Optimization with a DAC?

[Alanrocks]

I'm trying to figure the best way to optimize my system and not sure what to do.

I have a Mac M1 Mini connected with HDMI to a NAD 758 with Dali Rubicon 2 bookshelves.

I'm sourcing all music through Apple Music and streaming somewhat from Sirrius XM. I also have a CD player and CD burner for various disks I download to digital format. Movies and such come the the internet...on a hi res 42 in monitor

I'd like to stream Hi-Res Lossless (ALAC up to 24-bit/192 KHz)

What's needed for this to happen?

 

[staticV3]

Hi @Alanrocks! Welcome to ASR.

You can already stream Hi-Res Lossless (ALAC up to 24-bit/192 KHz), using the Apple Music App on your Mac.

However, depending on the NAD's capabilities, you may not be able to transmit 192kHz content to the 758 via HDMI.

While HDMI itself is capable of transmitting 24/192, the NAD may not be able to receive it.
To check that, you can open the Audio MIDI setup on your Mac and take a look at the supported sample rates via HDMI out.

If that shows a max sample rate of 48kHz, then you may still be able to feed 192kHz content into the 758 by using its Toslink or Coax inputs rather than HDMI.
To get Toslink out of your Mac, you can use something like the Hifime S2 Digi.

Unfortunately, NAD doesn't seem to specify the max supported sample rates for each of the 758's inputs, so be prepared for some trial and error.

With all that being said, you should be aware that 192kHz music offers zero, zilch advantages over 48kHz as far as audio fidelity is concerned.

So even if the Audio MIDI setup window shows that HDMI out is limited to 48kHz, I would keep using HDMI and instead, put my time and effort into where you can actually increase sound quality: room correction and room treatment.

For room correction, you could use either DIRAC Live which is built into the NAD, or something like SoundSource which would run on your Mac.

For measuring, I see the 758 includes a microphone, otherwise you could purchase a UMIK-1 USB measurement microphone to use with Room EQ Wizard software to smooth out your in-room response.

 

[Alanrocks]

Thank you so much for shedding light on this subject… That clarifies several things for me and I will follow up.