Can I hook up an amp to a PC???

[damnngina15]

I have been looking at getting some nice speakers for in my den to hook up to my PC and all of the media speakers out there just don't quite cut it as far as sound quality and what I am looking for. I was wondering if anyone has tried hooking up an amp and running a decent pair of monitors with it off of the PC's sound card. I was thinking of using something like a Rotel RB-960bx with a pair of B&W 600 S3's. I would just use a 3.5mm to rca cord to go into the amp. If anyone has any advice for me on this that would be great. Thanks!!!

Andrew

 

[Chatta]

Yes, you can..simply use a stereo jack to RCA jack to your soundcard, or just get a 5.1 soundcard with a digital output.

 

[oppman99]

One thing you might want to be careful about is the volumes set for things like windows (if using a PC) sounds. I ran a DAC via USB from my computer directly into my amps for a while. The windows sounds were often very loud (at start-up). You'll want to disable some of them. In addition, I use Winamp as a media player and sometimes the scroll wheel on the mouse adjusts the volume. I didn't have a huge problem with it, but I worried about someone unfamiliar with the program/my system accidentally cranking the volume and blowing a couple drivers. I added a true preamp and don't worry about it anymore. More expensive, but worth the piece of mind for me.

 

[krzywica]

One thing you might want to be careful about is the volumes set for things like windows (if using a PC) sounds. I ran a DAC via USB from my computer directly into my amps for a while. The windows sounds were often very loud (at start-up). You'll want to disable some of them. In addition, I use Winamp as a media player and sometimes the scroll wheel on the mouse adjusts the volume. I didn't have a huge problem with it, but I worried about someone unfamiliar with the program/my system accidentally cranking the volume and blowing a couple drivers. I added a true preamp and don't worry about it anymore. More expensive, but worth the piece of mind for me.

That issue is remedied with windows kernel 6 and on (Vista,W7) with application based sound volume control.

To the OP, yes it is very possible to run a high end setup off your PC. I have been doing it for some months and I listen at some very high volumes at times with 0 distortion even at a 2-3 foot listening distance. And thats with the onboard audio (I'm not an avid believer in million dollar sound cards).

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Just to be sure, i'd use integrated amp instead like Rotel RA-1520.
Some pc sound cards analog (3.5mm) could be quite noisy, but it can easily solved by inexpensive card.

 

[damnngina15]

Just to be sure, i'd use integrated amp instead like Rotel RA-1520.
Some pc sound cards analog (3.5mm) could be quite noisy, but it can easily solved by inexpensive card.

Thanks for the advice. As far as the ra-1520 it would be over my budget but I would love to get it if it were possible. I was looking to get everything in the sub 500 dollar range on Audiogon. I am open for any good suggestions you might have on an inexpensive sound card though. Thanks again.

Andrew

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Are you using desktop or laptop pc?

 

[damnngina15]

I have a desktop PC. It is a Gateway GT5674 Quad Core. The only thing I have upgraded was the ethernet card to a gigabit ethernet card. Here is the link if you want to look at the specs and what it all has open as far as PCI slots and types. Thanks.

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1015322R/1015322Rsp3.shtml

Andrew

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I have a desktop PC. It is a Gateway GT5674 Quad Core. The only thing I have upgraded was the ethernet card to a gigabit ethernet card. Here is the link if you want to look at the specs and what it all has open as far as PCI slots and types. Thanks.

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1015322R/1015322Rsp3.shtml

Andrew

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013

This is good card on budget with strong analog part (not top of the line, but pretty good)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013
Some reviews mention drivers issues, but they are mainly complains about games[EAX]/FX and other stuff AHers turn off by default right away anyways.
Plus you get optical spdif out so you can always use with ht setup.
You can pick Xonar D1 for slightly better analog part or go crazy and get Xonar Essence - Newegg sells it for $200

 

[damnngina15]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013

This is good card on budget with strong analog part (not top of the line, but pretty good)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013
Some reviews mention drivers issues, but they are mainly complains about games[EAX]/FX and other stuff AHers turn off by default right away anyways.
Plus you get optical spdif out so you can always use with ht setup.
You can pick Xonar D1 for slightly better analog part or go crazy and get Xonar Essence - Newegg sells it for $200

Thats funny because I was just on Newegg earlier and I was looking at the Xonar Essence and was thinking that I wished they made a less expensive card in the Xonar lineup. I must have passed right over it. I think the DS will work perfect for my setup! Thanks!

Andrew

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I'm glad we are talking about that as I have a big interest in running a laptop into my main system for music. Right now, all my music is in WMP11 as WAV files, they are streamed to my AVR (Denon 3808) which works well but it is cumbersome to get around in there and pick what you want to listen to.

