PC as source component

I've been pretty disappointed with my EMU 0404 USB. I've been using it with a digital out from my EMU 0404 PCI card. I notice a lot of floor noise. I have not tried it via USB. It was only $125, but I am looking to get rid of it. Failed experiment.

I've seen a number of good things about the Audiotrak Prodigy HD2. RCA, Optical, and headphone output, and swappable OpAMP sockets for tweaking. Anybody heard this one? I am tempted as its also only $75.

http://www.audiotrak.net/products/prodigyhd2/

dew.

I saw that card too - looks like a great deal.

I'm currently using a DIYEDEN USB DAC to play FLACS through my office system. I got this DAC for a great price, and it is my first foray into the world of PC music servers.

I am unclear on the pros and cons of using a USB DAC vs a card such as the Audiotrak. Perhaps someone could help me learn...
 
A follow up on the EMU 0404 USB -- it sounds great with USB. I think using it exclusively through the digital input may have been the source of my problem. I also have it on a power conditioner now as well.

dew.
 
I connect the digital output of my mobo directly to my pre/pro and also to my HT receiver in the bedroom. The pre/pro and receiver do the processing/decoding via their internal DACs.

Seems to work fine.
 
I just started with computers as a source. I took my old Compaq Presario laptop and ran it into my Pioneer SX-737 using a Dayton Audio stereo mini into RCA jacks Y adapter plugged into the 737's AUX feed. The laptop runs on my wireless G network and I use it primarily for Internet Radio feeds.

I have a Compaq 6000 small tower that I use for my primary work computer and I also run Winamp/WMP/MediaMonkey/Foobar 2000 on it also for "mood/background" music. I have a couple of Creative SBS50 speakers that sound quite nice and when the wife's back here watching the big screen I switch over to my cheap Takashi wireless headphones ($3.00 at GW) and I can listen without bothering her and if I need to move around, my music follows me!:yes:

Mike :D
 
I have an eight-year-old IBM Aptiva 595 computer with Winamp 5.3 media player. Have many of my CDs on the hard drive and am adding more all the time (have not used the 3-CD changer in my stereo system for years because of that), as well as several Internet radio stations bookmarked in the player. The computer's sound card is connected to an Aiwa NSX-A888 mini bookshelf stereo system, 50wpc (100 total watts for stereo, 200 tw for four-channel surround, but I never got around to getting the surround speakers; just as well, I guess, because I'd probably have the dickens of a time finding space for two extra speakers in my small apartment). Wonderful sound. This is easily the best stereo system I've ever owned in my life, except perhaps for a Zenith 4-mode integrated system I had at my former residence in the early 1980s until 1999. That Zenith system was great in its day as well; tuned-port Allegro 100 speakers, only 5wpc, but very good sound (IMHO) nevertheless.

I like the Winamp media player for many reasons (some day I hope I can run 5.5+ but for now, I must settle for 5.3--my computer's OS doesn't support anything newer than 5.35), but one main reason is its flexibility, afforded by plugins. I have several on my player and just added a new one: reverb and speaker simulator. This small plugin enhances the frequency response of the player such that the sound through headphones approaches that of the audio heard through a stereo system's own speakers; it is also supposed to add reverberation effects to the sound, but I haven't been able to notice any kind of reverb effect yet. No matter. The sound enhancement feature alone makes the plugin worthwhile to have in my system; I won't part with it.

Speaking of headphones, mine are nothing to write home about; just a cheap ($1.99 at Big Lots) pair of Coby headphones, made originally for use with portable CD/MP3 players. No matter, again. These headphones sound just fine to me, especially since I installed the sound enhancement plugin in my Winamp player. That plugin, I think, is what makes the difference when using cheap headphones such as the ones I have; it sharpens and improves the sound just enough to make it sound really good, IMHO. I've only tested these headphones with my own music collection so far, which is mostly 1960s-'70s rock and folk music, although I do intend to give the phones the ultimate acid test (reproduction of classical music) later on as I have bookmarked the Internet stream of New York City classical station WQXR-FM. I'm not that much into classical music, but at least I'll be able to find out what these headphones are made of as far as fidelity goes.
 
