General Forum

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

soundproof — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:01:27 GMT

A wise set-up. You get a very good signal out of the MBP, your DAC processes it, and you can control volume from the DAC. This way, the inferior DAC in the MBP is not part of the signal chain, and your speakers are protected from surges, particularly if you should connect or disconnect via the minijack on the MBP directly to the speakers, as I see some here strangely recommend one should do.

At any rate, you're not really getting the best the BL3s can do if you're letting the MBP connected to a powersupply deliver the analog signal to them. Porting a digital signal to a stand-alone DAC is the solution, as you've done.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

mrwalker — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:34:21 GMT

Sorry to ressurect an ancient topic, but I did quite a lot of research before solving this problem!

My solution was to connect my MacBook Pro to a Beresford Caiman DAC via USB, then on to the Beolab 3s using Sounds Heavanly's RCA Pre-Out to Beolab Line In Cables. The Beresford DAC has a pre-amp in it - one of the few DACs I could find which does so - it controls the volume of the Beolbab 3s accurately. Volume is controlled by the DAC's hardware volume knob rather than the Mac's volume setting. For my office desk I find this setup is great.

I have no affiliation with either Beresford or Sounds Heavenly.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

soundproof — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:28:20 GMT

I wouldn't recomment connecting BL3s directly to the analog out from a Mac. I've done so with both BL3s and BL5s, just for testing, and there are issues. One is that you have to be wary of what volume you have your Mac set at - it can get very loud due to these being active speakers.

Worse is the fact that you might get the cable disconnected while the speakers are on - and you definitely find out what impedance-scratching sounds like, might also not be too good for your speakers.

And then there's the fact that the in-built DAC in Macs doesn't do these speakers justice.
I use DAC's with volume control. I have a Grace m902 for the BL3s when I use those for listening, and I have a Konnekt 24D from t.c. electronics for the BL5s. The latter is quite inexpensive, and does a wonderful job sending a digital signal to the BL5s. It's also got analogue out, and a volume control in front - it's simple to use, and has FireWire initerface to the Mac.

However, for ease of use I would recommend one of the DACs coming on the market now precisely for this kind of use, if you don't want to spend as much money as a Benchmark DAC-1 USB or Grace m902 would cost you. The Dac Magic is a good choice, though without volume control, but you do get a buffer between the Mac and the speakers, and the DAC inside this unit is very good - volume is controlled via the Mac (I use an iPod Touch both for music selection, speaker/room selection and volume control.)

Best regards.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

kallasr — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:00:03 GMT

http://soundsheavenly.co.uk/

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

MauritsC — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:48:56 GMT

I think I've found something usable;

http://www.audio-magus.com/Super_Pro_DAC707SE_USB_p/109401.htm

Looks like you can connect it with USB (maybe the remote controls will work) or with toslink, then the volume surely will be controlable with my Mac's remote etc. But does USB sound better dan toslink?

The output is okay because I know there are cables from RCA to 8-pin powerlink but I cannot find any of those cables on the internet, I searched for cinch/phono/rca to powerlink mk3/8-pin din but hadn't any luck.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

jk1002 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:33:51 GMT

I am not sure how that cable looks but I know they can order that, connecting 2 won't be a problem. I know about the soldering but would not recommend that since BL3 have issues with "hissing" if the wrong cable is used.

I guess the DAC under the MAC would be controlled like any other audio device, with it's dedicated volume setting within system controls.

Not sure if that reacts to the Apple Remote, it may not. Regardless, you may find the volume control too sensitive - that is the only thing I can see that could get messy.

See below for some interesting info on Lab 3, Macs and DAB.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Volume-using-USB-PS-Audio-DAC-III

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

MauritsC — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:03:49 GMT

The cable you are talking about, is that able to connect to a set of two, I'm going to buy a set of two BeoLab 3's and I want to connect them both as a setero set in my 3,5mm output.

I know it's not the best solution for audio quality but I want to control the volume with my keyboard and remote(hardware), I don't know if that is possible with say a FireWire DAC. And the output always needs to be analog or an it be digital as well?

I know this are some dumb questions but I don't want to mess up such a nice speakerset.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

jk1002 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:35:31 GMT

There is 2 ways to do that,

you can buy an external DAC which might be delivering a better signal then what Apple dishes out on their "Line Out" plug.

These DACS sometimes connect through USB or via optical out on the Macbook.

The other way is, you go straight from the analogue line out on the Macbook to the "Powerlink" in on the BL3. Your dealer can supply the adapter for that. You will need this cable anyhow since the DAC will either support 3.5mm stereo (headphone) or a cinch plug.

BL3 is an excellent choice. Enjoy.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

MauritsC — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:32:51 GMT

What kind of converter are you using to connect the Beolab 3's to your MBP, I want to buy the Beolab 3's and I already have a MacBook Pro but I don't seem to find any converter usable, so do you have a link to a shop?

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

wowmix — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:06:33 GMT

I have a DACMAGIC. Download this and you will be able to control just as how you normally control the sound volumn on the laptop:

http://www.cycling74.com/products/soundflower

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

chingx9 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:20:23 GMT

Hi soundproof,

I bought a pair of Beolab 3 for my PC / Media Center and would like to throw in the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic. But I have a question: how am I suppose to control the volume of all other digital inputs (apart from the USB PC connect which i suppose i can control with Window's volume control.) Appreciate any thoughts and suggests.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

TWG — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:27:00 GMT

@Soundproof:

I'm sorry that I talked negative about Apple ;-)
But serious: Actualy their product line and quality is not the best. The audio part on my old Powerbook G4 is much better than on the modern Macbook Pro and than this glossy only display - nothing you can realy use on the move. It's ok at home but not while traveling.

But yes, Apple is the better operating system, I still love it while my Mac mini is my little workhorse at home - it does everything fine :-)

Back to topic:
The noise problem while disconnecting audioplugs is normal on various systems if they are powered on and you pull the plugs. That's why most of the manuals say "turn all components off BEFORE making connections" :-)

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

wowmix — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:35:09 GMT

ok, that is clear. Thank you very much!

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

soundproof — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:31:15 GMT

Hi wowmix,

You'll notice that when you insert the minijack, or disconnect it, no matter how carefully and slowly you do it, you'll get a lot of scraping in the speakers - at B&O this was explained to me as the result of changes in impedance while you are making the connection, and as the speakers are extremely responsive to anything coming down the wire (due to the in-built amplifiers), you get the scratching and loud pops.

Similarly, if there's noise in the signal, for instance from static electricity, you'll get low pops and noise. Nothing wrong with either the speakers or the Mac - it's just that the circuit for the BL3s isn't designed to ignore this kind of signal noise, as it's assumed that they will be connected to a better source, and you want them as sensitive as possible.

A DAC fixes the problem.

Re: Beolab3 and Macbook Pro

wowmix — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:56:09 GMT

So according to soundproof it is normal to expect the popping sound? I don't need to contact Apple to get my Macbook Pro fixed?

I have no problem in investing a DAC once I know that the pops are something normal for the sensitive speakers such as Beolab3.