Munich 2018

[IanG-UK]

Nothing wrong with a Macbook. I have a Macbook Pro myself. A perfect laptop computer. 

It is also a superb source.  That's why the engineer (as am I) "politely" stated what he did.  If you want to debate the matter further we'll probably need to take it up in a new thread.

We’re in the wrong place for this discussion, but Archimagos latest post on USB measurements show the MacBook to be unexpectedly poor (ie noisy). Nothing was implied about sonic effects as these weren’t measured but I have to say I was pretty surprised. Maybe time for another USB thread?

Actually I think it is a good place to cover this MacBook issue, if only in the context of how Devialet's position has quietly changed.

For years, Mathieu sad that a MacBook was perfectly ok as a source. I can't remember a Devialet demonstration (other than at a dealer) where Devialet used anything else.

But now, their stance is along the lines of "use what you want if you are happy with it" (from Joachim) and "MacBook is the minimum" (as reported by Zoltan though perhaps in only a personal conversation with Mathieu).

Of course, this new stance by Devialet is commercially sensible, even if some in your organisation think otherwise. If you don't make a source, why potentially alienate some potential customers by saying "a MacBook is perfectly ok" if the customer's views are firmly different?

I remember Quad taking a similar intransigent stance years ago. I seem to recall them saying CDs were better than vinyl - when Quad didn't make either a CD player or a turntable - which alienated potential Linn-owning customers who loved their LP12s; or by them saying that speaker cables didn't matter so alienating those who thought they did. Quad should have been one of the most financially robust hifi businesses in the UK but (not just for this intransigence, of course) they went bust.

I've a MacBook and an Antipodes and I use both. Any differences which I might hear (and I can't be bothered to compare them really) are swamped by differences one can make in room, speaker position, listening position, precision of correct volume level, ... (the list goes on). In my opinion, but it's fine if others think differently!