General Forum

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

Alex — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:38:39 GMT

When connecting directly to the speakers, you'll want an in-line volume control from Maplins. £3.99 it cost me. My BeoLab 4s were uselessly loud (even on their 'PC' setting) when used with my MacBook Pro, but this little thing has done the trick with no fuss...

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

Jandyt — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:00:08 GMT

It might look a bit odd on the train.

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

Stars — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:57:23 GMT

Top notch info here! Thanks Graham, this has been useful to me too!

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

soundproof — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:42:13 GMT

Also be aware that when you use the Mac's Equalizer in iTunes and its pre-amp to control sound output volume to active speakers you are definitely degrading the sound. In fact, the DAC manufacturer Benchmark recommends deactivating Equalizer and keeping output volumes from the Macs at maximum (while also unchecking certain preferences in iTunes) in order to avoid having the inferior soundcard in the Mac process the sound before it is ported.

Which is why a stand-alone DAC is recommended. (Certain receivers have Toslink optical IN which will also accept a digital stream from your Mac.)

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

dilznik — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:21:18 GMT

Aw man, why didn't I think about something like that to go from my Mini to the Beolink? Or my Airport to the Beosound? I've got a Firewire one AND a USB one that I'm not using anymore.

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

soundproof — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:56:53 GMT

The BeoLab 8000s are such high-quality speakers that it would be a shame to feed them with the direct output of the in-built DAC (digital-to-analog-converter) in a Mac or in an iPod. These in-built DACs are OK but far from audiophile, while your speakers are.

I would recommend a stand-alone DAC between your laptop and your BeoLab 8000s. These you can get from about GBP 400 to GBP 1000 - the advantage being that you can run the digital signal from your laptop to the converter, and then run analog cables from that to your speakers.

For instance, if you get the Konnekt 24D from t.c.electronics you can go via Firewire from your laptop to the Konnekt, and then go via the Monitor Line-Out from that to your speakers, while having a volume control in the Konnekt that is very precise.

Re: Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

kallasr — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:51:13 GMT

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/thread/62524.aspx

Beolab 8000 as Laptop speakers????

h1npw — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:33:13 GMT

Please excuse my ignorance (yet again....)

Would it be possible with the use of an adapter lead to run 8000s off a laptop, or even an ipod? If so, are the leads available only from B&O?

Cheers

Nigel