[mikee898]

I have a Dell Inspiron with crappy sound.. and I want to improve it! I don't have an amp and will be using this setup for speakers and headphones.

Sooo... what do I need between my laptop and my headphones, excluding an amp?

I want to spend 100$ or less.

I don't know where DACs fit into this, or soundcards, or usb stuff or any of it. I don't know if there's just one thing I need between the laptop and my headphones, or if there's several parts?

Fill me in! and any recommendations for 100$ or less would be great.

 

[HardHeadCase]

HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

Total Bithead,,,,,its all you need and its 150 bucks.

Look for a used one in the forums

 

[infinitesymphony]

Internal sound cards tend to be the least expensive, but since you have a laptop, you'll probably have to go with something external (and more expensive). You'll probably want a DAC/amp combo to get the best value.

Increase your budget and look at the HeadRoom Total BitHead or the E-MU 0404 USB. The 0404 USB has significantly better parts and specs.

 

[phendric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif Internal sound cards tend to be the least expensive, but since you have a laptop, you'll probably have to go with something external (and more expensive). You'll probably want a DAC/amp combo to get the best value. Increase your budget and look at the HeadRoom Total BitHead or the E-MU 0404 USB. The 0404 USB has significantly better parts and specs.

Rather than start a new thread, I'd rather just continue this thread, since my question is similar.

I also have a Dell laptop (an Inspiron E1405/640m, Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, Vista Home Premium) which also has junkie sound (no bass, I don't know the sound card, but the driver is an HD driver by Sigmatel).

I use iTunes as my music player (everything is in AAC 128 kbps or 256 kbps format), and listen through UE super.fi 5 pros.

My question: how can I best improve my sound quality if I'm on a $150-$200 budget?

The following points need to be taken into consideration:

-I do lots of listening on my laptop at a desk, but I travel to and from school each day, so whatever I end up getting should be able to easily fit into a backpack and come with me.
-Most of everything I do with this laptop is listen to music (not many games), although I sometimes connect it up to my home system (Panasonic stereo shelf system) and will watch a movie with my wife.
-While on the train, I listen to my tunes through my PDA (a Dell Axim x50v running CorePlayer), and NOT using my laptop.

The EMU 0404 USB seems to be a popular suggestion on these forums, but I'm wondering if connecting the Total Bithead to my PDA (through the headphone jack) would improve its sound at all.

For this question, what would you recommend for me?

 

[HardHeadCase]

HeadRoom Total BitHead @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

Get this and some AAA rechargeable batteries for when you are on the go. It meets all of your criteria, gave one to my Dad for X-mas.

 

[Chrispy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phendric /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use iTunes as my music player (everything is in AAC 128 kbps or 256 kbps format), and listen through UE super.fi 5 pros.

I would say to up your bitrate first.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phendric /img/forum/go_quote.gif The EMU 0404 USB seems to be a popular suggestion on these forums, but I'm wondering if connecting the Total Bithead to my PDA (through the headphone jack) would improve its sound at all. For this question, what would you recommend for me?

You have a few good options (internal DACs in parentheses):

E-MU 02 CardBus Card (AKM AK4396)
E-MU 0404 USB (AKM AK4396)
HeadRoom Total BitHead (PCM2902)

All are semi-portable, but the 02 CardBus Card requires the laptop to be on, and the 0404 USB requires an external power supply, so neither could easily be used on-the-go. The Total BitHead can function as a portable amplifier--as HardHeadCase said, it can run on batteries--but if your PDA doesn't have a line-output jack, you'll only get more volume, not better sound quality.

The advantage of the 0404 USB is that it can function as an external DAC (it has coaxial and optical S/PDIF inputs), while the others (02 CardBus and Total BitHead) respectively require PCMCIA or USB input for that purpose.

I think that you'll need to narrow down your usage for this particular device, since it seems that none of them will be 100% perfect in all cases.

 

[vagarach]

The bithead will most likely not work on the PDA, since the PDA has neither usb hosting services nor usb audio drivers.

