http://www.head-fi.org/forums/ Discussion of computers as source components, sound cards, USB DACs, media servers, etc. en Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:46:34 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.head-fi.org/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.head-fi.org/forums/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/bit-perfect-through-hdmi-my-laptop-456544/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:35:31 GMT Hi I have HP HDX 16 laptop with Vista 64-bit with HDMI output. Is it possible using Foobar+WASAPI plugin to get totally bit perfect signal to my... Hi
I have HP HDX 16 laptop with Vista 64-bit with HDMI output. Is it possible using Foobar+WASAPI plugin to get totally bit perfect signal to my receiver without using any additional sound cards? ]]> Computer Audio safraneczek http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/bit-perfect-through-hdmi-my-laptop-456544/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/any-way-choose-upsample-squeezebox-456497/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:09:17 GMT Hello, Newbie here. Is there anyway that I can upsample my music via software? I would like to be able to choose frequency/sample rate. My... Hello,

Newbie here. Is there anyway that I can upsample my music via software? I would like to be able to choose frequency/sample rate. My understanding is that Apple Computers can do this.

Can I do this with a PC running a Squeezebox classic?

thanks!

Skibum ]]> Computer Audio skibum http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/any-way-choose-upsample-squeezebox-456497/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/gaming-headset-456490/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:10:23 GMT So,I got a pair of Logitech G35's a few months ago, and I have never owned a pair of higher end head phones before this, so the sound blew me away. I was extremely impressed with the positional audio that it offered me. Alas,
there was a problem, (that was apparently well known to logitech) with the mic making a high pitched hum.They said that it would be fixed without a few weeks, but its been about a month since they said that, so i'm kind of getting disgusted with logitech (previous "fanboy" of them) Now I have been on the never ending quest to find the best possible gaming headset available to me (without paying stupid amounts of money, lol).

I have been mulling around these forums for a bit. I found out that most people will agree that the audio quality of the headphones that offer "5.1 or 7.1" isn't as good as it should be for the price. However, I really enjoyed the surround sound experience that the logitech g35's offered me. So I tried looking in the higher end surround sound headsets, and ended up finding the Astro a40's, and the Pysko 5.1's.

The Psyko 5.1's didn't really suit me from what I can tell, but I read some good and bad reviews about the A40's. Eventually I figured, the A40 headset is probably not the best that it could be for the price you are paying for it, but the mixamp will be worth it for dolby encoder.

So, I decided heck, why not get the best of both worlds,ill mix the mixamp with some other type of high quality stereo headphone, and probably a zalman mic or something of the sort. I have a few questions about this however.

I need a good quality closed stereo pair(I need them for late night gaming sessions) of headphones that is good for gaming, I have been looking at the HD448, and the Denon Ah-D1001. I was wondering if these would be good for any gaming, and if not, what should I be looking at? If either of these do need an amp, will the mixamp cover it? I will be connecting this to my onboard sound on my laptop, or I will be using the TOSlink option from my HDTV through an HDMI setup.

Also, my last question is, if anyone has any experience with the astro a40 mixamp, how well does it do surround, and what will it sound like with a nice high quality pair of headphones? Will it be a significant improvement from the g35 headset?

Thanks for the help! ]]> Computer Audio FattyMcFatFatFatty http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/gaming-headset-456490/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/how-would-you-build-perfect-computer-audio-456481/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:37:17 GMT recentely i started to use my desktop computer as a transport to my headroom UM dac, mainly because of the need for EQ...otherwise i would keep using... recentely i started to use my desktop computer as a transport to my headroom UM dac, mainly because of the need for EQ...otherwise i would keep using my marantz cd player.
I definitely can say that the sound is pretty good, without any noticable noises and interferences.
my current setup is: computer (foobar+asio)> dac> earmax (or any other of my amps)> and mainly the hd650...i didn't tried my other cans yet.

now that i have reached the desireable EQ for my hd650 i will continue to experiment with all my other gear as well. ah..and i also have a kimber usb cable on its way.
I just hope that my (noisy) and bulky desktop computer is not holding me back. if there is a weak link in this setup it would be the computer.
would you recommend using a different computer for audio only?

if you were building the "perfect" computer for audio transferring,what parts would you use? motherboard,usb jacks, operating system etc... without spending a lot of money...sort of bang for the buck audiophile computer.
or just get a mac and getting it over with..? ]]> Computer Audio plonter http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/how-would-you-build-perfect-computer-audio-456481/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/quick-question-456445/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:25:03 GMT Well as some of you know due to the mass amount of questions I've been making lately, I've got an Auzentech HTHD sound card, and am picking up an amp and POSSIBLY a DAC to accompany it.

I'm set on the HeadRoom Micro line of products at this point. I've got just a couple questions.

1. If I were to only buy the amp, how would I hook it up to the sound card? Would I just use a mini to mini interconnect and go from the headphone out of the HTHD to the line in of the amp, or is there a different way to hook it up?

If I use a mini to mini from headphone out to line in, wouldn't the built in amp from the HTHD headphone out cause some effect on the sound? If so, would you consider this a positive or negative thing? Listening with D5000s.

2. Some people have said that they would NEVER use a sound card analog output, as there is too much noise in the PC to interfere with it. Would the HR Micro DAC make THAT much of a difference to the quality, or is the built in DAC on the HTHD alright and the PC noise itself won't make much of a difference?

