Newbie MP3 distribution question here: By now, most of my music is in MP3 format. I would like a hard drive to be the prime source depository for all music I play, and I am trying to figure out the most efficient way of piping those MP3s through my home stereo. There are many different ways of doing this, of course. One possibility is to have a dedicated laptop (with iTunes, Musicmatch, etc.) and connect it straight into my amp Aux inputs (no WiFi, no Ethernet - just a laptop on top of my stereo (or do I also need some kind of digital/analog converter in between?)).

If I have a great amplifier and a great set of speakers, and connect a laptop with its typical low-end sound card, will the overall sound quality suffer? In other words, how important is a PC soundcard for the overall sound quality of my analog amp/speaker system? I know it is important for the powered PC speakers, where there is no amp involved, but am unsure if this would also be the case when I use a separate amp.

Regards,
Njord

I've listened to MP3s from my computer for years. It's fine for having tunes on, but not great for critical listening. I just plugged it in to the sound card on the computer. You have to mess around a bit to get the volume right on the computer, or at least I did.

I believe a good sound card would indeed make it sound somewhat better. The limitation, however, is the compressed digital format MP3. At very high bit rates, it really sounds pretty darn good. Lower bit rates sound pretty junky though.

I have a wireless network in my house and have one of the systems set up so I can use plug the lap top into it. I use it more for internet radio than MP3s, but it's nice for either. I once considered building an FM modulator that would be powerful enough to pipe the MP3s all over the house. That would be a world class solution.

Take care,

Ed

Newbie MP3 distribution question here: By now, most of my music is in MP3 format. I would like a hard drive to be the prime source depository for all music I play, and I am trying to figure out the most efficient way of piping those MP3s through my home stereo. There are many different ways of doing this, of course. One possibility is to have a dedicated laptop (with iTunes, Musicmatch, etc.) and connect it straight into my amp Aux inputs (no WiFi, no Ethernet - just a laptop on top of my stereo (or do I also need some kind of digital/analog converter in between?)).

If I have a great amplifier and a great set of speakers, and connect a laptop with its typical low-end sound card, will the overall sound quality suffer? In other words, how important is a PC soundcard for the overall sound quality of my analog amp/speaker system? I know it is important for the powered PC speakers, where there is no amp involved, but am unsure if this would also be the case when I use a separate amp.

Regards,
Njord

1. The connection between a PC and the amplification is just as you describe, no problem there.
2. A PC's sound card will have a direct bearing on overall sound quality. It's the same as in any stereo system: all the components contribute. In this case, you're using a computer as a source component, just as if it were a CD player or tuner or 8-track player or R2R deck. Any laptop I've heard has inferior sound quality compared to a desktop model. Don't forget that the primary consideration for a laptop is compactness, so size takes first consideration, not sound quality (in this instance). You can spend hundreds on a desktop's sound card; look at all the Creative Audigys or Turtle Beach Santa Cruz's that get sold. Even my lowly eMachines desktop has potential for 5.1 surround sound output, using its embedded sound capability (= no dedicated sound card).
I agree wholeheartedly with everything Ed says too :yes:. High MP3 bit rates sound pretty decent, and you will have to fool with level controls.
Tom

A decent sound card is a requirement. You don't need to spend hundreds, but if you have an old cheapie that came with the PC, you won't be happy.

What bitrate are your MP3's recorded at? If they're all 64 kbps, a good sound card will only show you how poor they are compared to the source CD. 128 is better, 192 and up will sound so good you'll have to listen carefully to tell the difference.

Since I have multiple locations for music, ie the shops, the bedrooms, the living room... And because I love the sound of Fisher SS receiver units, I built the FM-30 low power FM XMTR from Ramsey Electronics. One of the the things I like about having my own transmitter is that there is no compression of the FM signal.

My system consists of the wife's old desktop unit, Sound Blaster Audigy, a 20 Gig Harddrive, the FM-30 XMTR, and a $35 UPS from Belkin. The SB Audigy is at the bottom of the range for serious music, I'm probably going to go to one of the echo products like Gina as a replacement.

Even with the SB card, this is a great system. It does not compete with a listening room and corresponding "sweet spot". OTOH, it allows me to dabble in my other hobbies and still listen to good music turned up to 11.

The easiest way to get good sound from a laptop is by getting an Echo Indigo card (http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/CardBus/IndigoIO/index.php) or another similar product that plugs into the cardbus slot and works in place of the onboard sound card. I can recommend the Echo, but I think Creative and others carry a similar card now. Unfortunately, Echo has gone up in price since I bought mine a few years back.

i listen almost exclusively to mp3 and internet radio, all of my cds have been ripped at high bitrates and sound fine to me, though on some i can really tell its mp3 vs the orig cd.

I ran the optical digital out of my sb audigy platinm to my preamp for awhile, but now run it from the front outs on the regular soundcard as i've switched preamps and do not have optical anymore. I will say creative's drivers suck for some reason the left channel magicly got out of faze with the right and i had to reinstall the drivers.