The bithead will be a solid purchase, you can just close your eyes and buy it, and there is a very high chance you'll love it.

I use a creative (

) sb live external, and it is very much a step up from laptop sound. It's only $50, and bestbuy or a similar shop probably has it in stock! It has Line out, optical out, analog 5.1, mic in, and headphone out. Even the built-in headphone amp has very little noise which I can only detect with iems.

 

[phendric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif You have a few good options (internal DACs in parentheses): E-MU 02 CardBus Card (AKM AK4396) E-MU 0404 USB (AKM AK4396) HeadRoom Total BitHead (PCM2902) All are semi-portable, but the 02 CardBus Card requires the laptop to be on, and the 0404 USB requires an external power supply, so neither could easily be used on-the-go. The Total BitHead can function as a portable amplifier--as HardHeadCase said, it can run on batteries--but if your PDA doesn't have a line-output jack, you'll only get more volume, not better sound quality. The advantage of the 0404 USB is that it can function as an external DAC (it has coaxial and optical S/PDIF inputs), while the others (02 CardBus and Total BitHead) respectively require PCMCIA or USB input for that purpose. I think that you'll need to narrow down your usage for this particular device, since it seems that none of them will be 100% perfect in all cases.

Hmmm... the E-MU 02 CardBus Card is a PCMCIA card, which my laptop doesn't have (just a port for an Express card).

As far as the 0404 USB needing external power, I only really use my laptop for music listening when near a power source, but isn't the unit big? I'd have to lug it between home and school every day.

 

[monolith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phendric /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use iTunes as my music player (everything is in AAC 128 kbps or 256 kbps format), and listen through UE super.fi 5 pros.

As has been said, the first thing you should do is up your bitrates. 128kbps is awfully low.

 

[brainsalad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikee898 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a Dell Inspiron with crappy sound.. and I want to improve it! I don't have an amp and will be using this setup for speakers and headphones. Sooo... what do I need between my laptop and my headphones, excluding an amp? I want to spend 100$ or less. I don't know where DACs fit into this, or soundcards, or usb stuff or any of it. I don't know if there's just one thing I need between the laptop and my headphones, or if there's several parts? Fill me in! and any recommendations for 100$ or less would be great.

3 years ago I was in your situation and bought a Headroom Airhead amp on Ebay for under $100 and I never looked back. The Airheads take a headphone input, the BitHeads will take a USB connection, convert it to analogue (DAC) and then amplify it. I promise you will be amazed. If you're not, your due for some new cans.

 

[Menzo]

I have to say I'm glad I came across this thread. Before reading this, I naturally assumed all that could be done to improve a laptop's SQ would be to buy a soundcard such as those made by Creative (Eg: The expresscard or Audigy NX lines they have).

Right now I'm quite convinced that getting a HeadRoom Total Bithead would be perfect

My thanks for the advice. Saves me from making a brand new thread too.

 

[HardHeadCase]

If you have windows XP then your next step, after getting the Bithead will be to go to the ASIO4ALL thread in the computer as source header and learn to bypass some the the built-in XP audio nastiness.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phendric /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as the 0404 USB needing external power, I only really use my laptop for music listening when near a power source, but isn't the unit big? I'd have to lug it between home and school every day.

The 0404 USB is roughly 7" x 7.5" x 2". The Total BitHead is significantly smaller and probably more rugged.

All factors considered, the BitHead is probably your best choice. It runs on USB power and doesn't need an external adapter, so that's one less item you'll need to pack.

 

[Sherwood]

Don't do any such thing as "up your bitrate"! Don't do it!

The only possibility is to re-rip your music at a higher bit rate if you also own the source material. If your music was 128k when you got it, leave it at 128k. If you love it, go buy the cd and re-rip to something better.

Re-encoding already ripped files is a recipe for disaster. All you end up with is larger, noisier files. I'm sure all the other posters meant well, but it bears repeating.