[mihnea]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply.  I certainly cannot tell the difference between connecting the speakers to my MacBook through their digital coax cables (converted to Toslink, plugged in a Cal Digit dock, which is then connected to the laptop via Thunderbolt) and connecting them through the Line-In inputs into the Topping D30 DAC, which is then  connected to the laptop through USB.  The two configurations sound the same to me, even at 24 bit/96 kHz music samples.  Of course, I still have not figured out how the MacBook’s intrinsic MiDi utility plays a role in all this (that would be another forum question).

Since all of us on this forum tend to get a little obsessive (!), I asked the question about the external DAC, but I’m glad to be brought back to firm ground by your comments, which essentially ask me to show some common sense!

[mihnea]

Agreed!  These days, I only listen to ECM Records albums.  It’s hard for me to tolerate any other.

Thank you so much for the info!

[mihnea]

Millemissen – great!  I do use a B&O remote for the volume, it doesn’t bother me.  I did read the review, and it’s a little bit over my head (!), but I understood the main points.

Presently, I use a digital coax to optical converter, and then I plug the optical into a CalDigit dock, which I then connect via Thunderbolt with my Mac.  Your solution is much more elegant, and it’s one box versus two boxes, and it might have other uses, too, like headphones, etc.  So I’m going to go ahead and buy one and try it.

Unless you tell me there are better DACs…

 

[mihnea]

Thank you, Millemissen.  All I could see from the pictures are outputs.  Does this thing have a digital coax audio input, so I can connect the speaker cable directly into it?  I assume that it has an USB output to connect into the MacBook, right?

If not, how did you connect Beolab 5 speakers to it?

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