Questions about the Computer -> Home Stereo Interface

[bob p]

This problem has probably been addressed a million times before, but I thought I'd bring it up again to see if anyone is aware of some new novel solution that might be better than my way of doing things.

How are you connecting your computer to your home stereo for audio playback?

Although I've got a sizable library of computer-based recordings, I've always preferred to listen to them on the computer. I've never really spent much time listening to that software on my HiFi system, primarily because I've always found the computer-HiFi interface to produce disappointing results. My computerized system just can't hold a candle to my HiFi's CD player when it comes to reproducing digital audio. IME the PC has always been limited by sound cards and DACs that just don't compare to something in a quality HiFi unit.

So what solutions are you using to move the musical data from Point A to Point B?

At one end of the spectrum (the cheap end) is to connect the PC Soundcard Output to the Home Stereo Aux Input. This typically involves using a low quality PC-type 3.5 mm stereo cable at the sound card end, and converting to a pair of RCA jacks at the home stereo end. This is obviously a LowFi way to approach the problem, as the quality of your output is limited by your sound card. Some sound cards are better than others, and some PCs are better than others. Doing it this way I still run into the problem of clicks and pops getting sent down the wire as a program loads or as the soundcard is activated. I don't particularly like it when these noises get reproduced by my speakers, so I'm looking for a better (HiFi) option.

Of course, at the extreme HiFi end of the spectrum there are some pretty obscene choices. They tend to involve things like oddball inputs to dedicated DAC boxes, where the inputs can be things like Tos-Link, BNC cables, Fiber-optic connections, or most recently, USB inputs.

I'd like to get higher quality sound output out of my PC. No, what I really mean to say is that I'd like to find a tolerable way to listen to digitally recorded media that's stored on my PC, playing it back on a real HiFi system. But I'm not the kind of guy who wants to spend $3000 to $5000 on a "high end" DAC box, and I'm looking for a more practical solution. Right now I've got a huge amount of audio stored on a computer, and I'd really like to do a better job of sharing it with / serving it to my HiFi system. I've got all of the back end file service infrastructure in place. What's missing is the suitable technological "bridge" between the devices. I really don't want to get insane when it comes to the interface. So I thought I'd ask for your experiences and recommendations. Maybe there's a better way than what I've been doing.

Thanks.

[dai h.]

good soundcards seem okay to me so the problems you mention with popping, cracking, etc. seem a bit surprising (but could be I'm not noticing?). On some old PCs I have, the stock audio output can be pretty bad or even horrendous(noise, etc.), but recent stuff in general seems much improved. I've a not so new Fujitsu (which I bought used), and I thought I would need to add a better quality sound card, but it seems good enough so I've actually left it and am using the stock audio out (not into a "proper" hi-fi stereo though--just a headphone amp and some decent 'phones when I want decent-ish quality (in hi-fi terms)--it does seem to be around "CD quality" through 'phones though I'm probably not so picky as I used to be). Maybe you just need a better sound card (and fast enough CPU)? The decent sound cards I have are Onkyo (PCI-something--90?, and an older 150?), and these seem "acceptable" enough (low noise) though probably there are better, more expensive, etc.. Oh, and I've also got a "Soundblaster" card, but those I'd put in the category of "cheap junk"(or around that vicinity).

[Steve A.]

I'd like to get higher quality sound output out of my PC. No, what I really mean to say is that I'd like to find a tolerable way to listen to digitally recorded media that's stored on my PC, playing it back on a real HiFi system. But I'm not the kind of guy who wants to spend $3000 to $5000 on a "high end" DAC box, and I'm looking for a more practical solution. Right now I've got a huge amount of audio stored on a computer, and I'd really like to do a better job of sharing it with / serving it to my HiFi system. I've got all of the back end file service infrastructure in place. What's missing is the suitable technological "bridge" between the devices. I really don't want to get insane when it comes to the interface. So I thought I'd ask for your experiences and recommendations. Maybe there's a better way than what I've been doing.