I've been pretty disappointed with my EMU 0404 USB. I've been using it with a digital out from my EMU 0404 PCI card. I notice a lot of floor noise. I have not tried it via USB. It was only $125, but I am looking to get rid of it. Failed experiment.

dew.
Did you try using the USB from your computer to see if it sounded any better? I was going to buy one of these, but the release date was put back several times and I got tired of waiting. It sounds like I did not miss much.
 
I connect the digital output of my mobo directly to my pre/pro and also to my HT receiver in the bedroom. The pre/pro and receiver do the processing/decoding via their internal DACs.

Seems to work fine.

Whoareu99 is exactly right. This is the process you want to utilize, not using an onboard soundcard to utilize the el-cheapo DAC's they come with (even the X-fi and equiv.)

My current motherboard in this server is an Intel D975XBX2, which runs a Dolby Digital Live stream direct to the Denon. Previously I had a SB Audigy 2 something something... Only advantage of that fella was the upconvert of the digital signal to 96/24 for passthrough to the AV processor. Jury still out on which was better, but either way you want to run a PCM or some sort of encoded bitstream to the stereo's DAC's, assuming you have some other sort of digital source decoding...

Cheers,
 
A follow up on the EMU 0404 USB -- it sounds great with USB. I think using it exclusively through the digital input may have been the source of my problem. I also have it on a power conditioner now as well.
I have the similar E-MU 0202 USB (same DAC, but no digital out) and agree it sounds great. It is only USB bus-powered. Does the 0404 have a power supply or is it bus-powered?
 
I have the similar E-MU 0202 USB (same DAC, but no digital out) and agree it sounds great. It is only USB bus-powered. Does the 0404 have a power supply or is it bus-powered?

It has a wall wart.

dew.
 
Been reading this thread with interest, as I've started to save my CD's to my laptop for the times that I'm away from my system.

I've dipped my toe into the morass of portable headphone amplifiers, and started out with a Microshar 107B. I've now discovered the world of micro amps with a DAC.... the Practical Devices XM5 and IBASSO BOA being two that pop into mind. Connected to the USB port of a PC is supposed to generate far better music then the Line Out of the laptop.

Being retired, I can't afford to buy several amps to play around with, and $500 head amps are a tad too pricey.

Anyone here have any experience with these or others?? I have AKG K240S phones, and may upgrade one day.

Harvey/ Ga
 
Pics would be helpful

Vesuv1us, or anyone who is having good results, could you post a pic of your setup, including the connections?
I'm having trouble visualizing. Thanks!
 
Htpc

I've been using a PC more and more lately as the source component for my stereo system. Primarily for internet radio bitstreams (128mps mp3). I just got a Chaintech AV-710 sound card for $25 (an upgrade from a $30 Turtle Beach Santa Cruz). I'm very happy with both the analog output (24bit/96mhz) and the digital output.

I've got the onboard sound configured as the default sound for Windows XP; the sound card is only used by my audio player. This is important because the PC (an old 1.0ghz PIII) is the family's 'backup' PC, used by my wife and kids when the newer PC upstairs is in use. Whatever they do (games, web surfing noises) doesn't interrupt my bitstream. :)

Any one else using their PC as source? What are you using?

Yep,I built an HTPC on an AMD 5600 duo-core platform, OS is Linux openSUSE, 4 gigs of 800 Mhz Corsair ram, EVGA 8600 graphics, Diamond XS sound card line-in to Sony STR HT receiver. My mainboard is MSI Neo V6, sounds great! I use Amarok player for now, am learning how to use MPD w/ Minion.
 
