Ok, couple questions wrapped together here.
I haven't used the airport express but it does have an audio output just
like on your mac, so you can go analog or digital from there to your
amp. Some audiophile types found the digital optical output from the
airport to their receiver gave much better quality than the analog
output, but the definition of 'much' in that crowd can be taken with a
grain of salt :)
I believe that on your Mac you'll have to choose the airport as your
audio output so the built-in audio will turn off. I don't think you can
output audio to multiple destinations concurrently, but others can
better speak to this.
Sounds like your current amp already has some kind of subwoofer low pass
filter set up so once the stereo audio is being fed to it you can run
left, right and subwoofer.
So are you saying you want to run two amplifiers off your Mac? If they
are in the same room and both fed off the same source (Mac or Airport)
then it is possible, but I'm not sure why you would want to do this. If
you are attempting to feed one amp from the airport and another from the
Mac I think (as mentioned previously) it's an either or solution. Even
if you could, the delay on the wireless audio vs. the local connection
would be rather bad as it can approach a second or so.
So if you wanted to pass analog audio through more than one amp, you
could use the tape loop which is line level (pre-amp level) signals in
and out. So you run audio from your mac to the tap in on the receiver
and then run the tap-out to the line in on the second amp.
Really, unless you are trying to fill a large room with very loud sound,
the difference between a 150 and 250 watt amp won't be much. You need 10
times the power to be twice as loud. I drive some 1000w peavey SP2
speaker sticks with QSC 300w amps just fine in large spaces. If you run
all your low bass sound to a subwoofer then that frees up plenty of
power for the mid and upper frequency sound on your main speakers.
Hope this helps.
CB
On 4/23/12 3:17 PM, Eric Caron wrote:
Hi Chris and anyone else following this crazy topic!
So chris If I'm understanding you correctly I might be able to either
just purchase a separate amp and feed the output from my slightly underpowered
receiver to it. that way the mac out put could be boosted but I could also
attach a airport express to the receiver as well as some other mp3 devices. As
my current system has a stereo out put option and a sub woofer line out I could
enjoy the benefits of my sub woofer and the traditional stereo sound.
Does this sound right so far?
One important question though. My current Sony receiver does not have a pre
amp out, it only has tape in out and the speaker wires so how do I get the
sound from the mac and airport express to the receiver and out to the amp?
I'm trying to power 250 watt speakers with a 150 watt receiver.
sorry to ask what are probably very basic questions for most people.
eric Caron
On Apr 23, 2012, at 10:47 AM, Chris Blouch wrote:
So the Mac actually has two kinds of audio output, analog stereo and
optical/digital multi-channel.
The first is probably more familiar which would be to have a mini-headphone
cable with standard left/right RCA connectors on the other end which you run to
an input on the receiver and you get nice stereo sound. There are only two
sound channels so if you want to get all fancy with a subwoofer you would need
some kind of crossover gear to send only the low sounds to a subwoofer and
leave everything else in your main speakers. This probably isn't done much for
home listening but I've known audiophiles who went to this trouble.
The second is a new(ish) setup where up to six separate channels of audio are
combined into one high-speed data channel and sent via fiber optic cable from
your mac to your receiver. The hadphone jack on your Mac will detect when a
miniTOS link cable is plugged in and turn on its optical output hardware. The
other end goes into any rececent (last 10 years or so) home theater receiver
with optical inputs. The receiver will decode the optical audio signal into
left, right, center, subwoofer, rear left and rear right channels. Usually
there are built-in amps for all the channels except the subwoofer, so you just
connect 5 standard speakers to the 5 plugs and you get all the surround sound
goodness. Most consumer subwoofers come with a built in amp tuned to the
speaker so the receiver just gives a 'line level' output on an RCA jack to run
to the subwoofer. That's why they call it 5.1 for five speakers plus the
subwoofer.
As far as what you actually get, for most music recordings you only get stereo,
so having all the other speakers doesn't do much for you. Most receivers have
all kinds of fancy modes to put 'something' in the other speakers but in the
end it's just stereo. Most receivers also will do trickery if you, for example,
don't have a subwoofer. All the 5.1 stuff kicks in when you have a DVD with 5.1
audio tracks, which is pretty much all of them. So of course if you buy a DVD
of some concert you'll probably get the full surround stuff, but really old
movies are just stereo since that's all they had back then. Sony, back in 99,
tried something called a Super Audio CD which had all the channels at high
quality like a DVD but was just for audio. It pretty much flopped but is still
around and some folks really like it. I haven't tried playing one of these on
my Mac so I'm not sure what it would do.
Not sure what your budget is but you can pick up a plain jane 200w receiver for
about $150 new, so don't spend to much on that old used unit. If you're waiting
for one that has true all mechanical/analog controls you might find they are
quite old and probably have a lot of noise in the controls from years of
use/dust/dirt. Another possibility is to just get a real amplifier and be done.
Most amps have just one pair of inputs, real physical left/right volume
controls and one pair of speaker inputs. Prices on plan old amps range from
around $90 for a 300w cheapie to thousands for high power high end stuff. I've
used QSC 300w stereo rackmount amps for years which run about $300. Since the
mac output is line level you can run it (with the right cable) right into one
of these things and be done.
Hopefully this will help wrap your head and not warp it :)
CB
On 4/22/12 3:55 PM, Lewis Alexander wrote:
if you just want surround sound and nothing else, you're using your mac as your
main media source, the surround sound controllers on the market can
automatically handle setup for you, as long as you send your main signal from
the mac to the source, it should all go pretty well.
I recommend Sony for their quality and accessibility.
On 22 Apr 2012, at 20:51, Eric Caron wrote:
Hello Listers,
I'm having a lot of trouble getting my head around the new surround
sound systems. What I think might work best for me is to find a older powerful
stereo receiver or receiver and amp that I can plug my computer directly to and
perhaps also connect a airport express or Apple TV.
I don't own a TV and don't enjoy listening to TV or even movies very much. I
do love solid strong clear stereo music.
So If anyone else out there can advise me here is what I've done so far.
I've contacted a electronics repair center and asked them to keep a look out
for a solid older system. I would like 200 wats of power and old fashioned
controls.
Here are some concerns.
Would the Apple Express give me air play in the best way or would a Apple TV
give any advantages in this set up?
Could I run a sub woofer from a older system like that?
Any tips on what system might work happily with my Mac?
Finally, I'm not avers to using a newer unit but am totally baffled by all the
stuff on the remote and all the TV related stuff. Is there a retro receiver
out there or a new one with old fashioned capability?
My Mac is my entertainment center at this point but I'd love to get better
sound then I currently have.
eRic Caron
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