Can I connect laptop directly to Denon 4500

[Old Onkyo]

I dug out an old MacBook that has a lot of music on it. I thought if I connected it to the receiver I could get the highest quality.files delivered to the 4500 for playback. The USB port on the front won’t support it.
I was thinking about using an Ethernet cable to connect in the back of the receiver. Will the work? or is Network connection meant for a router or modem only?
is my best bet an external hard drive connected to the USB port in the front?
thanks.

 

[viorelc]

The USB port on the AVR is for a memory stick, and possibly an external USB hard drive. Note that Denon does not guarantee the USB port to have enough power for the hard drive, which means it may only work with a powered external USB drive. With today’s large capacity memory sticks on the market, using one may be your most convenient option, of course depending on how much music you have or plan to have on this.

The other option would be to share the music on your computer and play it via the network, assuming that your AVR is connected to the same network. Connecting the computer directly to the AVR with a network cable might not work (even if it could, the network settings become more complicated just for an isolated network of the two).


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[highfigh]

Not with the current programming- they have heard my comments on this many times over the last 7-8 years and I'm not going to sop until they resume it.

 

[lovinthehd]

Personally I'd just start by using Airplay since it's built into the avr, altho you might have less issues hard wiring the network connection. Does your laptop have HDMI output?

 

[surfacetension]

One thing you haven't really made clear; is this laptop just a dedicated music player? Is it just going to sit on on your media shelf/nearby table just to play music? Or is it going to actually be used as a computer and moved around the house and used for browsing/etc?

If you just dug it out of your closet to use as a dedicated music station, I'd just grab an RCA to 3.5mm cable and you're done. If it's going to float around the house I'd use Airplay.

 

[Old Onkyo]

I don’t like the way AirPlay sounds. I want to use the laptop as a dedicated music station. I want a way to play the highest quality music files directly without streaming. I was leaning towards a hard drive, but as Viorelec pointed oot, Denon does not guarantee it will power The drive. I will just buy and format a 32 gig drive and see how it goes.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I don’t like the way AirPlay sounds. I want to use the laptop as a dedicated music station. I want a way to play the highest quality music files directly without streaming. I was leaning towards a hard drive, but as Viorelec pointed oot, Denon does not guarantee it will power The drive. I will just buy and format a 32 gig drive and see how it goes.

I find Airplay works great with Tidal. Tidal maximizes the output so it does a really good job of providing a strong signal. Some streamers like iTunes leave it to the user to make that happen and if it's not done right it can lower audio fidelity.

You can certainly insert a USB drive in the Denon 4500 or use a DAC designed to accept a USB connection from the computer and optimize it for output to the receiver or use a device like those at Bluesound. There are many options for connecting the computer directly to the Denon receiver.

 

[lovinthehd]

Unless settings were different, don't know why the Airplay stream would be different....maybe basic level?

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Unless settings were different, don't know why the Airplay stream would be different....maybe basic level?

Yes, with iTunes it does not maximize output level automatically. It's a small thing but if the user doesn't know how to handle it, audio fidelity will be diminished.

 

[thumprchgo]

I dug out an old MacBook that has a lot of music on it. I thought if I connected it to the receiver I could get the highest quality.files delivered to the 4500 for playback. The USB port on the front won’t support it.
I was thinking about using an Ethernet cable to connect in the back of the receiver. Will the work? or is Network connection meant for a router or modem only?
is my best bet an external hard drive connected to the USB port in the front?
thanks.

If it’s a Mac laptop made after 2000, I’d be willing to bet the headphone out jack is a dual featured thing. It can send analog audio out, or receive audio rom a mic. Additionally, the mini-jack connector can also send optical (digital) signals out. Some toslink cables have a connector that passes digital optical audio— it looks like a hollow headphone plug, the laser light passes through it.
This way the music remains digital all the way til the analog power amps. You can get 5.1 sound from an optical link in addition to stereo. Alas though, no real Dolby Atmos.
And if the Mac uses a mini-DisplayPort to connect to monitors, a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter could connect to an HDMI AVR input. Lastly a new affordable internal solid-state drive would replace a tottering hard drive, esp if it is <6 years old

 

[VMPS-TIII]

If it’s a Mac laptop made after 2000, I’d be willing to bet the headphone out jack is a dual featured thing. It can send analog audio out, or receive audio rom a mic. Additionally, the mini-jack connector can also send optical (digital) signals out. Some toslink cables have a connector that passes digital optical audio— it looks like a hollow headphone plug, the laser light passes through it.

