New MacBook Air a potential audio source

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Since the new MacBook Air has no fans , anyone thinking it would be a good source for audio? Or won’t it support usb dacs at all ?!’

 

[jai1611]

Its coming with a new Mac OS and different hardware adapted from the iphone / ipad. May break compatibility with some older products. Best to wait and see if there are any issues.

If your objective is fanless, its relatively straightforward to build a fanless pc as long as you can source an appropriate chassis (tougher these days due to imports being more expensive). You also get fanless pre-built PCs with low powered chips. An even cheaper option are the various raspberry pi based devices

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Its coming with a new Mac OS and different hardware adapted from the iphone / ipad. May break compatibility with some older products. Best to wait and see if there are any issues.

If your objective is fanless, its relatively straightforward to build a fanless pc as long as you can source an appropriate chassis (tougher these days due to imports being more expensive). You also get fanless pre-built PCs with low powered chips. An even cheaper option are the various raspberry pi based devices

No I basically like It more as a computer than as a music source . thought this would be a even better deal if it has got better audio audio too on a side note. Waiting for some reviews to come up next week. My previous one was a very old unibody model which had optical out. Now I think there is no laptop having it.

 

[Nalzan]

Since the new MacBook Air has no fans , anyone thinking it would be a good source for audio? Or won’t it support usb dacs at all ?!’

It works flawlessly as a music server! I have been using it since the last 4 years and it has currently been upgraded to Big Sur without any problems.

 

[rupy]

Hi,
I am using a macbook air 2013,with an external 500 gb ssd drive for music.I have Audirvana and Fidelia software and also output it through Dragon fly Red DAC /ifi DSD DAC.Is this arrangement as good as dedicated music servers or does it have grey areas especially in sound quality.

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Hi,
I am using a macbook air 2013,with an external 500 gb ssd drive for music.I have Audirvana and Fidelia software and also output it through Dragon fly Red DAC /ifi DSD DAC.Is this arrangement as good as dedicated music servers or does it have grey areas especially in sound quality.

The point of the post here was specially for the m1 and up airs as they have no built in fans. Mostly no fans is a quality which “audiophiles” seek after. But honestly outside the fans noise itself I never heard a different between two different laptops with the same dac if the dac relies on a different power supply other than the USB power from the laptop

 

[rupy]

The point of the post here was specially for the m1 and up airs as they have no built in fans. Mostly no fans is a quality which “audiophiles” seek after. But honestly outside the fans noise itself I never heard a different between two different laptops with the same dac if the dac relies on a different power supply other than the USB power from the laptop

Thanks so much.