iMac+Boom+Phones Newbie Question

[Moses195]

I just set up my Boom. Working great. I'm a headphone listener and was wondering if: Can I line-out of my iMac to the Boom line-in, then line-out to headphones? I think I'm trying to get Digital to Digital to Analog. I think the iMac phone out is Analog correct? Unless I use a special cable? Now that I think of it is the Boom Line-out Digital? My headphones are Grado SR-80's.


Anybody out there that can shed some light?

Thanks in advance.

Dana

[garym]

I just set up my Boom. Working great. I'm a headphone listener and was wondering if: Can I line-out of my iMac to the Boom line-in, then line-out to headphones? I think I'm trying to get Digital to Digital to Analog. I think the iMac phone out is Analog correct? Unless I use a special cable? Now that I think of it is the Boom Line-out Digital? My headphones are Grado SR-80's.


Anybody out there that can shed some light?

Thanks in advance.

Dana

Boom line out or line in is analog. But I'm confused. If you want to listen to music from your iMac, install LMS on your iMac and this will "serve" music to your boom via wifi (I assume both boom and iMac are on your same local network). Then you can either listen to the booms speaker or headphone out. That is, no need to connect iMac to boom with a cable!!

[Moses195]

Boom line out or line in is analog. But I'm confused. If you want to listen to music from your iMac, install LMS on your iMac and this will "serve" music to your boom via wifi (I assume both boom and iMac are on your same local network). Then you can either listen to the booms speaker or headphone out. That is, no need to connect iMac to boom with a cable!!

Thanks for the quick reply. I do have LMS running on the mac. I think I'm missing something by listening to analog headphones? I've read some of those really techie forums where they have thousands$$ worth of equipment. I'm really happy with the headphones coming out of the iMac. Just trying to get digital to digital and I don't have all knowledge LOL!!!!!



Dana

[garym]

Thanks for the quick reply. I do have LMS running on the mac. I think I'm missing something by listening to analog headphones? I've read some of those really techie forums where they have thousands$$ worth of equipment. I'm really happy with the headphones coming out of the iMac. Just trying to get digital to digital and I don't have all knowledge LOL!!!!!



Dana

You can only listen to analog. Somewhere in the chain the bits (digital) has to be converted to analog so you can hear it. Are you sure you understand what a squeezebox player and LMS are designed to do? Sounds to me like you are more interested in some sort of high end headphone amp that connects to your iMac with USB and then you plugin your headphones to that. SB and LMS have nothing to do with that. SB and LMS are so you can stream your own music or Internet radio or pandora, spotify, etc from your iMac to one or more squeezebox players in your house.

[Moses195]

You can only listen to analog. Somewhere in the chain the bits (digital) has to be converted to analog so you can hear it. Are you sure you understand what a squeezebox player and LMS are designed to do? Sounds to me like you are more interested in some sort of high end headphone amp that connects to your iMac with USB and then you plugin your headphones to that. SB and LMS have nothing to do with that. SB and LMS are so you can stream your own music or Internet radio or pandora, spotify, etc from your iMac to one or more squeezebox players in your house.

Thanks again Gary. I think I was confusing Digital with Optical. But I guess even optical has to be converted to analog at some point? to be able to hear it in the headphones? I just want to get the best possible signal to my headphones from my iTunes library. Most of it 320 kbps.


Dana

[aubuti]

You can only listen to analog.

:-)

Sounds to me like you are more interested in some sort of high end headphone amp that connects to your iMac with USB and then you plugin your headphones to that.

That's what it sounds like to me, too. And that high-end headphone will have a digital input that connects to the iMac's USB or optical digital audio output (if it has one). The headphone amp will also have a DAC (digital-analog converter) that is better than the DAC in the iMac. And that's what converts the 0s and 1s to analog that your ears can understand.

Also, I wouldn't want to bet that I could hear the difference between lossless and 320kbps MP3s, but if you want the best sound it certainly can't hurt to re-rip that music to a lossless format like FLAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, or AIFF.

[garym]

Thanks again Gary. I think I was confusing Digital with Optical. But I guess even optical has to be converted to analog at some point? to be able to hear it in the headphones? I just want to get the best possible signal to my headphones from my iTunes library. Most of it 320 kbps.


Dana

Got it. I think the only option you have is a better headphone amp/DAC connected directly to your iMac. But as you've noticed, I suspect the built in stuff does a very good job with your setup. In addition to your headphone listening on the iMac, I suspect you'll find lots of good uses for the boom. Enjoy!

Ps. Be careful reading the audiophile sites. They are often focused on spending big bucks to get one more unit of horsepower out of an engine that is already a race car!!

[Moses195]

Got it. I think the only option you have is a better headphone amp/DAC connected directly to your iMac. But as you've noticed, I suspect the built in stuff does a very good job with your setup. In addition to your headphone listening on the iMac, I suspect you'll find lots of good uses for the boom. Enjoy!

Ps. Be careful reading the audiophile sites. They are often focused on spending big bucks to get one more unit of horsepower out of an engine that is already a race car!!

Thanks both of yous guys! I am really happy with these headphones and my new iMac. I have made the mistake of reading some of those "high tech" forums and they seem to really go all out. I've always wondered if I could really tell a difference between my set-up and theirs LOL!!! I've been listening to music for 40+ years and played guitar for 35. The sound from my set-up is impeccable I think for what it cost. I'll try to quit chasing the audio rainbow and just enjoy.

I did plug the phones into the Boom and it doesn't kick near as hard as the iMac.

Dana