Will External Sound Card Improve Playback From Itunes And Other Online Music?, Wondering if an external sound card for the iMac Intel will improve so Options

[Sadhu]

See very little on sound cards for the iMac. While I know that many users purchase sound cards for MacPro desktops, I am wondering if an external sound peripheral will improve the playback sound off my iMac Intel unit ... for sound OTHER THAN the tracks that I record or input INTO such a peripheral. In other words will I hear any improved audio quality if I purchase a good quality external sound card when listing back through my computer ... say through iTunes or through a high quality stream? I'm not concerned about the "value" of $ spent to the amount to improvement. I am simply interested to know if there will be an improvement in over all quality (say more defined bass, or tighther bass, or a more natural sounding midrange and high end?

Anyone have any comments on external sound cards and whether they improve the sound? If so, anyone have any suggestions on what products to look at? I eventually plan to buy a Mac Pro, so I don't mind spending more on good external card if they can be had as an external device for the mac.

Would appreciate any and all comments. Thanks in advance.

- Sadhu

[minskybabs]

Hi there, my thoughts, for what they are worth, is that yes an external audio interface "can" improve the playback from itunes and other online music. As the other people have suggested the conversion from digital to analogue, D/A will often be better, but, and here's the catch only on some interfaces and only on some sources. A very cheap intrerface will probably not be noticeably better than the built in, but an expensive one almost certainly would be. try before you buy if you can. Take in a digital file and play back through a shop mac and then compare same file through an interface. As people have suggested MOTU, RME, Apogee, various prices and generally the more you pay the better you get, up to a point.

Other factors, some audio files are poor in the first place, no amount of mioney will make a lo fi recording sound hi fi, but you appear to be talking about high quality recordings, so you should see improvements. Your other point about headphone impedences could also be a factor, but this is why try before you buy is good. Or get a dedicated headphone pre amp too. Though that is yet more bucks!

Good luck.
Minskybabs