My wife has been after me to downsize stereo system in the front room and this article provides a great solution. Today I got me a the Mini Mac. Ordered a NAD c356 with Internal DAC to run the new to me Roksan Kandy TR-5 book shelf speakers. Looking forward to great sound with a small footprint and no need for a stack of Cd's. The least expensive is to locate an auxiliary output on a stereo receiver plugged into the turntable, and run a stereo RCA-to-mini-plug adapter cable between the receiver and the Mac's audio.
How do I connect my Mac to my stereo? I want to record audio (like LPs and tapes) and also want my Mac's sound to come through my stereo system's speakers.
Only use a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for setup - control the Mac Mini 'headless' with a mobile device. Use anti-resonant products under your Mac Mini, power supply, converters, and storage drives. Optimize your OS X operating system to improve audio performance. Forge for minecraft mac os. The Mac mini (stylized with a lowercase 'mini') is a desktop computer made by Apple Inc. It is one of four desktop computers in the current Macintosh lineup, serving as an alternative to the all-in-one iMac, and sitting below the performance range iMac Pro and Mac Pro. The Mac mini is Apple's only consumer desktop computer since 1998 to ship without a display, keyboard, or mouse. PS Audio, through it's Infinity IRS V speakers as well as its own AN Series of reference loudspeaker, enjoy some of the best sound in the world.
Connecting your Mac to your stereo is a great way to improve sound quality tenfold. Most Macs have only one speaker, and it's usually a poor sounding speaker at that. Luckily, most Macs (save a few PowerBook Duos) have a headphone jack. You can use this port to connect your Mac not only headphones, but to a stereo system as well.
Mac to Stereo: You need a 1/8″ stereo jack adapter or cable that from the port on the back of your computer to a dual-phono RCA connection. It looks like a headphone connection that converts to the connection for audio ports that most receivers have (RCA connectors are usually red and white or black and white). Turn off your computer and plug in the connection that looks like a headphone connector. On the back of your receiver or stereo you should see two RCA connections that match the end of your cable. There should be a connection labeled AUX – you can use this. If AUX is taken by something you can use CD or DVD or anything else really except PHONO or the connection for a turntable.
Make sure you do not connect the cable from your Mac into any yellow RCA looking jacks. These are called composite jacks and are used for video only.
Once you have connected this cable from your Mac to your receiver or amplifier, you will no longer hear sound from the internal speaker. This connection will allow you to amplify your computer's sound significantly, as well as let you record any audio coming from your Mac (MP3s, games, movies, etc.) onto tape, Mini Disc, DAT, or any other recording device you have connected to your stereo.
Stereo to Mac: To connect your computer so you can record audio from your stereo onto your Mac, you can use the same cable listed above – unless your Mac has RCA connections on the back (like the 660av, 840av, 7100av, 8100av, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9600, and some Beige G3s). If you have a Mac with RCA audio connections on the back, you can use a straight RCA to RCA cable. Otherwise you will need to get the 1/8″ stereo jack adapter or cable that goes to a dual-phono RCA connection.
Turn off your computer and connect the 1/8″ stereo jack into the microphone port on your Mac. If you cannot find it, it may not be there. A lot of older PowerBooks do not have microphone ports, nor do new models made by Apple (they only allow analog audio in through a special USB adapter). The RCA connectors on the other end of the 1/8″ jack go into your receiver's tape out connector – some receivers have a connection simply labeled AUDIO OUT or just OUT. Remember not to connect any cables to any yellow RCA connectors on your receiver, if they exist.
Once you have connected the cables, you should be able to record audio on your Mac from your receiver. You may need to change some settings in your Sound control panel in order to record audio. It may be set to use your internal mic or your CD drive for audio input. To record your audio, you can use any number of programs, including SimpleText (go to the 'Sound' menu then select 'Record…').
If you want to hear both CDs or LPs playing and your Mac's audio, you can connect your Mac to a small mixer and send the mixer's combined audio to your receiver. You can go the opposite direction as well: If you wish, you can send audio from your tape deck and CD player time to your Mac at the same.