As I was playing around with spare gear in my office, I hooked my computer to an outboard DAC and into an extra AVR and speakers. I really love just using the computer interface for WMP and would like to introduce a Laptop into the main system.

I am not sure what the best way to go about this is but I am all ears.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I'm glad we are talking about that as I have a big interest in running a laptop into my main system for music. Right now, all my music is in WMP11 as WAV files, they are streamed to my AVR (Denon 3808) which works well but it is cumbersome to get around in there and pick what you want to listen to.

As I was playing around with spare gear in my office, I hooked my computer to an outboard DAC and into an extra AVR and speakers. I really love just using the computer interface for WMP and would like to introduce a Laptop into the main system.

I am not sure what the best way to go about this is but I am all ears.

3808 can accept Flac files, which will save you bunch of space on your pc (Flacs about 3-4 times smaller than wav)
Instead of WMP Network file sharing you can use http://tversity.com/ for much more options and features.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Are you saying that you think that the interface would be more user friendly if I used TVersity to stream my music to the AVR?

3808 can accept Flac files, which will save you bunch of space on your pc (Flacs about 3-4 times smaller than wav)
Instead of WMP Network file sharing you can use http://tversity.com/ for much more options and features.

 

[sholling]

I've been listing to FLAC files on my PC for years. I started with a Klipsch Promedia 2.1, then upgraded to a Promedia 5.1 Ultra and have since upgraded to a Pioneer receiver driving a pair of Energy bookshelf speakers, and then to a pair of Behringer B2030Ps and a TSC T250 subwoofer. I've had a bit of experience along the way. One lesson was speakers. The first set that I tried were some Energy bookshelf speakers. From five feet away they sounded decent but 2 feet away they just didn't sound right. The move to the B2030s was a good one. They seem to do better at 2-3ft than 10 feet and make wonderful PC speakers. Make sure the speakers you choose sound as good up close as they do from a distance - not all do.

I run a digital feed to the receiver but if you are going to use an analog card then I'd spend the money for one with quality DACs. Either an HT Omega Claro, HT Omega Claro Plus+, or an Asus Xonar Essence (avalible as PCI or PCI-E). All share the same chipset but since Asus bought the rights to the chipset from C-Media it has a better chance of long term driver support. Done right a computer based sound system can bring many hours of joy.

 

[habman6]

Turtle Beach makes a USB soundcard that offers digital out. If your amp will be doing the digital-analog conversion then the quality of the soundcard shouldn't matter, since it will just be an outgoing digital signal. I personally use a digital out from my motherboard into a Marantz receiver. Works like a charm.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Are you saying that you think that the interface would be more user friendly if I used TVersity to stream my music to the AVR?

Dont think so, but I doubt think wmp will work with flac

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I'm fine with WAV and WMP. I just want a clean interface like I get off of the CPU.

I just think I need a basic laptop with a bunch of memory????

Dont think so, but I doubt think wmp will work with flac

 

[sholling]

OP,
I've looked at your specs and it looks like the on-board audio is roughly equal to the most <$100 sound cards so unless you are looking to go with digital out or have identified noise issues, or just want higher quality DAC of a high-end card I'd stick with the on-board audio.

ParadigmDawg,
I'd suggest that you reconsider WAV in favor of flac. It's just a better format. It saves space with no loss in quality and supports tags. I use dbpoweramp for ripping and conversion and automatically tagging the ripped files. You can use the free version of Winamp for playback. I actually rip to flac and store them in a lossless music folder and then use dbpoweramp to run a batch conversion to MP3s (for my MP3 player) and store those in another folder. Only the lossless format is shared across my home network.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

You talking to me? How would you look at my specs?

I've looked at your specs and it looks like the on-board audio is roughly equal to the most <$100 sound cards so unless you are looking to go with digital out or have identified noise issues, or just want higher quality DAC of a high-end card I'd stick with the on-board audio.

I also suggest that you reconsider WAV in favor of flac. It's just a better format. It saves space with no loss in quality and supports tags. I use dbpoweramp for ripping and conversion and automatically tagging the ripped files. You can use the free version of Winamp for playback. I actually rip to flac and store them in a lossless music folder and then use dbpoweramp to run a batch conversion to MP3s (for my MP3 player) and store those in another folder. Only the lossless format is shared across my home network.

 

[sholling]

You talking to me? How would you look at my specs?

I was talking to the OP and you. The OP linked the PC spcs which include "HD Audio" output. You for the WAV vs FLAC. Sorry I just woke up and I haven't had my coffee yet.