Newbie MP3 distribution question here: By now, most of my music is in MP3 format. I would like a hard drive to be the prime source depository for all music I play, and I am trying to figure out the most efficient way of piping those MP3s through my home stereo. There are many different ways of doing this, of course. One possibility is to have a dedicated laptop (with iTunes, Musicmatch, etc.) and connect it straight into my amp Aux inputs (no WiFi, no Ethernet - just a laptop on top of my stereo (or do I also need some kind of digital/analog converter in between?)).

If I have a great amplifier and a great set of speakers, and connect a laptop with its typical low-end sound card, will the overall sound quality suffer? In other words, how important is a PC soundcard for the overall sound quality of my analog amp/speaker system? I know it is important for the powered PC speakers, where there is no amp involved, but am unsure if this would also be the case when I use a separate amp.

Regards,
Njord

Squeezebox (http://www.slimdevices.com/)

When I was at AK Fest last year..(2005)..My set-up was a demonstration of playin Mp3s through my Hi-Fi rig...as in the picture (http://www.audiokarma.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1986&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=3024%20picture[/URL)

I have posted many posts about how I do my tunes..

check some out...


Here (http://206.225.95.32/forums/showpost.php?p=334603&postcount=16)


And Here (http://206.225.95.32/forums/showpost.php?p=366644&postcount=38)

I don't post about it anymore...because there is not a lot of response to it...but all I ask Is you give it a try!...if you like it cool...if not ...oh well!...

but its worth a try...... :thmbsp:
as for hooking up to my system...just a 1/8 stereo jackon the back of my computer....No soundcard !!!...just the integrated audio, with the soundmax driver on my motherboard, to stereo RCA jacks to the 'Tape in' jacks in my system...thats all...no 'fancy' nothing!... :yes:

but its worth a try...... :thmbsp:
as for hooking up to my system...just a 1/8 stereo jackon the back of my computer....No soundcard !!!...just the integrated audio, with the soundmax driver on my motherboard, to stereo RCA jacks to the 'Tape in' jacks in my system...thats all...no 'fancy' nothing!... :yes:

I have pretty well the same setup!Nothing fancy, Nice and Simple! :thmbsp:

Interesting thread. I too am looking for a way to get my CD collection from my computer to my stereo system. I saw this the other day and was interested.

Logictech Wireless Music System for PC (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Logitech-Inc-Wireless-Music-system-for-PC-980414_W0QQitemZ5847334239QQcategoryZ86541QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks,
Clark

Anyone have any experience with this? No, but I am not sure how you would see your tunes for navigation. I do not see a video out or a built in LCD screen. It seems to be aimed at people without a computer network since a network is not needed.

No, but I am not sure how you would see your tunes for navigation. I do not see a video out or a built in LCD screen. It seems to be aimed at people without a computer network since a network is not needed.

It seems like it would work by playing the CD's on the computer using the jukebox software of your choice and transmitting to the stereo system. Obviously, it would mean that you would view the playlist on your computer monitor, where ever that is located.

I guess you could use this with a laptop as well, but if you were to have the laptop co-located with your stereo system, why not hard wire them?

The best thing i've seen recently for getting MP3's out of a computer and into a hifi system is the Squeezebos from Slim Devices.

It plugs into your Network card and streams MP3s to anywhere in the house. Also does streaming radio stations.

The best thing i've seen recently for getting MP3's out of a computer and into a hifi system is the Squeezebos from Slim Devices.

It plugs into your Network card and streams MP3s to anywhere in the house. Also does streaming radio stations.

Another product that does this is the Roku Soundbridge..... (www.rokulabs.com).

I picked one up on Ebay a couple of days ago and can't wait for it to arrive so I can play with it.

I have read that the analog outputs on this are not necessarily of audiophile quality, and that using an external DAC as an interface between the unit and the amplifier would be the optimal configuration.

(Now I just have to find an affordable DAC!)

Note: These types of devices typically expect the audio files to be served from a streaming audio server of some kind... they don't read mp3 files direct from disk.

If you have a spare USB port on the laptop, you could go with something like this:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main.html

or for an extra $20, you can get this:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/SonicaTheater-focus.html

I've had a mild exposure to the SlimDevices Squeezeboxes (I, II, and III), and have to say that these are the way to go, if you have a home network. :thmbsp: I've played with and coveted my bro-in-law's SB-I for a couple of years, my dad recently bought the newest SB-III, and my loving wife got me a SB-II for the Holidays. :banana: I've recently done my own quasi-A/B comparison between the wireless streaming of a FLAC-encoded song through the SB and the original CD playing through a CDP on the same receiver and same speakers (Pioneer sx-838 & EPI 70's). I truthfully could not hear the difference. I had the CDP and the SB on different sources, and sync'ed their playing of the song (Dire Straits "Your Latest Trick"), flipping back and forth between sources on the receiver. Wow. :yes: Seemed pretty seamless to me.

I reccommend this company's products HIGHLY. The setup is really easy, the interface is great, and the support is awesome. Oh, and the sound is magnifique! :tresbon: Apparently their DAC's are quite nice.