My '99 Compaq presario has been assigned music duty. The integrated audio headphone out is patched to my 5.1 reciever and although it picks up some noise, fidling with line level and reciever volume generally yields decent sound. I try to keep 192kbps as my minimum bitrate. I am currently looking into higher quality soundcard-speaker combos.

edit: but at what point does the music format/sampling rate become the fidelity bottleneck?
Im guessing below 1411 (from a CD), or whatever FLAC bit rate is. FLAC is identical quality from a CD. it just has a lower bit rate, and takes up less space
 
Not entirely true. Flac has the same bit rate as the source. There are 24/48, 24/88, 24/96 and 24/192 flac files out there. There are also multichannel flac files. The Flac bubbas have not been standing still.

Im guessing below 1411 (from a CD), or whatever FLAC bit rate is. FLAC is identical quality from a CD. it just has a lower bit rate, and takes up less space
 
I am using an Apple TV with HDMI into a Yamaha RX-V2700 reciever, the centerpiece of my main system. My (somewhat limited) understanding is the the digital signal is processed by the receiver's DACs. The sound is excellent. With Apple TV, I can either stream from itunes on my MAC upstairs or sync the music to the Apple TV directly and play it from there. I actually have synced my itunes from a Lenovo Notebook to the Apple TV and stream my wife's itunes from the Mac - so both are available to play through our main system and in 4 other zones in the house.

We can control these remotely and wirelessly with an app on her iphone or my itouch. So, we can be in the backyard listening to music and have control of the playlists. Pretty cool.

One limitation of our receiver came to light. It won't play a digital source in other zones. The fix is to hook up the Apple TV with RCA cables as well as HDMI, and that works fine.

Has anyone else done this? I think it is so cool that I want to get and Apple Airport Express, plug it in next to my bedroom receiver and hook it up to stream music to the bedroom as well. Has anyone tried this yet?
 
I been using for years a clone Pentium III 733 MHz processor with 256 MB of RAM and three hard drives, (2 are removable) with a M - Audio 7.1 sound card. It sounds pretty good. I recently upgraded the motherboard to an AMD Duron 1.2 GHz with 256 MB of RAM because I have been recently converting my friends cassettes and albums to USB thumb drives, so I needed a motherboard that supports USB 2.0.
 
The Airports are nice little units. I was using about 4 with a PC, J. River Media Center, and an app by Rogue Ameoba named Airfoil which would hijack the audio form an app and push it to any Airport.

Airports have a digital output too which is nice. Some issues reported using N-versions with Sabre chips (i.e. Nova, Eastern Electric DAC) so be aware of that.

If using a PC, now J. River has their own little Airport type device which can be used natively in JRMC which means it acts like iTunes with...only difference is if you have 4 Airports you could push unique audio (or video to another PC) using the zones features.

Pretty sure itunes just has the option to play back one source to one or all zones.....

either way, Mac or PC, it's very nice, especially with outdoor speakers and an iPhone or iTouch!


I am using an Apple TV with HDMI into a Yamaha RX-V2700 reciever, the centerpiece of my main system. My (somewhat limited) understanding is the the digital signal is processed by the receiver's DACs. The sound is excellent. With Apple TV, I can either stream from itunes on my MAC upstairs or sync the music to the Apple TV directly and play it from there. I actually have synced my itunes from a Lenovo Notebook to the Apple TV and stream my wife's itunes from the Mac - so both are available to play through our main system and in 4 other zones in the house.

We can control these remotely and wirelessly with an app on her iphone or my itouch. So, we can be in the backyard listening to music and have control of the playlists. Pretty cool.

One limitation of our receiver came to light. It won't play a digital source in other zones. The fix is to hook up the Apple TV with RCA cables as well as HDMI, and that works fine.

Has anyone else done this? I think it is so cool that I want to get and Apple Airport Express, plug it in next to my bedroom receiver and hook it up to stream music to the bedroom as well. Has anyone tried this yet?
 
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