Need some basic DAC assistance for MA8900

[DaveM]

JRiver Media Center is a popular music software application which is made by a US company.

Unfortunately, USB cables do vary in sound quality. I went with a $600 cable which was 30% of my DAC’s cost. I tried several out by using the lending library at the cable company. I was limited in my choices as I have a newer Mac Pro laptop with the USB type C connectors. USB audio cables with the older rectangular type A connector for the computer to type B on the DAC side are much more common so you’ll have a wider selection of USB cables to try.

Because you have a MacOS, I don’t think you will have to install any special driver. I didn’t.

Good luck,
Dave

[DaveM]

Sound quality differences between cables is almost like a religion between audiophiles. Unfortunately, for my wallet, I hear the benefits. Some people don’t and argue that expensive cables are snake oil. I started down this latter path and bought a $15 USB cable on Amazon that DJ’s used and many said how great it sounded. It did not work out for me for audio but it is a nice quality cable for printing and scanning! Before you invest, you should try a wide range and see which one is worth it to you. I think most on this site believe in the differences in cables to at least some extent. There are other forums where the opposite is true.

[W9TR]

You won’t get burned at the stake here for hearing differences in cables. After all it’s what you are hearing, in your home, with your system that matters in the end.

[FreddieFerric]

For those that might be interested, McIntosh published the attached .pdf to help get the most out of their DAC's while using the JRiver platform. I followed the instruction on my MA8000 and found the results to be most rewarding. The document is below.

MC8000 & Jriver MC20 Connection Guide.pdf

[Reynolds617]

Originally Posted by Mclrotklp

I have a MA8900, I do use it 100% of the times to play digital through USB.
Best way to get the best of the DAC/MacBook is to connect your computer to the DAC directly through USB A>B cable (you do not need a $300 USB cable but do not use a crappy printer USB AB cable) a cheap audioquest will do a great job by instance.

Using a software that would really bypass the computer OS mixer and use the exclusively the DAC is good, if you don't want to pay for Roon (which in my opinion is the best) Audirvana is super easy and waaaay cheaper than Roon.

Not (if any) config you have to do from the MA8900 side, I wrote to Chuck at Mcintosh few months ago to check if any firmware upgrades are recommended he said not many issues reported and if aint broke don't fix it.

Thanks. So I will be streaming mainly Spotify; do I need some middleware like Roon or Audirvana to bypass the MacBook's DAC then? That's the one point I'm not clear on. Sorry if this is a neophyte question, but I am one, so...

[volfan615]

Sorry to jump on this thread but I have a similar question regarding using USB from a 13" MacBook Pro to a MA5300. When I am using Tidal or Amazon to play music the display on the MA5300 always shows 48Khz regardless of the track. If I go into Audio MIDI Setup on the MacBook I can change the sample rate up to 32/384 and then the MA5300 always displays 384Khz. What am I missing here. I though that the MA5300 would just display the actual sample rate of the track.

[Stahle]

It’s not a problem with the MA5300, it’s that the MacBook Pro will not automatically change the output sample rate based upon what is playing unless you have software installed that will do this for you. I think the Audio midi should have an option that allows for this but it does not. Software like Roon and Audirvana will do this for you, give one a try as they both have free trial periods.

[Mclrotklp]

Originally Posted by Reynolds617

Thanks. So I will be streaming mainly Spotify; do I need some middleware like Roon or Audirvana to bypass the MacBook's DAC then? That's the one point I'm not clear on. Sorry if this is a neophyte question, but I am one, so...

I have never used Spotify, can't say if their app has any option as exclusive DAC mode to bypass the OS mixer, anyway their low quality lossy files won't get the best out of any DAC, I think that platform is limited to 16 bit 256 or so ogg files.

You may look forward to better options to Spotify as Qobuz (some will say Tidal, you can use both if you want to...) in conjunction with let's say Audirvana if you want a simple straight forward software that will provide you bit perfect reproduction and quality, if you want to go a step forward Roon is the option.

I doubt you would regret about Roon, but you have to consider that it will require extra configuration, understand and patience to be implemented, it uses a server/endpoint/client architecture you have to digest, issues can come up or extra hardware could be needed, by instance an Intel NUC to be used as Roon dedicated Core server.

[Mclrotklp]

Originally Posted by volfan615

Sorry to jump on this thread but I have a similar question regarding using USB from a 13" MacBook Pro to a MA5300. When I am using Tidal or Amazon to play music the display on the MA5300 always shows 48Khz regardless of the track. If I go into Audio MIDI Setup on the MacBook I can change the sample rate up to 32/384 and then the MA5300 always displays 384Khz. What am I missing here. I though that the MA5300 would just display the actual sample rate of the track.

Check this out:

"Use Exclusive Mode only has an effect for HiFi and Master playback. This setting grants TIDAL exclusive use of the audio device eliminating interference. With this enabled, TIDAL has exclusive use of your DAC and will automatically change the frequency based on the song selection."

https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/a...ptimizing-HiFi

The Tidal app apparently has exclusive mode option.

[Reynolds617]

So, just to close the loop on my end: I ended up getting a Cardas Audio cable, USB from the MacBook to the MA8900. At first I couldn't get it to work, but I ultimately determined that quitting all audio programs and making sure the McIntosh was set to the USB input did the trick.

There is apparently a break-in period with these cables, and after about 12 hours of listening to it, I definitely notice a difference. Big improvement in sound quality. I did and A/B test with my old cable (headphone to dual RCA) and the difference is very noticeable.

Now, whether this is down to bypassing the Apple DAC and using the one in the McIntosh, the cable quality, or both (which I choose to believe to justify my $400 investment), I am very happy with the improvement in sound.

So thank you all again for your advice. I really needed the assistance, and you all came through big-style despite me being a relatively new forum member. So, a doff of the proverbial to you all. Thank you. I am so happy with my investment in this amp.