With my MBP do i actually need an audio interface?

[Beastie]

With my MBP do i actually need an audio interface?

Are the built in divers good enuff?

and if not whats the best option similar to the old digigram vs pocket?

peace

[ewegogetemtiger]

how many simultaneous i/o do you need?

You could probably get away with the built-in soundcard if you needed a mono or one stereo in for live recording and didn't care about low latency performance, etc. It depends on what else you have outboard

You were thinking about an RME? You wouldn't be disappointed

[YUGA]

Originally Posted by ewegogetemtiger

how many simultaneous i/o do you need?

You could probably get away with the built-in soundcard if you needed a mono or one stereo in for live recording and didn't care about low latency performance, etc. It depends on what else you have outboard

You were thinking about an RME? You wouldn't be disappointed

Actually the driver for the built-in audio is rock solid and you can get the lowest latency with it (32 samples).

You can also use them as optical IO, so you can connect such converters as an Apogee Mini DAC, Lavry Black etc. But note that you can use only up to 48khz. 96/88.2Khz are not supported.

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by YUGA

Actually the driver for the built-in audio is rock solid and you can get the lowest latency with it (32 samples).

You can also use them as optical IO, so you can connect such converters as an Apogee Mini DAC, Lavry Black etc. But note that you can use only up to 48khz. 96/88.2Khz are not supported.

i can?

optical i/o on laptop?

u sure?

how?

that sounds very good to me..

would that work with Benchmark DAC 1?

peace

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by ewegogetemtiger

how many simultaneous i/o do you need?

You could probably get away with the built-in soundcard if you needed a mono or one stereo in for live recording and didn't care about low latency performance, etc. It depends on what else you have outboard

You were thinking about an RME? You wouldn't be disappointed

max of 2 inputs Stereo output i think?

portabilty is more important to me...

if there was a Digigram vx pocket avaialble for expresscard34 i would get it now!!!

[autodidactic]

Originally Posted by YUGA

Actually the driver for the built-in audio is rock solid and you can get the lowest latency with it (32 samples).

You can also use them as optical IO, so you can connect such converters as an Apogee Mini DAC, Lavry Black etc. But note that you can use only up to 48khz. 96/88.2Khz are not supported.

The built in optical can do up to 96k

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304644

[TonyBelmont]

I'm working on productions with a Macbook Pro and have a Lavry DA10 connected to it. You just have to order the special mini optical adapter.

[YUGA]

Originally Posted by autodidactic

The built in optical can do up to 96k

MacBook Pro (15-inch Core 2 Duo): External ports and connectors

Thanks for correcting me. I thought the highest sampling rate was 48Khz when I bought my mac...
Looks like I need to update some older info stored in my brain.

[LAU]

Wow, i just read the same counts for he regular Macbook......i have a black one.....so i could hook that up to a lavry or similair converters and have high end i/o



.

[Beastie]

So if i use a benchmark DAC 1 as output - whats a good input?

oh and any recommendations on high quailty toslink - minijack?

peace

[harry_seldon]

mini digital to TOSlink comes from the ill fated Sony Minidisc, it has a long, but obscure history of use. I was surprised when Apple revived this connector.

Here's one for three bucks

Amazon.com: 6ft Toslink to Mini Toslink Cable: Electronics

Of course, you can get the quality one for $40.

Amazon.com: Monster Cable ILS100TM-1M Toslink-to-Mini Optical Digital-Audio Interconnect (1 Meter): Electronics

[jeronimo]

Apple didn't revive the mini TOSLink jack. It's been used all over by laptops with didigtal I/O.

The A/D/A on the Macbooks and Macbooks Pro go until 96K BUT if you're connecting via digital (with an A/D or D/A) I don't think it goes up to 96K.

If someone can test this, 'cause in my macbook, as soon as I plug the mini TOSLink, the sample rate configuration gets blocked and I can't change anything.

[Beastie]

cheers man

ive ordered a couple up!

you rock!

peace

[macleodgrant]

the optical is handy.

i must say though that the MB converters are not very good at all. i can't make any serious mix or edit decisions based on what i hear from the headphone jack, i.e. using my Sony MDR 7509 headphones in the headphone jack.
they're just not very clear at all to me and the output is quite weak

i've just bought the duet to handle this conversion for me which it should be great for. i tested the headphone out against the built-in headphone jack on my mac pro at work and the duet is crystal clear and open sounding

[jeronimo]

I'm using my macbook to mix for a few months now.
That's how I do it:

- Macbook optical out thru a M-Audio optical to coaxial converter
- M-Audio converter to 001 SPDIF in
- 001 optical out to RME ADI8-DS
- RME ADI8-DS to A-Designs ATTY
- ATTY to my Truths

A lot going on but works like a charm.

[cebec]

Does the M-Audio CO2 allow you to set the 001 as Master clock? Currently, the MacBook and MacBook Pro insist on being the master. I would like to have my FF800 as the master.

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by macleodgrant

the optical is handy.

i must say though that the MB converters are not very good at all. i can't make any serious mix or edit decisions based on what i hear from the headphone jack, i.e. using my Sony MDR 7509 headphones in the headphone jack.
they're just not very clear at all to me and the output is quite weak

i've just bought the duet to handle this conversion for me which it should be great for. i tested the headphone out against the built-in headphone jack on my mac pro at work and the duet is crystal clear and open sounding

i was tryin to avoid annoying fw devices! lol

but maybe the Duet is the answer at least for inputs then i can route the output through a benchmark DAC-1 usb?

would that work?

peace

[jeronimo]

well, believe it or not, my rig is setup like this:

RME ADI 8 DS as the master
001 clocked thru optical

and that's pretty much it... all DAWs I use have the macbook clocked to internal (since there is only digital coming OUT of the macbook) and never had clicks or pops...
actually, one time I had a 48K session on the macbook with the G4/001 at 44.1 and I got clicks and pops all around until I set the macbook with the right sample rate.

[TonyBelmont]

Originally Posted by Beastie

i was tryin to avoid annoying fw devices! lol

but maybe the Duet is the answer at least for inputs then i can route the output through a benchmark DAC-1 usb?

would that work?

peace

Lavry makes the new AD10 which is what I will be getting for the inputs.

[jonnymags]

So taking things a step forward (or back) can I connect my ADA8000 direct to the MacBook Pro toslink in?

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by jonnymags

So taking things a step forward (or back) can I connect my ADA8000 direct to the MacBook Pro toslink in?

yeah you could....

but why?

[jeronimo]

no you can't.
AFAIK the ADA8000 send ADAT Toslink and the MBP uses SPDIF Toslink.