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Using a DAC with my office computer : how to do it?

post #1 of 6
12/18/10 at 5:33am
Thread Starter 

Hello

 

Seems to be a newbies questions but I would really appreciate your help...

So here is the problem: at my office, I have a Dell computer with an integrated chipset to manage sound (there is not a 'true' soundcard) and want to use a DAC to listen music with best quality ((I'm looking for the marvelous hifiman hm-602).

 

My question is how to use / connect a DAP with such a configuration?

Do my computer need to have what we call an "optical output"?

Or can I simply connect the DAC to an USB port? 

       => If yes how the DAC would be recongnize? Do I need a special software? Again would it be possible with only an integrated sound chipset?

 

Thanks

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post #2 of 6
12/18/10 at 10:26am

How you connect it to your PC depends on your PC and on the DAC. Many connect via usb or s/pdif, which can be optical or electrical. Either way it just depends on what your computer can output and what the DAC can take as input. USB will obviously work with almost anything, and just look on the back of your computer for a spdif/optical connection. So no, you dont "need" to have a optical connection, however many argue that it gives better quality, idk myself. BTW optical just means that it uses light, carried over fiber, to transmit the data instead electricity over a copper wire.

 

Once you connect the DAC it should be as simple as going into your computer control panel, selecting sound, and set the default device to your DAC.

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post #3 of 6
12/18/10 at 11:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xazen View Post

How you connect it to your PC depends on your PC and on the DAC. Many connect via usb or s/pdif, which can be optical or electrical. Either way it just depends on what your computer can output and what the DAC can take as input. USB will obviously work with almost anything, and just look on the back of your computer for a spdif/optical connection. So no, you dont "need" to have a optical connection, however many argue that it gives better quality, idk myself. BTW optical just means that it uses light, carried over fiber, to transmit the data instead electricity over a copper wire.

 

Once you connect the DAC it should be as simple as going into your computer control panel, selecting sound, and set the default device to your DAC.



Thank you for your answer. The HM-602 is a USB DAC (it is also a portable player) so I guess it cannot be connected using optical connection.

So if I understood, once the DAC is connected it simply appears in the audio devices of the control panel : I just set the DAC instead of the speakers and that's all. Am I right?

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post #4 of 6
12/18/10 at 11:46am

It depends if on the DAC if you need to install anything.. Did it come with a CD or instructions? My Matrix Dac just simply plugged straight into my computer and worked from the second I turned it on fresh out of the box. No installation necessary but then I guess it depends on what your using it for (speakers, headphones etc..)

 

 

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post #5 of 6
12/19/10 at 10:32am

when i used my hm-602 as a dac i didnt have to install any software etc. it would all depend if the computer administrator has set the system so you cannot install new hardware devices or not as to if it would work

 

if you can put a usb data stick in to test and it reads it ok you should be fine as that requires windows to install the device also

 

hpoe this helps

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post #6 of 6
12/20/10 at 3:59am

DAC simply appears as external sound card without any extra programs needed to be installed.

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