If your intention is to record LPs, you will need to make sure that you connect your turntable to the PHONO RCA jacks on the back of your receiver or amplifier. Do not connect the turntable's RCA jacks directly to your Mac – the audio levels are way too low. The sound from records needs to be 'RIAA equalized,' and the receiver usually has a place to connect the grounding wire (the Mac does not). The PHONO jack is designed specifically to boost and equalize the turntable's input.
There are endless uses for recording audio from your Mac, as well as recording audio to your Mac. The Macintosh was designed to be a multimedia tool, and these steps will help you experience some of the great things you can do with your Mac.
Short link: http://goo.gl/ThmAih
searchwords: mactostereo, stereotomac
Setting up an Apple computer for audio is simpler than a Windows pc because Apple offers fewer options. but it's still possible to end up with a system that doesn't perform optimally. often it's a case of not getting the machine configured correctly. the following guide will hopefully get you to a reasonable starting point for your Mac computer audio odyssey.
Make sure you do not connect the cable from your Mac into any yellow RCA looking jacks. These are called composite jacks and are used for video only.
Once you have connected this cable from your Mac to your receiver or amplifier, you will no longer hear sound from the internal speaker. This connection will allow you to amplify your computer's sound significantly, as well as let you record any audio coming from your Mac (MP3s, games, movies, etc.) onto tape, Mini Disc, DAT, or any other recording device you have connected to your stereo.
Stereo to Mac: To connect your computer so you can record audio from your stereo onto your Mac, you can use the same cable listed above – unless your Mac has RCA connections on the back (like the 660av, 840av, 7100av, 8100av, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9600, and some Beige G3s). If you have a Mac with RCA audio connections on the back, you can use a straight RCA to RCA cable. Otherwise you will need to get the 1/8″ stereo jack adapter or cable that goes to a dual-phono RCA connection.
Turn off your computer and connect the 1/8″ stereo jack into the microphone port on your Mac. If you cannot find it, it may not be there. A lot of older PowerBooks do not have microphone ports, nor do new models made by Apple (they only allow analog audio in through a special USB adapter). The RCA connectors on the other end of the 1/8″ jack go into your receiver's tape out connector – some receivers have a connection simply labeled AUDIO OUT or just OUT. Remember not to connect any cables to any yellow RCA connectors on your receiver, if they exist.
Once you have connected the cables, you should be able to record audio on your Mac from your receiver. You may need to change some settings in your Sound control panel in order to record audio. It may be set to use your internal mic or your CD drive for audio input. To record your audio, you can use any number of programs, including SimpleText (go to the 'Sound' menu then select 'Record…').
If you want to hear both CDs or LPs playing and your Mac's audio, you can connect your Mac to a small mixer and send the mixer's combined audio to your receiver. You can go the opposite direction as well: If you wish, you can send audio from your tape deck and CD player time to your Mac at the same.
If your intention is to record LPs, you will need to make sure that you connect your turntable to the PHONO RCA jacks on the back of your receiver or amplifier. Do not connect the turntable's RCA jacks directly to your Mac – the audio levels are way too low. The sound from records needs to be 'RIAA equalized,' and the receiver usually has a place to connect the grounding wire (the Mac does not). The PHONO jack is designed specifically to boost and equalize the turntable's input.
There are endless uses for recording audio from your Mac, as well as recording audio to your Mac. The Macintosh was designed to be a multimedia tool, and these steps will help you experience some of the great things you can do with your Mac.
Short link: http://goo.gl/ThmAih
searchwords: mactostereo, stereotomac
Setting up an Apple computer for audio is simpler than a Windows pc because Apple offers fewer options. but it's still possible to end up with a system that doesn't perform optimally. often it's a case of not getting the machine configured correctly. the following guide will hopefully get you to a reasonable starting point for your Mac computer audio odyssey.
Mac Mini Audio Out
For me, the three most important aspects of a computer audio system are stability, reliability, and simplicity of operation. Sound quality comes after these three primary goals are met: ultimately it doesn't matter how good your computer audio system can sound if you can't get it to work.
Given my priorities, the principal goal of this guide won't be the best performance. (John Quick talks about this in the following feature.) No, the goal here is to achieve a system that is going to deliver sound 99.9% of the time without having to screw around. Even a naïve user should be able to use a computer audio system almost as easily as a CD player.
