Laptop to Receiver lossless playback

[collegeaudio]

I'm running a Marantz 5004 and I'm looking to play .flac's losslessly through the receiver. I know the 3.5mm to RCA is not the solution. The laptop is an HP Dv7, I've got HDMI, USB, and eSATA outs. HDMI in's on the receiver.

What's the solution? HDMI? How?

Thanks!

 

[bikdav]

That HP Dv7 is wicked nice. I have a G60 with the "works" and I'm looking for a good way to wirelessly stream its content to my receiver.

 

[collegeaudio]

It's definitely a solid machine. i7 quad core, 8gb RAM, 17.3" screen, etc. I do a lot of photo/video editing so it was a necessity. As far as content, wireless is another really tempting option... Just not sure how to make it happen, especially losslessly.

 

[Realalefan]

You should be able to do this through HDMI. Select it as your default playback option in Windows and connect the laptop into whatever HDMI port on the receiver you want to use. Note that HDMI probably won't show up as an option until the laptop's connected to the receiver and both are powered on. Use whatever software you want that will play back FLACs - I use Foobar, a free utility.

If you have trouble with HDMI, you can always buy a $30 Turtle Beach USB-to-optical adapter and go into an optical port on the receiver. This is the route I took, I have an older receiver and could never get HDMI working right. If you want a higher sampling rate or surround sound, Creative makes a similar adapter for about $60.

My laptop sits on a small table next to my AV stand with optical to the receiver and VGA to my television. I can sit across the room with a wireless keyboard and mouse and surf Internet sites while I listen to music. Or I can watch video content like movies on Hulu, for example.

 

[collegeaudio]

You should be able to do this through HDMI. Select it as your default playback option in Windows and connect the laptop into whatever HDMI port on the receiver you want to use. Note that HDMI probably won't show up as an option until the laptop's connected to the receiver and both are powered on. Use whatever software you want that will play back FLACs - I use Foobar, a free utility.

If you have trouble with HDMI, you can always buy a $30 Turtle Beach USB-to-optical adapter and go into an optical port on the receiver. This is the route I took, I have an older receiver and could never get HDMI working right. If you want a higher sampling rate or surround sound, Creative makes a similar adapter for about $60.

My laptop sits on a small table next to my AV stand with optical to the receiver and VGA to my television. I can sit across the room with a wireless keyboard and mouse and surf Internet sites while I listen to music. Or I can watch video content like movies on Hulu, for example.

That worked fairly well, but seems to have some issues. I configured it as a 5.1 setup and all the speaker tests work with the exception of the subwoofer. No output whatsoever. I downloaded a 5.1 video sample online which worked with all channels, including the subwoofer. While playing music again (through a variety of players) cycled through all the Marantz surround modes: M-CH movie, Dolby VS, Stereo 192k, M-CH Music, M-CH 5.1 Music, and Auto. Only the main towers are outputting audio, I'm assuming because it's recorded in stereo.

When I set it up as stereo, it gives the receiver back a plethora of modes, however, none that appear to play just 2.1 audio. It's either all channels or mains only.

Any ideas?

 

[Realalefan]

I'd check into the receiver settings. Not familiar with Marantz, but on my Onkyo there's a "Pure Direct" mode which is 2-ch only. "Stereo" gives you 2.1. Each input source can have a default, but you're still free to cycle through various modes. I'm assuming the Marantz is similar, so not sure why nothing came up that sent a signal to the sub. Did you leave it for a good 10-15 seconds per mode on a bass-heavy track to be sure? To help diagnose, if you have a DVD player connected to another HDMI port, you might try playing back a CD and see what happens.

 

[MDS]

That worked fairly well, but seems to have some issues. I configured it as a 5.1 setup and all the speaker tests work with the exception of the subwoofer. No output whatsoever. I downloaded a 5.1 video sample online which worked with all channels, including the subwoofer. While playing music again (through a variety of players) cycled through all the Marantz surround modes: M-CH movie, Dolby VS, Stereo 192k, M-CH Music, M-CH 5.1 Music, and Auto. Only the main towers are outputting audio, I'm assuming because it's recorded in stereo.

When I set it up as stereo, it gives the receiver back a plethora of modes, however, none that appear to play just 2.1 audio. It's either all channels or mains only.

Any ideas?

Yes, it's because the source you are playing is Stereo.

When you configure the sound card for 5.1 you are telling it that you have 5.1 speakers connected (which you don't, but it doesn't matter because you are sending the audio out to the receiver). Therefore, it knows that it might see a 5.1 audio signal and should decode it to send to the speakers. But you are using a digital out so it simply sends that bitstream out and of course the receiver recognizes it and does the proper decoding.

Now you are playing a stereo audio track and the sound card is sending a 2 channel digital signal (probably PCM) and that's what the receiver sees. You can choose all channel stereo, PLII, or other matrix decoders to turn it into 5.1 but if you want just stereo then the correct mode is 'stereo'.

Note that if you configure the sound card for 2 channels, it will decode and downmix 5.1 to 2 channel stereo; if you were to do that you'd never see 'Dolby Digital' or any other multi-channel format on the receiver because the receiver will only ever see 2 channels.

 

[Bruins44]

If you are looking for a wireless option, I recommend the Logitech Squeezebox Touch. I have one connected through a digital coax cable to my NAD receiver and it sounds excellent. The Touch also accepts hi-res audio files which was a plus for me. Logitech has a free app so that you can remote control your music through your iPhone or iPad.

It's a nice, quick way to play internet radio without the need to boot up the computer.

 

[bikdav]

Logitech Squeezebox Touch? Sounds interesting. I might look into this.

 

[dnnone]

My other solution.
HP laptop --> DAC (usb connection) --> Marantz.
External DAC range from $30 to >$1500

 

[krabapple]

Are laptops HDMI outputs supporting lossless 5.1 these day? A few years ago they only supported lossless 2.0.

 

[caper26]

I personally use a Turtle Beach Micro II USB external soundcard. $25 and has optical out and will bitstream audio or process it on the dongle. Great little inexpensive device.
Here is a picture with foobar running on the laptop:

 

[JJMP50]

Ordered the Turtle Beach Micro II today. I'll let you know how it works out. For $25 whats to lose!

 

[JJMP50]

Received my Turtle Beach Micro II, installed the drivers for Toslink use and it works like a champ! Conciderable improvement. Thanks for the advice. A lot cheaper than buying a new DAC.

 

[caper26]

Great news. Glad you like it. You can bitstream (direct) or use the software EQ to output. Cheers!