2. digital
  3. 1298600939

Damn Apple..a fence sitter's dilemma

Almost ready to make the'move'...Buy the Mac mini, go with a firewire dac (seems to make more sense to my computer illiterate brain), decided on a simplified Raid backup, still worrying over format to rip cd's....And now Apple introduces a new connectivity mode : Thunderbolt. A zillion times faster than USB 2 and Firewire 800, single connectivity with audio, video, data, etc., and a whole lot of other things I don't understand.
Sure, it's only in the MBP's introduced this week, not the Mini; but trickle down is their modus operondi. Sure, I should get off the fence and make a move 'cause there will always be the next great thing coming down the pipe, but I sure hate to spend my pennies and be obsolete in 16 months. Whaddya' think?
farmdoc
herman
1,974 posts
 
Firewire and USB are both more than fast enough to handle the highest resolution audio currently available. Any additional speed isn't needed. The current high end Firewire and USB DACS sound excellent. If you are ready to make a move do so now. The technology is very mature and faster speeds don't matter. Waiting to buy for the next best generation of data transfer, or speed, or price drop, or whatever will mean you will be waiting forever. While nothing is obsolete in 16 months, everything will be surpassed in that time.

You answered your own question, move now or wait forever.

.
calbrs03
184 posts
 
My Mac Mini is six years old, and it works fine for audio. YMMV, but I've always felt that waiting is more exhausting than doing.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
The truth is that you can never catch up or hit the perfect nexus of newest computer technology and universal application. It just doesn't work that way in the real world.

If you want the longest duration of compatibility, then buy the newest computer offering and buy the peripherals that presently work with it and plan to upgrade peripherals later as compatibility catches up.

Eventially, USB DACs will become outdated and be replaced with newer DACs tat will also become outdated within a couple of years. It's just the nature of computers and peripherals.

IMO.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
The truth is that you can never catch up or hit the perfect nexus of newest computer technology and universal application. It just doesn't work that way in the real world.

If you want the longest duration of compatibility, then buy the newest computer offering and buy the peripherals that presently work with it and plan to upgrade peripherals later as compatibility catches up.

Eventually, USB DACs will become outdated and be replaced with newer DACs that will also become outdated within a couple of years. It's just the nature of computers and peripherals.

IMO.
aplhifi
515 posts
 
Mac Book Pro that is.

While the achieved speed is very appetizing, I am not very thrilled with the "single connector" approach that sounds so much like Firewire. Interestingly enough, for example, Apple will have all the internal HDD and CD/DVD drives on SATA controller, and then will give you USB and Firewire for external devices? Where is the sense, because I don't see it? Where is the eSATA port on Apple products? And now we have Thunderbolt? I surely hope they have the internal HDD and CD/DVD drives on Thunderbolt, and then give you an external Thunderbolt port too so all of those devices can interfere with each other while being daisy-chained. Blows my mind!

Best,
Alex Peychev
More to discover