Achieving CD sound quality via a PC setup.

[TLS Guy]

NOTE: I automatically presumed you meant STEREO sound. If you meant surround, then obviously, the solution below is not applicable. However, I will leave the post intact as it is still a valid recommendation for stereo application(s).

Do you want to play around or get serious?

I am going to recommend a very useful, serious tool, that is a premium level performance product: E-MU 0404 USB(NOT THE PCI CARD; which is a totally different and inferior product). This device is not only a top quality DAC, it has top grade ADC, and just about every analog and digital I/O one could want, and unbalanced and balanced analog, and it also works stand alone (!) without a PC as an I/O converter and mic pre.. It also has top notch mic pres with 48V phantom voltage. It also has a dedicated high quality headphone amp built in.

Basically, it does almost anything you could want, and it does it all superbly. BTW, you will find the phantom voltage powered mic-pres useful in the future when you want to get serious about setting up your audio system.

-Chris

That looks too good to be true at that price. That unit has a lot of facility and for once the user manual is excellent.

I should think that unit would be very handy for location recording.

 

[sholling]

I think I found my answer...I tried listening to my music by streaming it through the Xbox and I definitely get a fuller sound in comparison to when playing it off my PC....maybe there's an issue with the sound card, the cable, etc...not really sure. Again, I'm playing my files through MediaMonkey without any EQ setting to alter the sound and the settings on the receiver are Identical to when I'm playing it through the CD or Game port.

This setup will suffice however, I'm not so keen on having my receiver, TV and PC on all at the same time...definitely a waste of money.

keep in mind that there are three places that could be adding processing. Your media player software, the driver/software for the USB device, and the receiver. You have eliminated two of those. Have you checked the driver/software?

 

[MVS512]

First off, thanks again for everyone who's taking the time to offer all their insightful suggestions....

Unfortunately, I do have the latest drivers which was last updated by Creative in 2005.

I got everything up and running on my Xbox, even downloaded and installed TVersity but ran into a very rudimentary complication. You can't fast forward or rewind tracks on an Xbox; kinda puts me back at square one really. I'm definitely going to look a into dedicated media device such as you recommended schooling. It appears as though you can use it to stream music off your PC/network...may seem like an obvious question but can you fast forward and rewind?

 

[sholling]

First off, thanks again for everyone who's taking the time to offer all their insightful suggestions....

Unfortunately, I do have the latest drivers which was last updated by Creative in 2005.

I got everything up and running on my Xbox, even downloaded and installed TVersity but ran into a very rudimentary complication. You can't fast forward or rewind tracks on an Xbox; kinda puts me back at square one really. I'm definitely going to look a into dedicated media device such as you recommended schooling. It appears as though you can use it to stream music off your PC/network...may seem like an obvious question but can you fast forward and rewind?

See page 48 of the manual (PDF).

 

[WmAx]

That looks too good to be true at that price. That unit has a lot of facility and for once the user manual is excellent.

I should think that unit would be very handy for location recording.

That is exactly what I purchased it. I even had a custom regulated battery supply made for it (it can not operate from the computer's USB power, as it requires too much current) so that I would not have to have a plug in power source. Just use my laptop + this device + some high quality condenser mics. It is a state of the art device in every respect; no shortcuts were taken anywhere.

-Chris

 

[WmAx]

One thing I'm not clear on is (I apologize in advance since I am still new at this), if it's a stand alone product that does not require a PC, how do you transfer you data files to the receiver?

What are you talking about? You do not send files through a sound card, you only send streaming data (through the digital I/O ports). The unit has standard PCM coaxial and optical digital I/O ports.

-Chris

 

[MVS512]

I realized that after I made the post...my bad

 

[Shock]

Have you made sure your CD player isn't adding any EQ to the music played that your PC isn't. You might need to make some EQ adjustments in the program you are using to listen to your music. Most people will recommend to not use any EQ or to use a FLAT setting, but I tend to like a little more midrange to accentuate the vocals.

I personally use Winamp, and have for many many years and love it.

P.S. I spelled accentuate correcty the first time without having to go to dictionary.com....+1 internet....or did I!?

 

[MVS512]

I'm currently using MediaMonkey without any EQ settings. I checked my soundcard and also turned off the EQ settings as well; I have my EQ settings on my receiver doing the rest of the work. To be honest, even when I played around with the EQ it didn't enhance the sound in a positive way for me, just made it sound somewhat more processed.

I'm considering the WD Live option....for the price and the added benefit of getting a real media center (unlike the Xbox - sorry just not that pleased with many of its features), I believe it's a good buy.

