunes resample to the requested rate. Which is best depends on the processor/DAC you are using.

Note: when changing this setting in the Audio Midi panel, you must close and restart iTunes as iTunes only reads the settings when it loads. If you don't restart iTunes, you'll have iTunes resampling to one value, then MacOS CoreAudio resampling to another.

Another Note: the setting of 24/96 or 24/88.2 is only valid for MacOS which has a reasonably decent sample rate converter. If using Windows, you need to use ASIO or WASAPI or manually select the correct sample rate to ensure your audio is not needlessly distorted.

Hope this helps you. I know that some other forum users have Macs attached to their Classe processors so they might be able to advice on if they work better with native 16/44.1 or resampled 24/96. Your best bet is to try both and see - remembering to restart iTunes in between.

[Nolan B]

Thanks for the reply.
I just ordered the mini to optical cable from monoprice for about $3.00 to give it a try. One I do that ill be able to compare different output settings.

[AV-OCD]

Fellow Mac user here, and I've done a lot a research on this subject. You probably won't hear much of a difference between 44.1 and 96KHz, but technically it is best to stick with the output sampling rate that matches the audio file you are playing. Technically, the upsampler in the Mac, while good, does introduce some small artifacts in the output signal when measured. Again, you probably won't hear it, but it is there.

It is OK to switch the word length to 24 bit though, and it will give you a little more digital headroom if you use the iTunes EQ.

- Tim

[Nolan B]

Fellow Mac user here, and I've done a lot a research on this subject. You probably won't hear much of a difference between 44.1 and 96KHz, but technically it is best to stick with the output sampling rate that matches the audio file you are playing. Technically, the upsampler in the Mac, while good, does introduce some small artifacts in the output signal when measured. Again, you probably won't hear it, but it is there.

It is OK to switch the word length to 24 bit though, and it will give you a little more digital headroom if you use the iTunes EQ.

- Tim

So you suggest changing to the rate to 24, but leaving the sample rate at 44.1?

I tried to use the iTunes EQ, or at least inputted some settings I found on the net that were supposed to be good. Everything sounded great until I played "Mad World" by Gary Jules and fund the sound of the piano to be extremely distorted. I ended up turning off the EQ.

What EQ settings are you using and why?

[AV-OCD]

So you suggest changing to the rate to 24, but leaving the sample rate at 44.1?

I tried to use the iTunes EQ, or at least inputted some settings I found on the net that were supposed to be good. Everything sounded great until I played "Mad World" by Gary Jules and fund the sound of the piano to be extremely distorted. I ended up turning off the EQ.

What EQ settings are you using and why?

Yes, 24bit / 44.1 KHz. You can still overdrive the EQ with this setting, but it should give you a little more wiggle room on the max boost you can set on the sliders.

IME, there is no magic EQ setting that will sound good with everything. You can use the EQ to fine tune the overall sound, which will be dependant on your speakers and personal preferences, or you can EQ songs and albums to compensate for perceived deficiencies, like the general lack of bass in 80's rock recordings. I wouldn't go more than +6dB on any slider though, or you are more likely to run into distortion.