The MacBook Air does not have an optical digital output from its mini jack. However, I do use a 2011 MacBook Air with an external USB to SPDIF converter (Audiophilleo2) and it works great. The built in SSD on the Macbook Air makes it a great transport for HD Audio. I use an external Firewire drive connected using Apple's Thunderbolt to Firewire adaptor.
MacBook Air For HD Audio
For casual listening I am currently using iTunes (on an iMac) and a WiFi Squeezebox Duet feeding, via analog output from the Squeezebox, a Pioneer Elite receiver. I now want to upgrade my main system (Krell HTS 7.1, Krell KSA-250 and B&W N801 etc.) to HD audio. I am proposing to buy a MacBook Air and use Amara to handle "HD Tracks" downloaded flac files (anything above 16/44). I propose to use the optical mini jack (Toslink) on the MacBook air to feed into my existing Krell HTS 7.1 processor to do the D/A conversion. Comments please, is this a good way to enjoy HD music files?
Marcus
Marcus
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