Yes, the headphone out is the key even on older Mac's. Use a Toslink miniplug adapter or a fiber-optic cable with a 3.5 mm plastic or nylon optical plug.

Mac User Guide

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The real problem with using a Mac as a music source is most users don't import files as AIFF in iTunes. The default setting for iTunes reduces the file size which lowers fidelity. While users may not hear the difference on the Mac speaker it's another story when you play the file on a nice stereo. But, if you set the import function to AIFF before ripping CD's it's the same exact data/size as the file on the CD.

Apple has a lossless format as well but I still prefer AIFF so if I want to burn a CD no conversion is required.

 

[PENG]

I dug out an old MacBook that has a lot of music on it. I thought if I connected it to the receiver I could get the highest quality.files delivered to the 4500 for playback. The USB port on the front won’t support it.
I was thinking about using an Ethernet cable to connect in the back of the receiver. Will the work? or is Network connection meant for a router or modem only?
is my best bet an external hard drive connected to the USB port in the front?
thanks.

Post#10 has the possibilities listed. If none of that can work with your Macbook (depend on the model/year I guess), then most likely a low cost DAC can do the trick for you using the right interconnect cable such as:

3.5mm jack to RCA

I want to use the laptop as a dedicated music station. I want a way to play the highest quality music files directly without streaming. I was leaning towards a hard drive, but as Viorelec pointed oot, Denon does not guarantee it will power The drive. I will just buy and format a 32 gig drive and see how it goes.

If you really want the "highest quality music files......", then what is on your laptop may not be what you "want". I don't know that obviously but in my experience, even expensive media players, preamps, power amps, and speakers won't make much difference (may help somewhat in some cases) if the music files are not of high recording/mastering quality. And also in my experience, the chance to have very high recording quality are much higher with files done in higher bit rate and sampling frequencies such as PCM 24bit/48 kHz or higher, and DSD 128 and higher.

Try some here and you will know what I am saying:

HDtracks | You can hear the difference. Listen on the go in master studio quality.

HDtracks is a high-resolution music platform for music lovers to download their favorite tracks in master studio quality. Join us today for the ultimate listening experience!

www.hdtracks.com

I tried to emphasize the importance of this point so I started a thread long time ago, hoping that people will share their favorite music source that they know have good recording quality.

The last time I updated the recommended list, there were 128 titles.

High quality sound albums

I'm pulling down the free super-master-FLAC-things Linn is giving away again for Chrismas... but the dyanmic range (avg to peak) has been 7-11db. Most of the 80s and early 90s CD's are 12-14db, and my good classicals are 14-17db. No point getting all high-format quality if you don't use the range.

forums.audioholics.com

One issue is, the Denon AVR-X4500H is limited to DSD 128 and PCM 24/192, so many of the high resolution files you can buy from places like hdtracks.com will not play.

My recommendations is, if you are really serious on the best possible sounding music for you system, buy a DAC that can play the highest resolutions you can buy in PCM and DSD and forget about the USB input and external hard drives or USB sticks. Then spend a fortune (like I have done) on the high resolution digital files, and never look back to Tidal, Amazon HD kind of stuff to avoid the monthly fees.

I am not saying high resolution files are all good, in fact I believe CD resolution, i.e. 16/44.1 is all you need, but I believe chances are better that the recordings would be of high quality in high resolution digital files available for purchase from places such as hdtracks.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I am not saying high resolution files are all good, in fact I believe CD resolution, i.e. 16/44.1 is all you need, but I believe chances are better that the recordings would be of high quality in high resolution digital files available for purchase from places such as hdtracks.

I just AB tested Tidal Hifi vs HDTracks with various tracks using the Canton Vento Reference 9.2 speakers and the Hegel H90 integrated amp over Airplay2. I'm not hearing much difference at all. In some cases I prefer HDTracks in others I prefer the Tidal output. The samples I tried range from 176.4kHz · 24bit to 96kHz · 24bit.

Is it possible you have to burn the HDTracks to DVD or USB drive to hear the difference? Or do you require an external DAC? Or is it possible the CD will sound better?

They say, "You can HEAR the difference", but I'm not there yet.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I downloaded the "Hdtracks 2020 Hi-Res Sampler". It has quite a few nice tunes in it. I download it 1st in FLAC format. 16 songs came in at 1.65GB about 3x the size of a normal CD. Next, I downloaded it as AIFF which is 2.62GB or the size of 4+ CDs. 100 albums would require 262 GB on a hard disk.

