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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!

cmb13
yage
400 posts
 

@jetter 

Thanks - I appreciate the comment.

 

@ghdprentice 

I can accept the fact that people hear differences when using different streamers in their setup. However, in most (if not virtually all) these cases, I don't think it's the streamer that's causing the difference. Since it's difficult to know how controlled the conditions were for these evaluations, it's hard to judge how reliable the outcome is given that people can be easily swayed by our own biases and other external factors. This video sums it up nicely - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nthIOIXizs

jetter
3,033 posts
 

@yage No problem at all.

I would like to mention that I do assume there are differences in the quality of the presentation of different streamers.  The only other streamer I have heard was in a very high dollar system.  That streamer was part of the top of the line MSB streamer, preamp, DAC unit included in a $200K+ system (McIntosh dual mono MC451s, Sonus Faber Lilium speakers, the MSB combo).  Simply divine, cannot recommend Fidelis Audio in Nashua, NH enough.

As I think I mentioned, I have a Bluesound node 2i that I use with an external DAC.  Although I could swing buying the above, I am happy with the Bluesound and my entire system.  I like its overall sound signature.

cmb13 OP
8 posts
 

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. 

femoore12's avatar
femoore12
683 posts
 

@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. 

yage
400 posts
 

@femoore12 @cmb13 

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.

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