[qedao]

Hello everyone:
Sorry for my english.

I Just buildt a fanless pc to use as a source for playing my mp3 colection, i got a integrated amp:
KENWOOD ƒvƒŠƒƒCƒ“ƒAƒ“ƒvKA-1001G‚ÌŽd—l ƒPƒ“ƒEƒbƒh
and speakers:
ONKYO ƒXƒs[ƒJ[ƒVƒXƒeƒ€D-77XG‚ÌŽd—l ƒIƒ“ƒLƒ‡[
Both a little old but very very cheap here in japan

I want to feed the amp with the rca out from a sound card or a external dac. what would be a good option for this?

the ones i have in mind are:
as a dac: the styleaudio hd1v (6moons audio reviews: Styleaudio Carat HD1V)

as a soundcard: the onkyo se-200pci (PCI DIGITAL AUDIO BOARD SE-200PCI „* TOP)

anyone has experience with this two units?
One problem with the se-200 is that only has windows drivers

Any advice welcome

 

[linuxworks]

external dac. the card you listed does have spdif out. in fact, its more card than you need if you only want digital out.

even usb-spdif converters are fine (no need to waste a pci slot anymore on 'sound').

 

[wavoman]

Funny, this is the second thread with the same question in as many days!

Outboard USB DAC, no question. The USB from your computer, into the hdv1, then into your integrated AMP will sound great (if your MP3's are OK!).

 

[ForTiNeRo]

little old? i dont really know the amp, but those speakers are amazing =) congratz

 

[olblueyez]

You want an external dac, coax would be first choice and optical second, leaving USB third. USB wont support hi-rez rips. Do you have a price range?

 

[linuxworks]

coax = optical. zero difference in sound quality. zero.

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif coax = optical. zero difference in sound quality. zero.

Actually coax and optical both = spdif.

 

[linuxworks]

yes of course, coax and optical both are spdif. the phys layer differs but the payload, once converted to binary, is identical.

that's my point. the payload is IDENTICAL. therefore the sound is identical.

every single rmaa I've run shows identical results on coax and opto. urban myth that people keep perpetuating that one 'sounds' better.

they 'sound' identical because they are identical payloads, varying only in the electrical realization.

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes of course, coax and optical both are spdif. the phys layer differs but the payload, once converted to binary, is identical. that's my point. the payload is IDENTICAL. therefore the sound is identical. every single rmaa I've run shows identical results on coax and opto. urban myth that people keep perpetuating that one 'sounds' better. they 'sound' identical because they are identical payloads, varying only in the electrical realization.

Did it ever occur to you that by using coax for his computer that would leave him a free optical port that is sure to be used on an A\V system like that? I dont know about you but for me there are never enough optical inputs. Thats all.

Linux Guys

 

[linuxworks]

picking a media type to keep ports free, THAT makes good sense. I'd never argue against port-count on devices

I thought you were saying that one was preferred over the other for SQ (?)

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by linuxworks /img/forum/go_quote.gif picking a media type to keep ports free, THAT makes good sense. I'd never argue against port-count on devices I thought you were saying that one was preferred over the other for SQ (?)

Nah, I just had to ditch a pioneer ipod dock to make room for a ROKU, I wish I had four more optical jacks. Damn Roku has no power switch so you cant turn it off and let that input on the TV default to RCA for my dock. Pissed me off. Anyway, I was just trying to be practical.

 

[qedao]

Thanks everyone for the answers:

Now i got more doubts, one never stop learning ...

If I am not worng, the hd1v only have usb imput ?
This is a important demerit against using the pci card that should be able to use 24/192 out of the box, isnt it?

All my mp3 are rips from cd, so all is 16/44.1 (i belive). The 24/192 content is very expensive to get still.

Also the card claims 115db s/n and the hd1v only 98db, that is not determinant in terms of SQ ?

to fortinero: the speakers had many scraches and i paid about 150 dollars but their sound is charming, the amp is only sold in japan i think and i dont like so much, i dont like kenwood and i want to get an old marantz again soon.

 

[qedao]

Hi everyone:

I reply to my own post in the hope that my newbie experience can help others.

I could get very cheap both the card (not the se-200 but the se-90) and te DAC Styleaudio HD1v.

I got the card first and i felt a great improvement over the onboard card, i thought that was a good quality.

then i got the DAC and the sound is quite different, more "spatial" the instruments can be heard more separatedly and i can heard a little more details.

Nevertheless the DAC gives less bass, maybe is because i do not have the ac adaptor and use it bus powered, who knows.

I dont know if when we talk about the "electromagnetical noise inside the pc case" this should be translate into audible noise to the speakers or just a lower sound quality?? Anyway i can say that in my case both the card or the dac were free of any audible noise.

All this is from a total newbie and tested on the speakers and amp that appears in the first post and also on my grado SR80.

Thank you all.

 

[linuxworks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif wish I had four more optical jacks.

I have to kick myself to get this project completed - sounds like you could use something like this:

(it has a user settable and name-able lcd and IR remote for input selection)


I've been using it the past few months and it seems quite transparent to me (its just relaying bits, after all).

this version has 3 optos ins and 1 coax in; with dual media outs at the same time.

the chip can support up to 8 inputs of any kind.


I should really get off my butt and finish/publish this DIY project. you could be one of my first test subject (lol).