Thanks.

Bob P.

They have come out with a cost-effective method for playing your high quality audio files on your stereo. Out here in California we call them "CD-R's" and with them I can listen to my digital audio files on the stereo in my living room, in my car and in the CD player next to my bed.

My good stereo is in my living room where it is hooked up to my flat screen TV. I'll use SneakerNet 2.0 to listen to my audio files on my good stereo although I know that some people are hooking their stereos up to wireless (or wired) networks to be able to stream music sans disc. I know nothing about the details, but I think it would be kinda cool to broadcast some good tunes on your network, with various receivers scattered throughout your house.

I have $99 Bose Companion 2 Series II speakers hooked up to my soundcard (a 24 bit SB Live) and I think they sound great. One neat feature is that you can hook them up to 2 different audio sources so could run your multi-processor into it. It also has a 1/8" headphone jack on the front which kill the speaker. For me the most critical factor was that they had to be heavy since I keep them on a shelf over my monitor. (If these suckers fall and hit your head you are going to say "OUCH")

As for the pops and clicks you mentioned that sounds like a computer problem. I believe that there is an old thread here about me starting to get pops and clicks from my $200 SB Audigy rig that had a sound card as well as a module that mounted in a 5 1/4" drive slot. I changed *something* and it started making those pops and clicks, like when I'd move my mouse. After trying all of the recommended fixes I replaced it with a white box SB 24 bit Live card on sale for $20 or $30- no more $200 sound cards for me!

Is this PC something that you cobbled together from various parts- a veritable Frankenputer? Like Dai suggested your computer might not have the required HP.

Deja vu all over again! 25 years ago building your own computer was like walking through a minefield, with compatibility problems everywhere you looked. This mobo might not work with that graphics card which doesn't work with your controller card. I thought all of that stuff was ancient history but getting sound cards to work nowadays is either science or magic.

Just to clarify things there are sound cards which you might use for playing games and there are digital audio boards which you would use for digital recording. I think that Soundblaster makes decent sound cards (if you avoid the obvious dreck) but by no means would I consider them to be acceptable for digital audio. In the world of 24 bit vinyl rips if I see that an SB card was used I am immediately suspicious. It makes you think that you are recording 24 bit/ 96khz but if you examine the files in good audio editor you can see that they do not have 24/96 content (although Windows and foobar will identify them as such).

Steve Ahola

[Gibsonman63]

I am running from the computer sound card to a little 4 channel mixer. In the room with the computer (my wife's office) I have a couple of Yamaha studio monitors. I am also taking an aux out from the board and running a 25' RCA cable to the living room to an aux in on my reciever.

To my ears, the sound is just fine and I like to have the real faders for adjusting levels instead of mousing around on the computer. I have about 30,000 songs in my library. A lot of it is older recordings that I transferred from vinyl, so I would say that the playback fidelity exceeds the source in many cases.

[Steve A.]

I am running from the computer sound card to a little 4 channel mixer. In the room with the computer (my wife's office) I have a couple of Yamaha studio monitors. I am also taking an aux out from the board and running a 25' RCA cable to the living room to an aux in on my reciever.

To my ears, the sound is just fine and I like to have the real faders for adjusting levels instead of mousing around on the computer. I have about 30,000 songs in my library. A lot of it is older recordings that I transferred from vinyl, so I would say that the playback fidelity exceeds the source in many cases.

If you are able to run a 25' audio cable to your living room great. Long live analog! For me it would be more like snaking a 50' cable through my attic, and if it is going to be a 50'+ run ethernet might be a better option. They also have the network adaptors that plug into your line voltage but they are very pricey and unless they offer a much higher bandwidth than wireless "N" I would pass on them.

Speaking of transmission on the AC lines at my next door neighbor's house back in the 60's there was a stereo console in the living room, plus a mono auxiliary speaker that plugged into the wall. Fidelity seemed okay but back then anything that sounded better than a transistor radio sounded good to me.

