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Good stero + my PC =uninspiring sound. Yes I'm a noob!

post #1 of 6
2/9/11 at 1:49pm
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone,

 

I have an old PC connected via jack-chinch to my stereo. It's an Yamaha Pianocraft e410 and Bowers&Wilkins 685 speakers.

When listening to music from CD my stereo sounds great! (at last for me)  But when playing music from PC (even that I have a lot of FLAC and 320mp3) there is a crappy flat sound.

 

Tell me please what to do with that. I have 100€ to spend (that's 130$ or 85£)

 

 

PS. I would like some external usb device as I'll be changing this pc to laptop.

cheers, Wojtek

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post #2 of 6
2/10/11 at 1:08pm

USB DAC then?

 

I tried those B&W locally.  Very nice sound.  =]

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post #3 of 6
2/10/11 at 5:43pm
Thread Starter 

thanks, but which one? ;)

 

I've done a little searching, and that's what I can purchase in my local shops:

 

- Fiio E7

- ESI Dr. Dac Nano

- ESI U24 XL

- NuForce Icon Mobile

- NuForce u-Dac2 HP

 

  • Fiio has internal battery, that's cool because it wouldn't steal energy from laptops battery. What's more there'll be an Fiio LOD line-out cable in shops soon, so E7's AMP wouldn't make influence to my Yamaha Pianocraft's AMP (double amp effect). Just pure DAC. http://assets.head-fi.org/4/46/4650455b_db75c5c6_E7cable.jpg
  • other DAC's require power supply via USB (except NF Icon Mobile), but do they perform better?
  • IF I get DAC with battery, can I use it with my smartphone? Will it increase it's performance? (paired with earbuds) I'm planning to buy Samsung Galaxy S (Vibrant in USA) or it's successor with 32GB of memory filled by 320kbps mp3s.

 

BTW. I listen to rock music.

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post #4 of 6
2/10/11 at 5:50pm

Yes, if you get the E7 you should be able to use it with any DAP/smartphone with a headphone out - Fiio also make LOD cables for the iDevice and (most) Sony DAPs (see the specs on e-bay for details) : I personally believe that the analog out using their cheapest iPod LOD is a 150% improvement over the headphone out on my 6G Nano, less so on my old Touch (the worst SQ of any portable I have owned, with the exception of a crappy iRiver model).

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post #5 of 6
2/10/11 at 6:30pm
Thread Starter 

I forgot about prices. Firstly it look that every of these devices are in the same price range.

Then I calculated prices with discounts I have. Now it looks like this:

 

Fiio E7 - 80$

NuForce Icon Mobile - 95$

Nu Force uDAC2 HP - 95$

ESI Dr. DAC NANO - 97$

ESI U24 XL -135$

 

Maybe it would help choosing.

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post #6 of 6
2/13/11 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Demiourgos View Post

Hi everyone,

 

I have an old PC connected via jack-chinch to my stereo. It's an Yamaha Pianocraft e410 and Bowers&Wilkins 685 speakers.

When listening to music from CD my stereo sounds great! (at last for me)  But when playing music from PC (even that I have a lot of FLAC and 320mp3) there is a crappy flat sound.

 

Tell me please what to do with that. I have 100€ to spend (that's 130$ or 85£)

 

 

PS. I would like some external usb device as I'll be changing this pc to laptop.

cheers, Wojtek


confused?  

 

You are comparing a cd on a cd player to flac and mp3?  That is not a comparison, the cd will win every time.  Now put a lossless file on a pc and eliminate all processes that can cause noise and jitter and you have a fighting chance.  A USB dac is not going to cure what is in front of it.  Crappy lossless files or a noisy computer audio transport will effect the whole chain downstream.  Let us know what laptop you plan to buy and what file structure you will  work with and lets go form there.  Without that you are shooting in the dark

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