 

[MVS512]

An update for anyone that's following and offered their time and advice...

I just received the WD TV Live. I connected it to my Segate external hard drive and home network in a matter of minutes. After a few minor tweaks in my firewall settings, all appears to work exactly as advertised. The sound in my opinion is excellent, the GUI is very sleek and user friendly, setup was a breeze...really no complaints other than it does not recognize my Apple lossless files which really is a complaint on Apples' part and not the WD TV Live. So, for the price range and what I was trying to achieve with my particular setup, I believe I found the solution.

I wanted to thank everyone again for sharing their thoughts and suggestions!

Mike

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It's the SOFTWARE!

I tried WMP, TMT3, & PDVD9 to play back my music files and they all sounded mediocre. But Winamp sounded great.

Try Winamp to play back your files:
http://www.winamp.com/

Oh, and stick with the digital (optical or coaxial or HDMI) connection and bitstream to your receiver.

I tried the analog connection of the $200+ Asus HD soundcard and it sucked. I prefer bitstream.

 

[MVS512]

I actually have WinAmp, iTunes, Media Monkey, WMP, etc....the list goes on.

It's more likely than not a result of my sound card or my PC. I tried every setting on both my receiver, soundcard, media player, etc and it just sounds somewhat muffled. I checked the volume levels again both on my PC settings and receiver settings to ensure that was not the source of the problem.

In any result, I'm definitely satisfied with the new results and enjoy the extra features that comes along with the WD TV Live, especially for the price.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I actually have WinAmp, iTunes, Media Monkey, WMP, etc....the list goes on.

It's more likely than not a result of my sound card or my PC. I tried every setting on both my receiver, soundcard, media player, etc and it just sounds somewhat muffled. I checked the volume levels again both on my PC settings and receiver settings to ensure that was not the source of the problem.

In any result, I'm definitely satisfied with the new results and enjoy the extra features that comes along with the WD TV Live, especially for the price.

On your receiver, does it read "Digital" as the connection source?

If it says "Analog" then you are not actually Bitstreaming. It means that the PC is converting your sound to analog.

 

[MVS512]

Not so sure how to check that feature really. I have an Onkyo HT-RC 160 Receiver, on the display it say's Dolby, Audessy, and the frequency of the song. The input is set to Optical but beyond that, I don't see the information that reads analog or digital.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Not so sure how to check that feature really. I have an Onkyo HT-RC 160 Receiver, on the display it say's Dolby, Audessy, and the frequency of the song. The input is set to Optical but beyond that, I don't see the information that reads analog or digital.

Next time just look at all the possible displays on the front of the Receiver.

On mine, it tells me the actual input connection source - analog or digital.

 

[sholling]

I'm glad that the WD TV Live worked out for you. I haven't tried this with Apple files but you may be able to convert those Apple Lossless files to FLAC. I do my rips to flac with dBpoweramp Reference and then run the converter make MP3s for portable use and I can't say enough good things about it.

• Convert audio files with elegant simplicity. mp3, mp4, m4a (iTunes / iPod), Windows Media Audio (WMA), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC) to name a few!
• Multi CPU Encoding Support,
• Rip digitally record audio CDs (with CD Ripper),
• Batch Convert large numbers of files with 1 click,
• Windows Integration popup info tips, audio properties, columns, edit ID-Tags,
• DSP Effects such as Volume Normalize, or Graphic EQ [Power Pack Option],

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

This one: http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm ?
I didn't RIPed CDs in a while, but then I did I remember using this one: Exact Audio Copy... (also supports flac and bunch of others)
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

 

[MVS512]

I Have most of my CD's so any files that are Apple Lossless I have been ripping into FLAC files using Exact Audio Copy...so far it works well and sounds great.

 

[sholling]

This one: http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm ?
I didn't RIPed CDs in a while, but then I did I remember using this one: Exact Audio Copy... (also supports flac and bunch of others)
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Yes, that's the one. I used EAC for years and recently switched. It's not free but it's a far more refined product and I like that it automatically tags your rips. With as many CDs as I buy that's a big plus.

 

[fightinkraut]

I used EAC for years and recently switched. It's not free but it's a far more refined product and I like that it automatically tags your rips. With as many CDs as I buy that's a big plus.

Another vote for DBPoweramp ripper...switched from EAC, looking for something my wife can use to rip FLAC. EAC is a bit too technical, DBpoweramp has been working perfectly, even though I'm only using the free version. FLAC is the way to go!