regalma1;184943 Wrote: > You wrote that you had an RCA connection between your computer and your > receiver. I am assuming that this is an analog connection, not SPDIF. > Most computer sound cards are pretty poor quality. Why not make a > connection to your receiver from your USB port. You can either buy an > external DAC or you could get a USB to SPDIF convertor (coax or > Toslink, either is dirt cheap compared to a good DAC). > > I would buy the convertor first and see how you like it. And create > some lossless files to do an A/B comparison with your MP3 files. I > don't know what, if any, losseless files Winamp supports, though I have > read that there is a FLAC plug in for it. For the time being try > downloading www.monkeyaudio.com. It is free. I just started using it > and am pretty much impressed so far. Much easier than the other > favorite here, Foobar2000. Be sure to rerip your CD for the lossless > files. Converting MP3 to lossless is pointless, though I am sure you > already know that. > > I am using USB connection to a MP-Audio Transit ($80 on EBay), which > converts it to Toslink, feeding that into my pure digital equalizer > then into my receiver where it it converted to analog. I am pretty darn > happy with this. > > If you are still not happy with this setup buy a DAC with a USB input. > There are lots of audiophile versions available from about $500 on up. > Just do a search in this forum on the subject. Though there are people > who participate in this forum who feel USB is awful there are high end > DAC designers who think USB from a computer with lossless files is the > best possible way of playing digital music, better than any CD player. > > > There are also people who think Toslink is horrible, yet I can't find a > single test to confirm this. These people may very well be happy > listening to their SB or Transporter through WiFi. If they were > familiar with the circuitry involved with electrical to RF and RF to > electrical conversion, and the compromises needed I think they would be > amazed. Electrical to optical and O to E is such much simpler and less > compromised. > > Anyway, my feeling is don't let all our opinions color your listening > experience. Decide for yourself. > > One other thing. I would recommend against the Transporter. I am sure > is very good electronics. But, ater living with the Squeezebox for over > a year I have abondoned it and Slimserver because of the overhead. When > they work they work very well. But I have found Slimserver to not be a > robust program. It seemed everytime I tinkered with my computer I would > lose Slimserver and have to play around till I got it back up. Some > people like doing this, some of us are tired of always working on their > computers just so we can use them. I read a definition of technology > recently that went something like: technology is an idea that doesn't > work well yet.
I recognize the inherent issues with Toslink, but I agree that these certainly can be worked through and that it is not "horrible." However, the comparison between Toslink and wireless networking is inappropriate. The former has stringent synchronization requirements that make a difference in the audio output, where even small disruptions in the timing can cause the dreaded jitter. The latter is asynchronous and can easily recover even when it drops entire network packets. In the case of wireless streaming to a SB or Transporter, as long as the next sequential packet arrives in good order before the buffer runs out, the audio output should be unaffected. If it does not arrive in time, you get an obvious drop-out or stutter. >From an underlying protocol standpoint, they are apples and oranges. -- jeffmeh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ jeffmeh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3986 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=33197 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
