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magiccarpetride
08-11-2013, 22:45
I know this may have been discussed ad nauseum here, but after searching the forum I couldn't find an answer. Hence, I apologize for the question:

Now that I'm having so much fun with the Bushmaster MKII, I am planning to repurpose my Bushmaster MKI to serve as part of another system in my house. I'm planning to feed digital signal into it from the Macbook Pro. Doesn't look like Macbook has a digital coax or a toslink out, so I figure the only remaining digital out is the USB. But how to connect the USB out into the Bushmaster's inputs?

Thanks!

brian2957
08-11-2013, 22:52
This is what I use http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Musical-Fidelity-V-LINK-II-Asynchronous-USB-Adapter-Silver-/251340530886?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Audio_Ca bles_Adapters&hash=item3a851024c6
Also plenty here http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=musical+fidelity++v-link&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xusb+to+spdif +converter&_nkw=usb+to+spdif+converter&_sacat=0
These are also meant to be pretty good http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=m2+tech+hiface&LH_PrefLoc=2&_arm=1&_armm=63&_ruu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F _from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3Dm2%2Btech%2Bhifa ce%26_arr%3D1
Hope this helps:)

synsei
08-11-2013, 22:53
I might be wrong but I vaguely remember reading that the Mac's headphone socket doubles as an optical S/PDIF, you just need an adapter to use it ;)

struth
08-11-2013, 23:06
I have one of the white mark 1 usb spid convertors from m2tech and it is very good although it has quite a high output.....not using it now as I have a new one that also has the dac inside.....but they are very good sound wise
It would do you nicely.

synsei
08-11-2013, 23:11
Or if I am correct you could avoid buying yet another box thus wasting your money and just connect to the BM1 via the optical port on your Macbook.

isj1202
09-11-2013, 10:46
I also thought that all MacBook Pros had a dual function headphone socket, simply use a mini toslink to toslink cable to attach the MacBook to the Bushmaster.

several on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mini%20toslink).

AlanS
09-11-2013, 10:55
I also thought that all MacBook Pros had a dual function headphone socket, simply use a mini toslink to toslink cable to attach the MacBook to the Bushmaster.

several on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mini%20toslink).

Mine has worth a punt.

magiccarpetride
12-11-2013, 21:47
I also thought that all MacBook Pros had a dual function headphone socket, simply use a mini toslink to toslink cable to attach the MacBook to the Bushmaster.

several on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mini%20toslink).

Thank you for all your replies, guys. I wasn't aware that Mac's headphones out also offers optical out. That'll save me some money :)

Yomanze
27-11-2013, 13:02
Or if I am correct you could avoid buying yet another box thus wasting your money and just connect to the BM1 via the optical port on your Macbook.

Doesn't sound as good as a dedicated USB to SPDIF converter, which themselves can be bought cheap these days.

Utterchaos
15-01-2014, 15:54
Doesn't sound as good as a dedicated USB to SPDIF converter, which themselves can be bought cheap these days.

Can I ask why?

Is it just because the optical out from my Mac is cheap and cheerful?... are some of the cheap ones you mention, just as cheap?

Cheers...

allsorts
16-01-2014, 00:10
Having listened to a macbook(s) with a good glass optical cable out from the headphone/ optical output to the Bushmaster 2 and subsequently with a good quality usb cable out via a Musical Fidelity V-Link II converter into the Bushmaster 2, I prefer the usb option. To my ears it makes for a discernible improvement in SQ.

Utterchaos
16-01-2014, 09:45
Cheers Greg.

Can anyone shed any light as to why this might be? Surely an Optical direct from source, on the logic board, would be better than going from USB to optical externally? Unless the Optical in the late 2013 Mac mini with 16gig ram and a 125TB fusion is really that rubbish?

There's some info here > http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1323911432 but it's only opinions.

Maybe the USB>Optical/coax converter is somehow enhancing/colouring the source? - just guessing!

Cheers,

James

P.S. - I have also observed the same improvement using the optical out from Mac > Edirol UA25-EX > DAC as opposed to Mac > DAC .... with the same optical lead.