I want to set up a computer as source setup for my home.

[arnesto]

I am a totally new to the computer as source thing.

I am in the process of setting up a system.

So far I have an external hard drive,
an old desktop with sound blaster 16bit.

I found out last night that my computer only has USB 1.0 PCI card so I need to upgrade that to a USB 2.0 PCI card to use my new external hard drive.

If I get foobar downloaded to my PC to play tunes.
What else do I need?
I want to connect my PC to my home stereo that only accepts analogue RCA inputs.

What do I need to send a digital out from my computer to an analogue in to my home stereo receiver?

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[Voltron]

Changed my answer after reading your sig/profile. It seems you have a Lavry DA10, so you just need to get a digital signal to that. If your pc has no s/pdif or toslink digital output, and neither does your sound card, then you might have to just go with an adapter cable that connects to the line-out on the card on one end and RCA plugs on the other.

 

[Sarchi]

Yep it sounds like you need a USB DAC. A relatively new thing, but there are many available at every price point. Here are two links with good background info. (they were helpful to me, anyhow)

http://diyparadise.com/computer_audio.html

http://www.stereophile.com/artdudley...ten/index.html

 

[arnesto]

Thanks for the info. blokes.

So it looks like either way I need to upgrade my sound card.

Because my sound card only has a headphone out and a 1/16 inch speaker output.

I guess my 2 options are, get a sound card with a USB output, that I can connect to an external DAC with a USB input.

Does the computer's USB output have to be from the sound card? or will it work with any USB PCI card on the computer?

Or find a sound card with an analogue output that I can connect directly to my home stereo receiver's analogue RCA input.

 

[utilisateur]

USB is just a digital interface standart, so infact there is no soundcard with USB output. A USB-DAC just communicates with the PC using the USB protocol and gets its data this way (there are several threads around explainig the different possibilities here).

Quote:

Originally Posted by utilisateur Well if you have a DA10 your best bet would be to get a PC card or external interface to get a Digital output. There is a recent thread about AES interfaces here If this is for a second setup and you dont want to use your Lavry you have the possibility of either getting a nice internal or external Soundcard,Soundcard+anotherDAC or a USB-DAC So mostly a question of your budget and expectations once the role of your Lavry is cleared

 

[Voltron]

I am not a soundcard option expert at all but both the popular Emu 0404 and M-Audio Audiophile 192 soundcards have digital outs in s/pdif and could feed your DA10 nicely. Then you can connect that to your stereo through the analog outs, and if you need RCAs then you can use a cable or a connector that goes from XLR to RCA. That seems like a nice way to do it.

If you want to buy a new Benchmark DAC1 USB or Wavelength Brick or Cosecant or any number of other options, then you could just upgrade your USB card for both your hard drive and your DAC.

 

[Agent Kang]

You can also check out Squeezebox

 

[arnesto]

I get it now, I think I will get the emu0404 and hook that up to my Lavry.
Then use an XLR to RCA adapter to hook the DAC to my receiver. That should work out nice.

I was also checking out the Squeezebox, but I figure going over the airwave will reduce the sound quality. This may sound weird, but I'm not too crazy about having more invisible frequencies bouncing off my body.

 

[sejarzo]

I would highly recommend making up your own female XLR to RCA cables instead of using adapters, unless you are absolutely sure of how the adapter is wired internally. The Lavry manual explains the best way to configure a cable to connect the XLR outputs to RCA's.

 

[Ogresmash]

A 0404 would get the job done, but it's a bit overkill if you're just going to be using it to output a digital signal. There are a plethora of cards that can do bit-perfect digital output for half to a fourth of the cost of a 0404.

 

[mow_the_hawk]

AV-710 is bit perfect correct? If it is, it costs $25 and just run that to your Lavry DA-10. Also as mentioned above, a sqeezebox would be ideal if your stereo is not in the same room as your computer.

 

[Maniac]

For Lavry stuff, I suggest switching their crystal lock off, and set it to narrow lock. The sound will become much more detailed and transparent than when you set it to crystal lock.

It is quite an interesting comparison... It seems that crystal lock is only for the very, very difficult to lock source...

 

[utilisateur]

Although i have no experience with the later i'd also like to throw the TrendsAudio UD10 in the game as it is the cheapest device offering AES output i know

 

[xenithon]

If you have something as good as the Lavry, I would not skimp on the interface. I would consider something from Empirical Audio such as the Freeway or Off-Ramp Turbo.

 

[Agent Kang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnesto /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was also checking out the Squeezebox, but I figure going over the airwave will reduce the sound quality.

It won't. Squeezebox is a really good transport for the price.