Alternatives to CD player?

A media-PC is a possiblity, you can either use the onboardsound analogue out, buy a dedicated soundcard or use the USB-out through a DAC (with amp is so desired) with USB in.

Alternatively, look at a solution like f.i. the Squeezebox Touch. It reads your musicfiles from your PC through wifi or network cable, but can also read from USB-stick or HD. You get tons of extra like internetradio and a million apps.

"There are no stupid questions, just stupid people." - Mr. Garrison, South Park Elementary

(kidding...)

I get the impression that cheap is good.

Inexpensive DAC/amps like the Total Bithead and Nuforce uDac will take the USB output from your computer and have built-in headphone amps.

Cost: ~$160 and ~$100, respectively. Both devices get decent reviews and should serve your needs well. You could also use the cheap iPod LOD (see below) with your amp for music on the go. Or just use the iPod alone.

It is perfectly acceptable (in terms of SQ) to run the output from an iPod/LOD to a line-level input on an amp (integrated amp, receiver, dedicated headphone amp etc). It is a line-level signal, so the iPod isn't powering anything. The signal from the LOD is routed to the amp and you're done. You will have volume control on the amp itself. I have found the SQ quality using a cheap LOD to be better than the headphone out for every iPod/iPhone that I've tested

Cost:  ~$15 or less. You can also find nice headphone amps for $100 or less (PA2V2, Total Airhead, I think some iBasso models).

Please DON'T get sucked into buying a specialized music PC or other expensive equipment (including pricey LODs). There is a lot of inexpensive equipment out there that gets the job done. You are on a tight budget and far better off spending your cash on music. Or going to hear live music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnival 

Hello again, Head-fiers! First of all, let me start by apologizing if this is a stupid thing to ask, trying to cure the newbieness bit by bit :) So I was thinking today about buying a desktop set up eventually when my starving college student budget allows me to do such a thing. 

However, I do not have a CD player, nor am I terribly thrilled about the idea of getting one for the reason of not owning physical copies of most CDs I own. (Ripped in lossless from other people's CDs and whatnot.) I didn't want to have to go out and buy a bunch of CDs or burn my entire music library to disks.

 

So is there an alternative to a CD player? I wondered if USB to RCA was feasible, something like http://www.hilightec.com/productDetail.asp?cid1=3&id=105 run through a DAC + headphone amp, or if that wasn't something ordinarily done.

 

Secondly, is an iPod LOD to RCA cable is a reasonable thing to do for a full sized amp? I recall seeing some posts in the past about people doing this, and I had doubts about an iPod being able to power a full sized amp. Am I wrong to think that?

 

Or is the way to go just find a DAC/AMP that has a USB input?

 

Anyway, thanks for looking, again, forgive me if this is stupid!

 

Cheers,

carnival

 

 

(sorry for the URL dump there, can't figure out how to hyperlink on here.)

If you have a USB DAC - that's what the "USB to RCA" box you link to is, and there are lots, some of them quite decent and cheap - and a CD drive on your computer, then you in fact have a CD player.  iTunes and other music players will play your CDs, the DAC will take digital output via USB, and you're in business.  Same setup will play your other digital files, stream internet radio, etc.  You'll need an amp as well, to drive your 'phones or speakers; some are bundled with the DAC, or there are separates.

Yes, basically it sounds like you just want a nice little all-in-one dac amp unit.  The uDac is not terrible, but, depending on your threshold of pain price-wise, check out also the FiiO E7 (which has the added benefit of being a portable headphone amp as well, so if you get one of their 5 buck LODs you can use it with your iPod too), the HiFiman EF2a or the Carat Emerald. 

It depends on the DAC/amp.

I believe there are iBasso DAC/amp combos that allow you to do everything: use DAC alone with output to amp, use as DAC/amp, use as amp with other input (e.g., output from iPod LOD).

I made an error above with the uDAC. I don't think that one can be used as an amp alone (no input in addition to the USB for the DAC).

The Bithead cannot be used as a stand-alone DAC (no line level output) without double-amping (output from one amp used as input for another).

A laptop, if you have one, with a good external soundcard like a 0404 Usb will give you the best bang for the buck and convenience to play music from lossless files. It has an high quality AKM dac chip, good analog output, will play even high resolution files unlike most driver-less usb DACs, and it will also act as a standalone converter with s/pdif input.

I guess 'not powering anything' was a poor description on my part. Using the LOD allows the user to tap into the line-level signal and bypass the iPod's headphone amplifier. You then feed the output to your amplifier of choice.

Using:

iPod --> LOD --> amp --> ?? (headphones or loudspeakers)

is functionally equivalent to:

Cd player --> amp -->??

Cd player --> DAC --> amp --> ??

Computer --> USB DAC --> amp -->??
 

etc.

In each case (including the iPod --> LOD), a line-level signal is sent to the amplifier. Volume is controlled at the amplifier.

The sound quality using the iPod --> LOD (assuming that the amp and headphones are always the same) depends upon the type of file compression used (LOTS of info on this site about that). Many people that frequent this site use this type of rig with good results.

I used an iPod as a line-level source with a decent amplifier and good headphones for about a year after my CD player died (too lazy to shop for a new one). I recently picked-up a new budget player and DAC.

Does the iPod line-level source provide the same sound quality as the budget CD player alone? No. Not even when the iPod is playing lossless files.

As the CD player feeding an external DAC? Definitely not.

Is the iPod line-level source adequate for a college student on a tight budget who could be spending her/his money on other things (like recordings or live music)? Absolutely.

If you can afford better equipment, go for it. If not, make the best use of what you have. You can improve your current setup relatively inexpensively using some of the suggestions in this thread.

I would give the cheap iPhone LOD a whirl first to see how you like it and then proceed from there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnival 

Does the sound suffer at all with the source being an iPod? You said the iPod isn't powering anything, so what role is it really playing then?

 

 

What would the difference be between doing that and using a different source?

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnival 

Cheers nycbone. That helps a lot.

 

I know that nothing will match the sound of a nice CD player, but for now we'll see. Later on down the road there might be  budget room for a nice home set up

Actually your're further ahead than you think (I think).  While audiophiles argue about it, transports matter very little (if at all); the quality of the DAC is the most important element in how a CD player sounds.  Your computer's CD player into a good DAC will sound great.  Nycbone's advice above about using an iPod as a source is exactly right, but note also that you probably have all your iPod files on your computer, and those files played into a good DAC/amp will sound considerably better than the iPod's line out into an amp.  You can do very, very well along these lines for not too much money.  My Centrance DACport, fed lossless files by USB, sounds better for $399 than my iMod/fancy caps dock/fancy interconnect/high quality portable amp - a lot better - and nearly as good as my desktop amp.  And it's portable, so you can take it to the library.  I think you'll be very happy with something along these lines.