Hardware
Which Apple computer you choose for computer audio will depend on several factors, but principally budget and portability. Portable Macs, whether MacBook Pro or Air, make great audio computers, especially if you want one system that you can take with you. A Mac Mini is less expensive initially, but it does require an external monitor and keyboard for full functionality. An iMac is also a good option and the monitor is built-in. Some folks (like me) even use a MacPro desktop machine for audio duties.
Nowadays, the Macs I see most often used for audio are the Mac Mini or a Mac portable. Mac Minis are the most popular 'desktop' machine due to their size and price. Also a Mac Mini can be run 'headless' after initial setup, without a monitor or keyboard via the 'Remote' Smartphone app (a Mac portable can be used this way also, but the screen will remain active). Any Mac that supports the current or near-current operating system can be used for audio playback duties. Considerations such as whether you want portability are more easily quantifiable than whether one Mac model sounds better than another.
Apple offers all its computers with different memory and hard-drive configurations. You can order a Mac directly from Apple exactly the way you want it or you can purchase a barebones configuration and add your own memory and storage later. OtherWorld Computing sells all the necessary parts as well as step-by-step instructional videos on its site for installing memory, solid-state drives, and auxiliary hard drives for nearly every model Mac.
Mac Mini Audio Input
If you want to do an audio-only computer system, be aware that there are different levels of audio-only exclusivity. And there's always a trade-off of ergonomics lost versus sonic benefits gained. Access to the Internet is not necessary to play back a music file, but it does allow for greater levels of operability, including access to Internet radio (which can be very good), streaming services, and GraceNote for identifying ripped CDs. But a system with Internet access means that more operations will be ongoing and some could have an effect on overall audio quality. The tweakiest and most obsessive sound-quality-first Mac setups tend to be isolated stand-alone systems without Internet access. PreSonus, in its guide to Mac OS use, recommends turning off the airport wireless service while using a Mac for audio. Obviously this drastically reduces functionality, sort of like supergluing your mouth closed to keep from occasionally drooling. Some Mac audio set-up guides also recommend turning off 'Spotlight,' which is the file-searching utility. This is great until you need to find a file.
There is no reason that a current-generation Mac needs to be gelded into a barebones operating system to perform optimally for audio. The Mac operating system and hardware were made for multitasking, and the Mac will be performing background processes while playing music even if it has been stripped-down. While I don't recommend regularly running a bunch of high-demand processing and disc-access programs such as Photoshop while listening intently to music, the reasons for creating a stripped-down music-only Mac were far more relevant back in the days of the G5 desktop than they are today.
How much memory is optimal for audio? Most users find that the right amount of memory is the same amount as for a full-service Mac. Nowadays, that's 8 Gigabytes. You can 'get by' with 4 Gigs, but given the cost of memory, there's no reason not to have 8GB. Adding more than 8 Gigs of memory won't buy you any advantages, and the extra memory will generate more heat and use more power. Music playback doesn't require very much in the way of processor and memory usage compared to apps such as Photoshop. I use a 2006 MacPro desktop with 16GB of memory. Playing a 29-minute 96kHz/24 music file with Pure Music software used only 1025.4MB of real memory, 3.31 of virtual memory, 996.5 of private memory, and 1.09 of virtual private memory. The total amount of CPU usage was only 5.37%. With a newer, faster processor the CPU usage would be even lower. If I had only half the memory there would still be plenty left over.
Audio System For Mac Mini 2
Many storage options are available, but the most common way to go is with a solid-state drive for the OS and user files, then a second conventional larger hard drive for music files and/or Time Machine backup files (I'll tell you about Time Machine later). The reasons for using a solid-state drive are increased read and write speeds and lower power usage for less stress on the power supply. The second drive can be internal or external, but external is more common. Nowadays portable 1, 2, and even 3TB portable hard drives are inexpensive and plentiful. I use a redundant system where I have two of each external drive, one in service and one as back up. Once a week I copy new files from the one in use to the backup drive, then put the drive away again. Some users opt for a RAID array for their music files, but I'd rather have identical libraries on two separate drives than two libraries on the same drive in a RAID array. Even with a RAID drive, if it fails catastrophically (which is usually how they go), you lose all your data, which is not an experience I recommend.
