No Line Out on my laptop

[maestrojed]

I have the Beyer DT 770 (80) Pros with j. seaber's JDSLabs cMoy v2.00 amp.

My laptop (new iBook) only has a headphone out not a line out

.

Is using the headphone out jack not a big problem? If not, can you recommend the level I should have the computer's volume at to maximize the safe use of my amp?

Is there a better solution? It seems that usb/firewire => line out devices do exist but I can't find one to buy. Are they called DAC? I have seen that in a few other posts here with similar questions but most USB/Firewire DAC devices seem to include the amp (which I have and like and don't want to replace).

Thanks for any suggestions.

Jed

 

[dclancy]

A USB DAC/amplifier is essentially an external soundcard. Most people prefer to even the best soundcards because it reduces the amount of interference computers cause, not to mention they add proper amplification for good cans.
There are plenty of threads for good entry level devices.

 

[maestrojed]

Considering I have an amp and am only looking for a very good "line out" solution, is the device's quality (DAC) something I need to concern myself with. For example would something like this
be good or do I need to consider something higher end. Any suggestions?

P.S. I know what I am listening too but I don't know a lot of techincal talk. I.E.
I am not sure what "48KHz in 2-channel digital/analog audio playback and AC97 Codec for analog playback" technically means. But I feel I have nice cans, a good amp, and music I love. I don't what this to be the missing link in the equation.

 

[Punnisher]

I just got one of these Amazon.com: Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface: Musical Instruments

That might be useful for you. I'll try it out on my desktop amp and I'll let you know how it works. (after it arrives!)

I'm toying with the idea of ripping this thing apart and integrating it with a portable amp of some kind. Would be pretty cool.

 

[HardHeadCase]

KECES DA-151, USB DAC never sounded so good on computer - eBay (item 160196848964 end time Jan-17-08 23:11:05 PST)

M-AUDIO - Transit - Hi-Resolution Mobile Audio Upgrade

HeadRoom Total BitHead @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

I'm not sure what your looking for as far as price and portability but here are just a few. The first option is the best option. The third option is nice because you can use it as a DAC and when you take your notebook with you it can be used as both a dac and an amp, and its cheap and full of features. It will give you two line outs. One for your desktop speakers and one to feed your amp or your headphones, you can even have 2 people use it at once.

 

[Piffles]

You definitely need some kind of DAC. If you are using your laptop's headphone out, that means you're using your laptop's onboard soundcard and its DAC which is probably not the best thing out there.

There are several types of devices which include DACs:
- PCMCIA soundcards
- USB/FireWire soundcards
- USB/FireWire mobile recording interfaces (include reasonable headphone amps)
- USB DACs
- USB DAC/Amp combos (include better headphone amps)

Since you already have an amp, and don't want any duplicate elements, your options are
- PCMCIA souncards
- USB/FireWire soundcards
- USB DACs

The theoretical best quality would be the USB DAC but also the most expensive (anywhere between 100€ and 4000€). The good USB/FireWire soundcards have very decent DACs and have a great flexibility because of the USB/FireWire connection - usable on any computer (50€ to 250€). The highend PCMCIA souncards are supposed to be better but not quite so practical.

Brands
PCMCIA: Echo Indigo / ESI Juli@
USB/FireWire: M-Audio / Edirol / Tascam / Alesis / E-MU
USB DACs: Musical Fidelity / Benchmark ...to many to mention... there's a thread on head-fi somewhere listing all of them.

 

[pdennis]

Folks so far have suggested some very inexpensive, tiny DACs, and a few big and more expensive ones like the Keces.

Here's a smaller USB DAC that runs about a hundred bucks that has been recommended by others. I've never heard it, but thought you might like to know about a middle-of-the-road option:

SUPER Pro DAC 707 USB

 

[virtuoso]

i think you can use any volume dude..
if you are planning to buy an external sound card.... you should ask this question then..!

 

[Punnisher]

The Tiny DAC I posted earlier has arrived, and I'm very pleased with it's performance so far. The sound is much more clean than my SB Audigy 4 going into my Sony AX520 amplifier. It also cured some distortion issues I was having.

It's also got an optical out, an RCA out (which I'm using), and a headphone out which isn't bad. The Headphone jack on this thing is probably better than most that come stock on laptops, I know for sure it's better than mine.

 

[tosh1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's also got an optical out, an RCA out (which I'm using), and a headphone out which isn't bad. The Headphone jack on this thing is probably better than most that come stock on laptops, I know for sure it's better than mine.

Regarding your new Behringer UCA202: Does the headphone output play loud enough? As in, how much louder than your normal computer headphone jack? (And which headphones were you using?) Overall, does it seem like a decent, listenable headphone amp?

 

[porschemad911]

It's fine with my HD-280 Pro. Listenable and plenty loud.

 

[Punnisher]

It's very listenable with my 770s, and 200% better than my laptop's hp out. I would have to turn the volume up on my laptop to 100% to even hear my SR60s, and there is a ton of hiss.

It doesn't have as much body as an actual amp, obviously, but its better than nothing.

 

[Walie]

How about an AlienDAC?

 

[tea-head]

I used a USB Alien I got here from msantos. Sounded good, not overly harsh. I would recommend you get an external USB DAC of some kind to use with your amp...much better sound...

t