Q: Airfoil and Airport Express, is there latency/delay?
I want to be able to direct the output of my 'Late 2014' 5K iMac (10.11.6) to my (ParaSound P3/A23) stereo system using AirFoil 5 with Airport Extreme > Airport Express.
But the audio output has to be 'real time'; that is, no delay or latency at all. Both are in the same room!
I'm using notation software (Sibelius) and need to hear what I write immediately; unlike streaming where I believe there is an acceptable (2 second?) delay for buffering?
Can this be done, please?
If not with AirFoil, any advice on how gratefully received :-)
iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), Clean machine... no haxies; no Microsoft etc
Posted on Aug 22, 2016 1:09 PM
$400-$500 would be typical, if not on the low end. You can expect to pay much more for audiophile-quality DACs. Sorry. I don't really have any I could recommend at a lower price point.
I still think your best bet, at this point, it to use your iMac's built-in DAC by connecting directly between the Mac's headphone port and your P3. If possible use a cable that has a pre-molded 3.5 mm stereo connector on one end and twin RCA connectors on the other.
Remember using a DAC will inherently add delays in the signal path, but are unavoidable if you only have analog equipment connected to a computer. Usually, but not always, the more they cost, the lower the signal conversion transient delays through the DAC. Whatever DAC you do decide on, check with the return policy just in case it doesn't work out for you.
... or just connect a high-quality pair of stereo headphones to the same port.
Posted on Aug 23, 2016 10:40 AM