[i am spartacus]

Hi,
 
I am reasonably uninformed when it comes to computer audio... suffice to say, all I really know is that my laptops sound is some what dissappointing... I use a regular phono lead to connect my laptop to my Denon amplifier, but I wish to improve my sound further... At the moment I have dolby advanced audio v.2 as the default sound on my laptop, but I am soon upgrading this... My first thought was for SRS audio essentials, but am open to suggestions....
I have read about DAC's and sound enhancers etc, but without blindly throwing good money away, I would hope for some guidance... My main hope is to is to improve the overall sound for the music and movies I watch, and improve the sound of streamed music from Spotify and the like...
I wish to be able to use headphones and connect to my Denon amp to listen to the sounds through free standing speakers....Ideally I don't want to spend unnecessary amounts of money experimenting, so any advice will be gratefully received..
 
Cheers in advance.

 

[TheJosablo]

Budget? and which headphones?

 

[i am spartacus]

Don't laugh, but I don't really know, what is a reasonable budget for a novice? I would hate to get all excitable and blow money I don't need to or even want to... But.... lets just say barring my amp which I am replacing with a new Yamaha AS500SI Integrated Amplifier soon, so wouldn't be included in the budget, I don't know, £200 max maybe.. or lower if quality sound improvement is really possible for anything less...
 
As for headphones, again don't laugh...Sony MDR-V55 DJ Stereo Headphones...
 
What do I need to do? DAC etc are confusing, mainly, do I actually need one to connect my computer to my amp? I know I can get sound as is, but would a DAC actually help improve my sound quality... Any advice will be gratefully consumed...
 
And cheers for the reply TheJosablo

 

[TheJosablo]

I would say just get a Fiio E10, It will not improve but get the audio out as it is, which may be an improvement over the EQ of your sound card/onboard sound chip completely, it has a DAC and an Amp in it for headphones which is not necessary for your headphones but will be if you decide to upgrade to better ones in the future and has a line out from the DAC to your integrated amplifier! cheers back to you kind internet stranger and Welcome to head-fi! we are sorry about your wallet.  

 

[i am spartacus]

Ha, Thanks for the concern... Its not so hard hit, but gentle management is always needed....
 
Thanks for the Eiio suggestion, I have never heard of these before, but have had a quick look at some reviews and at the product, and am pleasantly suprised by what some of the reviews claim... If only I had buckets of cash, I can only imagine what sound sounds like when you really start spending big money... for me though, this seems like the perfect starting point...
 
I use JRiver media to listen to my music and watch movies, but do you know off any good softwares to improve my online streaming sound quality..or am I looking for too much? could the Eiio be as good or better than any new software...? I have recently installled SRS audio essentials in place of the basic software that came with my computer, and I'm already enjoying vastly improved sound... But... and I say this more out of curiosity, this has to be just on the bottom rung of the sound ladder right. any clues..? 
 
Again, Cheers.

 

[TheJosablo]

Fiio does do its job, jriver is perfect for media, I've used it before and I think its amazing and way better than VLC media player that a lot of people use. But for now worry about the Fiio, and later you can pm me for any other concerns or start another thread and I might see you there! You don't have to say cheers everytime haha! Happy hunting!

 

[Makiah S]

Fiio does do its job, jriver is perfect for media, I've used it before and I think its amazing and way better than VLC media player that a lot of people use. But for now worry about the Fiio, and later you can pm me for any other concerns or start another thread and I might see you there! You don't have to say cheers everytime haha! Happy hunting!

Ugh VLC is gross, I also like jRiver for Movies and such
 
with regards to a Dac OP, a dac is what "cleans" the audio before it get's to the amp. So the amp, amplifies good or bad, what ever is there when it get's to your amp will be amplified. And what we find is most Computers, tablets, pcs, macs, ect... are very "dirty" when it comes to the sound right from the unit
 
so a Dac, works through USB or Optical, and offers a cleaner sound, the amp in turns has a better sound to work with
 
an example would be food, If I have a patatoe and I don't wash it, the final product will have dirt in it. I could cook the patatoe on the BEST STOVE, with the BEST BUTTER, with the GREATEST sour cream, but there's still going to be dirt in it and it's going to be noticeable and take away from everything else.
 
So do prevent having that "dirt" I would wash the patatoe before I cook it to remove the dirt or impurities, a dac does something simmilar. It provides a cleaner sound, even a cheap ole dac like a Berringher UAC 202 
 
what that little unit does is give you a clean signal to amp and offer a nice improvement to the headphone Port on your computer, what is also does is give you a Digital out, that you can daisy chain into higher priced gear and what not.