Steve Ahola

[bob p]

back then we had an intercom that worked like that. you'd just plug each unit into the wall AC and push to talk. you didn't need to drag wires or use radio, you had instant infrastructure using the AC lines. i remember it being noisy.

to put it in perspective, radio gear was very expensive back then. we had two Midland walkie talkies, but they were HUGE, like the old army radio "bricks".

[bob p]

funny, i asked this question on another forum and somebody told me to get a 50-foot USB cable. (!)

for me, running a wire from the basement to the stairs, up the stairs, and around to the living room would require a 75 to 100 foot cable that's laying right in the traffic pattern. when i was working on the house many years ago i had the forethought to pull Cat5e cables and coax to every room, even though i had no use for them at the time. so now i've got the cables that everyone said i would need, and i've got no device that can hook up to them. i wish somebody would make a DAC that has an ethernet port on it instead of a USB port. what would it cost, an extra 25-cents to make it?

[Steve A.]

when i was working on the house many years ago i had the forethought to pull Cat5e cables and coax to every room, even though i had no use for them at the time. so now i've got the cables that everyone said i would need, and i've got no device that can hook up to them. i wish somebody would make a DAC that has an ethernet port on it instead of a USB port. what would it cost, an extra 25-cents to make it?

They do make an ethernet adaptor that would connect to the USB port of a printer. I think I have both wired and wireless versions I never did use. I wonder if they could be adapted for other functions besides printing...

Steve

[bob p]

I have a USB to Ethernet adapter. Its a POS. It has never worked properly. I remember Speed Racer mentioning that they're actually an impediment to progress, because of the protocol translation that has to happen to convert USB into Ethernet. Those devices are very slow because the translation ends up being a rate limiting factor. Of course, its possible that there are newer devices that work better, but I'd still rather find a LAN-DAC instead of a USB-DAC if that's possible. I shudder at the thought that the only way to get one of these would be to DIY. I don't want to go there.

[dai h.]

maybe wireless?

couple listed here, for example (no personal experience though) :

USBƒ�ƒCƒ„ƒŒƒXƒI�[ƒfƒBƒI‚̏�‰�

RATOC Systems REX-LINK2EX, REX-LINK2

RATOC Systems International,Inc

ONKYO UWL-1

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?cl...essory&m=UWL-1

Creative Xmod Wireless (more reviews if you google) :

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-...-282470/review

[Steve A.]

I have a USB to Ethernet adapter. Its a POS. It has never worked properly. I remember Speed Racer mentioning that they're actually an impediment to progress, because of the protocol translation that has to happen to convert USB into Ethernet. Those devices are very slow because the translation ends up being a rate limiting factor. Of course, its possible that there are newer devices that work better, but I'd still rather find a LAN-DAC instead of a USB-DAC if that's possible. I shudder at the thought that the only way to get one of these would be to DIY. I don't want to go there.

Hmmm... I have installed the plug-in USB wireless adaptors on my friends' computers and they work as well as could be expected from the wireless network speed. But you do want to plug it into a UCB 2.0 port. Or were you referring to the ethernet-to-USB "print server" that I brought up?

You asked for USB so I gave you USB. You didn't say anything about wanting a decent speed.

Steve

[gungrog]

Hi,
What about a squeezebox network player? I've had one for a few years now, great piece of kit. Can be used wired or wireless, has a built in DAC and can handle most music formats, plus does internet radio. Sound quality is excellent.

[bob p]

squeezebox display is what, 1 or 2 lines? how do you sort through 50,000 songs on that device?

[gungrog]

The squeezebox has all the usual menu facilities to search, scroll, so you can find stuff easily. The newer versions (mines an older SB3 'classic') also have an 'iPod' like graphical display on the remote.

I never find it a problem to find anything, and she-who-must-be-obeyed finds it reasonably easy to use too :-)