Laptop as Digital to Analog Music Server??

[GO-NAD!]

I should've posted here in the first place - I started a thread in the wrong area. I received some suggestions, but I'm clarifying my needs a little further now.

Anyway, I am thinking about buying a laptop with the primary purpose of storing and playing my library of 450+ CDs (in a lossless format).

1) I need to go from the laptop to my 2-channel Integrated Amp, which only has analog inputs. I also have a subwoofer, which is connected from a pre-out on the amp (if that has any bearing on my needs)

2) I do not intend to use it for movies or TV programs. I want to be able to display album covers, song listings and maybe liner notes.

So, some more suggestions of sound cards (remember - Digital to Analog!), other hardware, as well as software, would be appreciated. I've never owned a laptop, but have used them on occasion. I don't recall them being noisy, but should that be a consideration? Is external cooling a good idea?

Thanks for any advise?

 

[GO-NAD!]

One of the suggestions I received, the Cambridge DACmagic, costs $400!! I'm hoping to get the laptop for $500 - $600. I ain't chuckin' out that kinda cash for a DAC! I appreciate that it might work well, but....

 

[jinjuku]

Most of the DAC's in a laptops integrated audio are not going to be that superb.

If you are going to be using this for critical music listening then you will need to spend the money.

The first problem is seeing the cost of the DAC as a relation to the cost of the laptop. Would the cost of the DAC be better at $400 if the median price of a laptop was $1400?

It isn't the cost of the toaster, it's the quality of the toast that you keep getting years down the road.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Most of the DAC's in a laptops integrated audio are not going to be that superb.

If you are going to be using the for critical music listening then you will need to spend the money.

The first problem is seeing the cost of the DAC as a relation to the cost of the laptop. Would the cost of the DAC be better at $400 if the median price of a laptop was $1400?

It isn't the cost of the toaster, it's the quality of the toast that you keep getting years down the road.

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder if I can do this for a reasonable cost. If I can't maintain SQ for well under $1000, it isn't worthwhile. If I already had a laptop, spending the extra for the DAC might be do-able. I thought about a used laptop, and I thought I could get a high quality DAC for no more than $150. Do they exist at that price? I had started thinking about this, with the aim of reducing the space occupied by my jukeboxes.

 

[GO-NAD!]

As an added question, anybody have any ballpark idea of the hard drive capacity needed to store a 450+ CD's (and growing!)?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

As an added question, anybody have any ballpark idea of the hard drive capacity needed to store a 450+ CD's (and growing!)?

The key there is "GROWING".

Most 1 TB (1000 GB) external HDDs can be had for about $100.

I store (wave) lossless music files on my HDD. I think I have about 400 CDs. If each CD is like 700 MB, then 400 CDs x 700 MB = 280 GB.

I would get a Western Digital 2TB external HDD, but a 1TB HDD should do just fine for long time.

 

[jinjuku]

What else do you have the in the way of computer hardware? You may want to consider something like a wireless sound bridge.

As an example:

The Logitech Squeeze Box Duet has a 24 bit Wolfson DAC.

They don't say which Wolfson DAC it is however.

 

[GO-NAD!]

What else do you have the in the way of computer hardware? You may want to consider something like a wireless sound bridge.

As an example:

The Logitech Squeeze Box Duet has a 24 bit Wolfson DAC.

They don't say which Wolfson DAC it is however.

I have a PC in the rec room, that's a couple of years old. It has a 160 GB HDD and I recently bought a 500 GB external drive, because my wife has an obscene photo collection. The sound card in it is pretty crappy, because when I got the computer, the sound quality was not a priority - I use my stereo and HT systems for sound. Being in the rec room, the PC is in a different room, on a different floor than my stereo rig. I don't want to have to go to the rec room to start playing music in the living room, so I thought about the dedicated laptop to go with the stereo.

If there is a way to utilize the PC remotely, with some sort of display (so that I can see what I'm looking for) in the living room (there's no TV there now), I'm all ears, er, eyes...