As I mentioned in the Santa thread, I just love mixing new techno-gadetry with 30+ year old equipment. :music:

Apparently their DAC's are quite nice. The new Squeezebox has Burr-Brown DACs. If all you want is music with a nice display AND you have a network, this would be one way to go.

However, for the same $250 ($199 refurbished), you could get a network DVD player that will play movies, music, and photos over a network (it will need a TV for a display-unlike the Squeezebox). The IO Data Linkplayer also has a a USB2 port for playback off of an external hard drive if you do not have a network.

There are a lot of choices out there. It really depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend.

I have a pair of Squeezebox 2's and wouldn't trade them for anything. They really are very good products.

I have pretty well the same setup!Nothing fancy, Nice and Simple! :thmbsp:

Works for me too! I have over 20,000 tunes on my hard drive. I primarily transfer them to my Muvo and take it with me on Camping trips and tailgating with portable speakers...Works great and sounds good too...

However, for the same $250 ($199 refurbished), you could get a network DVD player that will play movies, music, and photos over a network (it will need a TV for a display-unlike the Squeezebox). The IO Data Linkplayer also has a a USB2 port for playback off of an external hard drive if you do not have a network.

That's pretty cool... That's how I like engineering -- smart. USB2 is a great feature. I'm assuming that unit also has the newer Burr-Brown DAC's?

That's pretty cool... That's how I like engineering -- smart. USB2 is a great feature. I'm assuming that unit also has the newer Burr-Brown DAC's? It uses a Sigma 8620L chip for audio and video. According to Sigma, it has 192 kHz 24-bit audio DACs. The machine is much more than a typical music player. I use it just as much to play movies ripped to my computer/hard drives. It also has the ablity to upscale video to 720P or 1080i over its component outputs and can handle HD programming (if you have it). The LInkplayer currently only supports Fat16/32 over the USB, so that means files on your USB2 drive will have to be under 4GB each.

It will also play back all photos in a folder as a slide show over the USB2 (without music). I wrote a review (http://uofmtiger.blogspot.com/2004_12_03_uofmtiger_archive.html#1101435327984151 79) for it a while back if you are interested. The company updates the product quite a bit, so I have a lot of "extras" at the end of the article. They supplied a new update on the 27th, but I have not loaded it yet.

It does not have the ability to play FLAC, which may be important to you. It will play wav files, though.

I went a cheaper route with my computer setup. Cheaper but it still sounds great. I used the chaintec av710 soundcard. It has the envy 24 chip (24 bit 192Khz) that is found on cards costing more $$. Also has a Wolfson WM8728 capable of that 24/192.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=292003

All for $25 -- great deal

I use a 1/8" to rca cable into my sa-9800. I use foobar as my player.

Trick with the sound card is to make sure you select the channel that is using the wolfson dac and set it to hirez mode. By default I think the wolfson is on the rear channels. The other channels have a shitty via dac.

As I mentioned in the Santa thread, I just love mixing new techno-gadetry with 30+ year old equipment. :music:

You mean, like this? :music:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4025


I totally agree - the Squeezebox 3 is the best thing since sliced bread - for audio at least. The amount and variety of music I listen to has greatly increased since I bought it in early November. And now, since most of my CDs are converted to FLAC, I have most of my music library a literal push-button away. And the other great thing - it's a nice way to add remote control convienience to your old analog gear.

The built-in DAC is high quality - and sounds better, to my ears, than that of Squeezebox 1 - however, you can also use an outboard DAC of your choosing via the SB3's TOSlink and Coax digital outputs.

I've been thinking about this same thing quite alot lately, and everything I've come up with says it's better to do the D/A conversion at the stereo end, leaving the signal in digital format until then. A PC is a very electrically noisy environment. So...does your soundcard have an SPDIF out, and does something at the other end have a digital in? Or you could look at something like the Soundbridge by Roku for an all inclusive approach, which is what I'm waiting for. Just my 2 pfennig

Just got my hands on my Roku SoundBridge M500 last night.... it is pretty cool.

Reviews to follow once I give it a bit of a shakedown, but it fun to play with. Listening to Virgin Radio UK right now, and it sounds OK.

Just got my hands on my Roku SoundBridge M500 last night.... it is pretty cool.

Reviews to follow once I give it a bit of a shakedown, but it fun to play with. Listening to Virgin Radio UK right now, and it sounds OK.

Does the Roku handle lossless compression like FLAC? I heard there were "issues" with Roku and FLAC.

Does the Roku handle lossless compression like FLAC? I heard there were "issues" with Roku and FLAC.

The Roku doesn't natively process FLAC files, but depends on a data stream originating from a streaming server like iTunes, or SlimServer to provide source material.

So the real question appears to be whether or not the streaming server will handle your preferred file type..... and perhaps more importantly... how does this processing affect audio quality.

Hopefully I'm not threadjacking- a while back I saw an fm broadcast pci card. Iirc it was a U.K. site that was selling the "test chips" from tripath. Has anyone seen/ used one? -mark
Something like this-http://www.electrokits.com/radio/transmitter-kits/186.htm

Or maybe- http://www.orban.com/orban/products/stream/1100_specifications.html
but just a few $$$$$$$$$$ out of my league.