can't change midi settings?

quote:

Originally posted by sjw:
nait xs fed by dacmagic which picks up signal from airport express
using full mac system

hopefully a simple answer ..a little help would be appreciate!

it all works but i'm trying to get the best out of it all

when i open the midi panel it wont "see" the dacmagic and it says "headphone"

cheers

is the dac output cable digital 75 ohm , if so change to optical that will isolate un wanted noise

optical lead already...from the airport express to the dacmagic

it all works but there are no options in midi
and in system preferences/sound can't see anything

thanks

The midi option you are looking for will show up if you insert the mini toslink into your Mac. I don't think the option is available via your Airport Express. AE optical output is fixed.

i wondered if that was the case whether a long usb lead from one room to another would be better then- as then these options would be available?
thanks

Midi setup only works for local sources on the mac not airport express.

The express is receiving audio as a compression of apple lossless. This is the way it receives the bits so if you were sending an AIFF or MP3 to the express it is first compressed to lossless for sending.

Long and short is the express is indeed your bottle neck, was never intended for quality audio replay and should be replaced as soon as you are able.

I would suggest a mac mini where ever the express is currently sat.

thank you
am now tinkering - i've connected the optical lead to the out of a macbook and into the dacmagic will now say 96000 on its little blue lights- is this good?

i've an ipod touch and use macs but i can imagine it be tricky to use a mac mini with no screen??
thanks stephen

quote:

Originally posted by sjw:

i've an ipod touch and use macs but i can imagine it be tricky to use a mac mini with no screen??

Not too bad Stephen , I use my Macbook mainly to control the Mini but when that is being used by my Wife or Son I use my iPhone .
You can download remote Apps for iTunes , Songbird and Spotify plus it is possible to use a Free VNC app to control the Mini's screen .
I also have shortcuts on the Mini's desktop for live feeds to the BBC radio stations which are easy to access if I use the iphone .

Ed

Setting the macs output higher than the stuff its streaming is not going to give you any real gains its just going to make the mac work harder.

i wish there was step by step set guide to this!.......

Its pretty straight forward. If your rips are from CDs, then the default output settings on the mac is totally fine. Forget it exists.

SJW - this a good guide.

setup wiki

thanks but ironically it was after reading this that i asked the question! i seem to have looked at lots of web pages and got muddled.I'm sorry but don't really understand any of it and would be lovely if someone could tell me the best settings on the mac ie midi etc etc
A) if i'm using the airport express into the dacmagic via optical lead B) if i put a mac mini in its place so the music goes straight into the dacmagic via optical lead and how to control the mini without a screen! many thanks stephen

For option A as Gary said in his earlier post , the Airport Express is not physically connected by cable to your Mac and therefore you can't change the Midi settings but the Airport Express is limited to 44/16 which is fine if you are listening to rips from CD's so it does not really matter . Just open up iTunes and play .

For option B look at my post above for some options , also as you have a MacBook you will be able to use Screen Share to control a Mini as I am doing right now . The mini will appear on the left of your finder window as a share and all you do is click on it's icon and then the screen share button and you can control it's screen from your MacBook .

Ed

thsnk you
i've installed chicken on the run with which i can now control the mini from the mac book so i can take the screen away
and the the midi settings with a mini should be?

all forward progress thanks!

You don't need chicken of VNC.

On the mini goto system prefs and sharing, and turn on screen sharing

On your macbook it will now appear in any finder window on the left hand side, select the mini and click share screen. Enter the username and password for the mini and save to keychain, it will now connect immediately when you click it.

and the best midi settings would be on the mini?

thanks stephen

The same as the source - 44.1 / 16 for CD for instance. Experiment with 16 or 24 bit output as to which works better for you.

James

Yes the mini is going to do the work so set its settings appropriately.

thank you all