Article: Desktop Audio For The Apple Pro Display XDR

[The Computer Audiophile]

View full article

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, blaven said:

Super cool article. I just started a desktop set up about a year and a half ago with a Mac mini purchase. Had many of the same desires you did and, having already been very pleased by the KEF LS50 wireless  was definitely looking at the LSX as well. I ultimately settled on a different KEF product: KEF Egg. 

 

So, just trying to be helpful as the KEF Egg  is  another alternative for those who might be looking. It’s supports 24/96, has USB plug-in that can go directly out from the Mac mini for all computing sound, looks great, and uses that same coaxial driver technology as their other speakers for their “house sound”.

 

I later spent a little bit extra on a used REL T0 sub and it’s amazing. Very different than my other set ups. Nearfield listening is truly unique but rather enjoyable especially as we spend so much time in front of our computers in general. 

 

I’m more just throwing us out there for anybody who might be in a similar position who is looking for a style friendly product that accepts USB straight from a computer.  it’s brainless turnkey solution and sounds great with or without a subwoofer.

 

Thanks for another great review!

Very cool. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Is the KEF Egg still made?

 

https://us.kef.com/speakers/computer-speakers/egg.html

[The Computer Audiophile]

4 minutes ago, grinner said:

Where did you see that the Xeo 10 is discontinued? It seems to be still featured on the Dynaudio website. 

I saw it at Crutchfield and confirmed with Dynaudio North America. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, Roy Boy said:

On your comment about Elac not having something that met your requirements, I am guessing that meant no digital inputs? I have a pair of the ARB-51 that I use with my LG OLED TV but I have a Bluesound Node 2i set up that I have been pleased with, but that is not a desktop system. My son has a pair of the older XEO 2 in a desktop Mac system and he loves it.

 

Yeah. I love Elac, but couldn't find a speaker with inputs I needed. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, ednaz said:

Using the KEF Egg also, and it's a nice little setup for me when I'm working on editing photos. They're set a bit farther apart than I'd like, given the size of my editing monitor and the distance I prefer for editing, but it doesn't seem to affect the sound. Instruments in the middle come from the middle of the screen, with a nice little soundstage on my desk. They have the KEF sound character, too, reminding me of my living room LSX speakers. 

Have the EGGs been discontinued?

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, RichardSF said:

I'm curious that you didn't pursue this further. Is it a bug in Roon? It seems like a rather serious issue.

Oh I’ve pursued it but Roon isn’t very interested in it.

[The Computer Audiophile]

18 minutes ago, CG said:

 

It's truly amazing how uninterested companies are now.  Customers are really pains in the keister, aren't they?

 

Somewhat off topic...  

 

I'm typing this on a somewhat more recent vintage iMac than your previous computer, but Apple in its great and powerful wisdom haa decided to not update the firmware in it for the past year.  That may not be a problem now, but it could be.  Their answer is that it's up to date, but I keep getting eficheck notices that my firmware is not up to date.  Apple is about as interested in my (and other people's) issue on this as Roon is with their issue.

 

Aside from Retina displays and the wider spread use of SSDs over the past decade or so, the improvements in computers have been rather small in a practical sense.  People make more of a deal of them than is really merited.  Which is exactly what the companies want.

 

So, your plan of getting a really great display and a lower priced compute engine makes great sense to me.  There doesn't appear to be an earth shaking display performance improvement on the horizon, and all the computing improvements will largely be incremental.  Your approach seems like a better allocation of resources than buying a new iMac.

 

So, how's it working?

It works fantastic. Best computer system I’ve ever used. 8-10 hours in front of this display is a breeze on the eyes. 
 

Speaking of firmware, I pulled the power cable on the monitor three times, in the middle of a firmware update (unbeknownst to me) and it came up just fine and on the newest version of firmware. Incredible engineering. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

42 minutes ago, bbosler said:

 

I would actually go the opposite direction, I'm sure it is a fabulous display but the most progress has been in that arena so investing $6K+ in a display that will likely be outdistanced very soon makes no sense to me.. look how fast we went from 1080 being state of the art to 4K being ubiquitous. I understand that if you want the state of the art now in displays you have to pay the premium and I have no problem with others doing it, just not for me. 

 

 

The Mac Mini M1 may be "lower priced" but for tasks that use a single core it is the fastest that Apple has at the moment. Faster than a Mac Pro. My 2018 3.2GHz i7 was choking with HQ player to DSD 512 and my M1 sails through it. Prior to the M1 the iMac was the fastest and the M1 is about 50% faster so not in agreement on the assessment of incremental computer improvement ,,, 50% to me  is a leap.. not an increment

 

 

I don’t care if a display has 8k or 16k, it’s all about quality for me. The Apple displays have such high quality it’s crazy. Text looks amazingly crisp. 
 

I also don’t need the latest and greatest. This display will be just as good as it is today, in 10 years. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

I also use SwitchResX for complete control of my Apple monitors. 
 

 

https://www.madrau.com

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, RichardSF said:

@The Computer Audiophile, you didn't say whether you went for the $1,000 nano-texture glass option, which takes the display alone to $5,600 without stand.

No nano-textured glass. Didn’t need it. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, blaven said:

Yes. To clarify, i’m referring to the Apple TV 4K hardware.  $179 for an unobtrusive black hockey puck sized gizmo. 

 

Hopefully some of the images below clarify.  The BenQ monitor has 2 HDMI and 3 Thunderbolt 3 USBC Ports. 
 

I run the Mac Mini to BenQ with a Thunderbolt 3 cable 

 

I run the Apple TV Apple TV to the  monitor off of an Audioquest carbon 48 HDMI cable. 

 

What you can see in the images below:

—a screenshot from Interstellar running off the Apple TV

—Settings off the BenQ monitor where you can see a picture in picture main and sub window options

—ESPN Sunday Night Baseball off of Apple TV ESPN app with background of Mac mini in the lower 3/4 of the monitor screen with rune and the present thread seen

 

(NOTE: One could argue that you can just stream much of this in an Internet browser so what’s the point. Well, lots of fun 4K content for one. And high quality streaming is not so as easy for out of market NHL and NBA games in a browser. Plus, outside of picture in picture sports, it’s honestly fun just to watch TV or the occasional movie off of such a high-quality monitor like many have or are discussing.)

 

hopefully it helps

 

bottom line is it’s a pretty fun thing that is reasonable to get for anybody considering nice speakers for their computer- hence why I added it to the thread

 

 

Love it!

[The Computer Audiophile]

@morespin You’re suggesting that Dynaudio in Denmark was either lying or had no clue when it said the product was discontinued?

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, morespin said:

And the speakers waking up after seconds is another stupid stupid feature. 

This is addressed in the article. Just change the setting and the speakers remain on until one manually turns them off. Zero wake up time. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 hours ago, morespin said:

I want better support.

Here’s what Edifer says to people with connection issues, “We suggest contacting Windows support for help. The phone number for their US support line is 1 (800) 642 7676.”

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 hours ago, morespin said:

It sounds like something that someone spending 6,000 bucks on an Apple display would spend.

Is there a hidden jab at me in that sentence?

 

 

3 hours ago, morespin said:

One can get just as stellar a display from LG for 1/6th that price. 

 

Please provide a link to an LG 32 inch display with equal specifications for 1/6th the price. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

8 hours ago, morespin said:

Xeo 2 is discontinued. Xeo 10 is well and live. Maybe Crutchfield might have decided to not sell it. 

Dynaudio decided not to make it.