Hdtracks is a drive PIG. I still can't tell a difference between Tidal vs Airplay2 while comparing these files. If you can... expect to invest in storage and hundreds to thousands in downloads. Another rabbit hole to explore. lol

 

[PENG]

I downloaded the "Hdtracks 2020 Hi-Res Sampler". It has quite a few nice tunes in it. I download it 1st in FLAC format. 16 songs came in at 1.65GB about 3x the size of a normal CD. Next, I downloaded it as AIFF which is 2.62GB or the size of 4+ CDs. 100 albums would require 262 GB on a hard disk.

Hdtracks is a drive PIG. I still can't tell a difference between Tidal vs Airplay2 while comparing these files. If you can... expect to invest in storage and hundreds to thousands in downloads. Another rabbit hole to explore. lol

First of all, Tidal's can sound great, no doubt about that, but you have to pay a monthly fees like almost $20/month for CD quality and higher resolutions right?

Secondly, not all the music files from HDtracks.com have what I would consider high quality recordings. Again, that's why I started that thread to collect titles of high quality recordings (recording quality, not resolution or formats) vouched by AH members.

As I mentioned many times before, it is not the resolution that matters most, once you get to "CD" quality/resolution, what matters most is the recording quality.

I agree with you on the drive pig thing, but I don't have any need to have thousands of titles, I don't think I have more than a few thousands. To me, if I have even just 1,000 titles of really good recording quality, it should be enough for me. Unlike movies, I find myself concentrate on my favorites even if it means listening to the same one a few times a month, just as an example. That's just me though, so yeah, for some people like yourself, Tidal would be a better option.

I hope I clear things up a little this time.

 

[PENG]

I downloaded the "Hdtracks 2020 Hi-Res Sampler". It has quite a few nice tunes in it. I download it 1st in FLAC format. 16 songs came in at 1.65GB about 3x the size of a normal CD. Next, I downloaded it as AIFF which is 2.62GB or the size of 4+ CDs. 100 albums would require 262 GB on a hard disk.

Hdtracks is a drive PIG. I still can't tell a difference between Tidal vs Airplay2 while comparing these files. If you can... expect to invest in storage and hundreds to thousands in downloads. Another rabbit hole to explore. lol

If things haven't changed (haven't looked at the samplers for a long time), they have a few that the Denon can't play due to the resolution. Do you have an external DAC to take care of those? It is easy to pick one from the <$200 group over at ASR that will beat any boutique brand AVRs, AVPs or AVCs.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Just ordered the Topping E30 DAC. I'll retest the HD Track samples when the E30 arrives and compare with Tidal. If it's not substantially better it goes back to Amazon.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

While I was playing, I connected the MBP to the Hegel H90 via USB and it turns the Hegel into a sound card labeled “TE7022 Audio w/ SPDIF" in the MBP output device list. It supports 96kHz · 24bit. Turning the Hegel H90 into a Mac sound card.

You setup the stream format in Audio Midi Setup or you can buy "Bitstream" at the Apple Store for $10 that automatically changes the output configuration based on the music you select in iTunes.

 

[thumprchgo]

Yes, the headphone out is the key even on older Mac's. Use a Toslink miniplug adapter or a fiber-optic cable with a 3.5 mm plastic or nylon optical plug.

Mac User Guide

Learn what’s new in macOS, how to get started with your Mac and use it with your Apple devices, and how to control privacy and security on macOS.

support.apple.com

Apple has a lossless format as well but I still prefer AIFF so if I want to burn a CD no conversion is required.

I've noticed the Hi Res music sites, like HDTracks — offer files in FLAC, and in Apple Lossless formats. I can't tell between them on a great system... But the hard drives the music is stored on? FLAC files can take twice the drive space as Apple's. My NAS already glares at me as I walk by it, with my backups of backups on additional backup drives.



—Thumprchgo
a.k.a., Mark, Prairiedawg, OldCrankInTheBack

Setup: Mostly plebeian, but carefully curated.
Denon AVR-X4400H, 9.2; Audyssey MultiEQ-XT32
Polk Audio RTiA series for L/C/R,
FXi series for Side Surrounds,
OMW5 for on-ceiling Atmos, at 5.2.4
Polk DSW-550 subs, two.
AppleTV 4K, Fire Stick 4K, QNAP NAS,
nanoAVR-DL (useless, don’t get me started)
MiniDSP 4x2HD for sub EQ and time-alignment
LG 55” 4K Dolby Vision
Innumerable beads of sweat
Thousands of frustrated, misspent hours
And one radiant smile just up ahead, off in the gloaming...

(Sent from my tablet)