Thanks.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I have a PC in the rec room, that's a couple of years old. It has a 160 GB HDD and I recently bought a 500 GB external drive, because my wife has an obscene photo collection. The sound card in it is pretty crappy, because when I got the computer, the sound quality was not a priority - I use my stereo and HT systems for sound. Being in the rec room, the PC is in a different room, on a different floor than my stereo rig. I don't want to have to go to the rec room to start playing music in the living room, so I thought about the dedicated laptop to go with the stereo.

If there is a way to utilize the PC remotely, with some sort of display (so that I can see what I'm looking for) in the living room (there's no TV there now), I'm all ears, er, eyes...

Thanks.

I just took a look at that Squeez Box - that might be promising! I'll have to take a closer look at that...

 

[Nemo128]

The DACs in Creative XFi cards are audiophile grade. There's a USB version for laptops.

 

[jinjuku]

The DACs in Creative XFi cards are audiophile grade. There's a USB version for laptops.

The nice thing about the squeezebox series is they are stand alone/on their own appliances. The OP doesn't necessarily need a dedicated laptop.

 

[GO-NAD!]

The nice thing about the squeezebox series is they are stand alone/on their own appliances. The OP doesn't necessarily need a dedicated laptop.

Absolutely! I only mentioned the laptop option because of its compactness and the fact that I didn't really know what my other options were. I'll keep the laptop in mind and consider all the possiblities. The fact that a laptop has a largish screen is a plus, in that album covers and liner notes could be viewed as well.

Thanks for the info!

 

[sturgl]

You're not going to find a laptop with an embedded audiophile soundcard (or even a pretty good one). USB cards, like the Xi-Fi may do the trick. You might also look at the $100 M-Audio Transit. Personally, I'd skip the laptop, and get into a NAS or maybe a used Mac Mini. Get something like the new Squeezebox Touch as your front-end. You'll have album art, etc. on the Touch, and storage on the NAS, computer, or both. The Touch probably has a fine DAC built-in, but you'll have the important option to upgrade to audiophile DAC down the line.

As far as storage capacity goes - I agree with other posters - think about a terrabyte if you want room to grow. You'll want at least 500GB to start.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[shivang222]

Hey guys,

I have a Dell laptop which has an onboard audio card. Basically, I want to connect it wirelessly to my amplifier (marantz nr1501) that doesnt have a usb jack. My internet connection is unreliable so I would like to avoid audio over the internet. My laptop does have bluetooth capability, though. I was contemplating between a Bluetooth receiver like this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BXROSG/ref=asc_df_B001BXROSG912011?smid=A18ACDNYOEMMOL&tag=nextag-office-mp01-delta-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B001BXROSG

or a external sound card with a wireless receiver (http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?product=18749&campid=20445&WT.cg_n=Campaigns&WT.mc_id=8867).

I was first wondering: will these options work? and if so, will the external sound card and receiver significantly improve the sound quality?

 

[shivang222]

Actually, I am open to looking at non-wireless digital solutions too. It seems that creative has some external sound cards with digital out. That should do the job right?

 

[sturgl]

shivang222,

Do you have a wireless home network? I assume not, given your post. If you do, however, I'd lean towards using a Squeezebox, Roku, Sonos, etc. Your laptop can act as the "server"; the above devices then just plug in to your Marantz as another source. Aside from that advice, I'd steer clear of Bluetooth - its range isn't very good, and it can introduce unwanted noise.

If you want to go wired, then you'll want to avoid the on-board soundcard on your laptop. A number of external cards should do fine for your purposes, including some of Creative's offerings.

Personally, I'd leverage your home network if you have one. Even if you don't you might want to consider putting one in place, if only for this purpose. You can get a perfectly good router for $35.

 

[Xargos]

Personally, I'd skip the laptop, and get into a NAS or maybe a used Mac Mini. Get something like the new Squeezebox Touch as your front-end.

+1 on the Mac mini. You could either use it as a reasonably efficient server for a Squeezebox or, if it is an Intel based one, connect an external DAC. Right now I have a PC connected to an Entech Number Cruncher 205.2 that cost me less than $100 used.

 

[Omega Supreme]

How about a PS3 or Xbox 360? I don't have either but I think they will let you stream off of your home network. I’m not sure how well the DAC's are though. They also have hard drives so you may be able to copy your music straight to the HD. I don't know if it supports album art or liner notes. Like I said I don't own either one so this may be a step out