I'm already $150 over budget on my rig before I buy any amp or DAC, so I'm hoping the amp alone will be fine, but if no external DAC is going to make music sound like crap I'll spring for one... ]]> Computer Audio Necrolic http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/quick-question-456445/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/usb-quality-does-make-any-difference-456403/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:56:21 GMT Is there any difference in quality between the digital audio coming out of a cheap mother board's USB sockets vs a high quality USB out? I have a relatively cheap motherboard in my PC and also a Mac Book Pro (no idea of the quality), so I'm wondering, given the same DAC, amp and headphones, would the sound be exactly the same? An educated guess says the quality won't make any difference, it's all down to the DAC/amp/phones, but in this game, I wouldn't be surprised it it did mater :).

Hope that makes sense!

Dave. ]]> Computer Audio digitaldave http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/usb-quality-does-make-any-difference-456403/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/reasonable-next-step-my-computer-setup-456362/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:54:12 GMT Hey guys

I'm afraid of my PC being a bottleneck in my new system. You see, I have a HEED CanAmp and a set of AKG K701's on my way, and I'll be using my PC as source.

The PC is pretty new, and is a pretty capable stationary rig, but it only has an onboard sound card. The onboard card does have optical/toslink out, though.

As I want to get the most out of my new components, would a decent (USB-)DAC be a reasonable purchase? Would I need another sound card as well, or can I use the optical out that's already on my board? If i've understood things right, the optical out bypasses the soundcards' mixer, and then everythings ok? ]]> Computer Audio snik http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/reasonable-next-step-my-computer-setup-456362/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/driver-support-question-456359/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:41:20 GMT if i get a internal sound card now and lets say later Microsoft comes out with a new OS and the company that made my sound card decides to not... if i get a internal sound card now and lets say later Microsoft comes out with a new OS and the company that made my sound card decides to not release new drivers, then will my sound card be screwed? an expensive paperweight? has anyone ever had this problem with older sound cards and windows? what about linux? ]]> Computer Audio expxe http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/driver-support-question-456359/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/crackling-sound-when-skipping-through-song-456336/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:32:01 GMT This happens using winamp and foobar. When I grab the slider and move it to another point in the song there is an instant of "crackling" it almost sounds like a record needle is being dropped onto the record, that tick and pop dust sound. Its very faint but its there.

This is def a computer problem.

Also another instance of this occurs listening to classical piano music, when it goes from quiet to very loud slamming on the piano I can hear it get distorted its the same sound as described above. I can't hear this when I listen to rock music because there aren't many instances of a pure single sound like the piano.


This is on a 2.4ghz 1gig ram, fresh install of student xp sp3.

Any ideas of what might be causing this and how to fix it? ]]> Computer Audio BauhausBold http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/crackling-sound-when-skipping-through-song-456336/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/essence-stx-amp-question-456325/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:06:56 GMT Hey there,

I've got a set of Sennheiser HD555 which are rated at 50Ω. Is there any advantage/disadvantage/no effect of using the high gain setting on the Asus Xonar Essence STX which I believe is labeled as >64Ω? ]]> Computer Audio Saucerful http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/essence-stx-amp-question-456325/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/uca202-just-22-50-bhphto-456313/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:15:00 GMT Behringer | UCA202 USB/Audio Interface | UCA202 | B&H Photo Video

Free Shipping USA
Offer ends 11/24/2009

I just want usb to spdif so this is perfect for me. When I search for low price, I find that. ]]> Computer Audio hupple http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/uca202-just-22-50-bhphto-456313/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/auzen-x-fi-forte-7-1-surround-speakers-questions-noob-456242/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:45:53 GMT I'm looking for a 5.1 setup for my computer. The first step is getting a sound card, I think. Currently, I'm using on-board sound with my headset (Sennheiser HD 555).

Is the Forte a good choice?

I will use it for the following, listed in order of importance and frequency:

1) gaming
2) music
3) watching movies/tv shows

I still plan on using my headset, so ideally I want a card that's good for my headset as well as a 5.1 speaker setup. On that note, any recommendations for speaker setups? I am unsure about getting a 5.1 speaker set thats labeled "computer speakers" because of bad experiences in the past (logitceh, altec lansing, etc.).

Should I get a 5.1 speaker set with a receiver, or just a speaker set, or buy speakers individually...? There seem to be so many options, I don't know where to start (which is also why I don't have a price range yet).

One final question I have: Does the Forte require any processes to be running in the background in order for me to experience all of its features (EAX, dts, etc.)? I really hate this, one of my pet peeves...

I'd appreciate suggestions, recommendations and advice. ]]> Computer Audio dfn http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/auzen-x-fi-forte-7-1-surround-speakers-questions-noob-456242/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/midi-question-456237/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:24:08 GMT what is the difference between 1x1 and 2x2 and are there other options? expxe what is the difference between 1x1 and 2x2 and are there other options?

expxe ]]> Computer Audio expxe http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/midi-question-456237/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/grado-225i-sound-card-456221/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:50:57 GMT I recently decided to buy a grado 225i with a zero 24bit dac/amp and i decided to upgrade my pc's sound card as well. Does anybody have any recommendations on a good sound card for the grado 225i's? ]]> Computer Audio thatt1guy http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/grado-225i-sound-card-456221/ http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/creative-x-fi-usb-popping-static-456214/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:04:47 GMT I'm not quite sure what the problem is but when I plug my usb sound card into one laptop I get static but another it sounds fine.

Older Dell Inspiron 4100 - Static (This is my current Media Server hooked up to my amplifier)
Asus EEE 900A - No static. (Going to use this with Foo HTTP)

I tried everything in the settings and nothing changed. I assume its some form of isolation or interference from the laptops hardware vs the Asus which is a very low power unit and doesn't cause interference.

Any suggestions? Maybe a USB PCMCIA card would solve this? ]]> Computer Audio Zaluss http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/creative-x-fi-usb-popping-static-456214/