Laptop Audio Output

Milsivich

When I'm not listening to music off of my CD player or my turntable, I listen to music off of my laptop. Unfortunately, my laptop output (which is just a headphones jack) has an unpleasant hum whenever it's plugged in. Does anyone have a USB output, or something similar, that they would recommend? I have a lot of music on my computer that I want to listen to, but I can hardly stand that little hum!

Thanks!

michaeljhsda2

I like the HRT music streamer for 149.00. It connects via USB. Absolutely dead quiet.

http://www.amazon.com/HRT-Music-Streamer-II-Resolution/dp/tags-on-product/B0038O4UFQ

falconcry72

1. Wireless > squeezebox touch > DAC
2. Usb > asynchronous Usb to spdif converter > DAC
3. Usb > DAC with asynchronous Usb input

coolsax

michaeljhsda2 wrote: »

I like the HRT music streamer for 149.00. It connects via USB. Absolutely dead quiet.

http://www.amazon.com/HRT-Music-Streamer-II-Resolution/dp/tags-on-product/B0038O4UFQ

agreed, great option though depending upon the power of your laptop you may also need to use a self powered USB hub, which i use.

EndersShadow

coolsax wrote: »

agreed, great option though depending upon the power of your laptop you may also need to use a self powered USB hub, which i use.

H9 swears by his Musiland Monitor 02.

falconcry72

If you're going Usb to spdif converter, I recommend the audio gd digital interface with external power supply.

Milsivich

I am not interested in buying the best product out there. I mostly just wanna to buy the cheapest thing I can find, but not be bothered by any shortcomings the product might have. If that means $10, great, but I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good sound!

Milsivich

My understanding of computers and electronics is limited. There seem to be two tiers of products here, one around $20 and one around $200. What exactly are the difference between these? Also, is the problem with outputting from a headphones jack with the jack itself, or my computer's DAC? And if I output form a USB, would I be able to use my computer's DAC, or would I have to use an external one? If the latter is the case, wouldn't buying a cheap product get rid of the hum, but lower the actually quality of sound I'm getting?

Any information is welcome!

tonyb

Milsivich wrote: »

I am not interested in buying the best product out there. I mostly just wanna to buy the cheapest thing I can find, but not be bothered by any shortcomings the product might have. If that means $10, great, but I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good sound!

Ok....which one is it ? Good sound is subjective and by what your discribing to most here, doesn't fall into the good sound catagory. The way you explain it is you simply want an alternative hook up method from the headphone jack. I'm not the one to help you there but I will pose another question. How do you know it's the headphone jack itself creating the hum ?
You need something with a USB to hook up to the laptop, and have a headphone jack to boot, correct ?

If thats the case, you may be looking at buying a dac that has USB hookups and a headphone jack. Let me just say though if the problem with the hum is more deep than just the headphone jack itself, a Dac may not solve that problem. Could the problem be in the headphones themselves ? Try another pair and see first. Could also be time for a new puter.

audiocr381ve

Milsivich wrote: »

I am not interested in buying the best product out there. I mostly just wanna to buy the cheapest thing I can find, but not be bothered by any shortcomings the product might have. If that means $10, great, but I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get a good sound!

Dude, nobody is advising you to buy the best most expensive products out there. We need more info. Are you just doing the headphone thing or are their speakers involved? You did mention a laptop, is this a travel rig or do you have a dedicated space at home that has space to keep & power gear?

Audio-gd is a company you should consider. Their are fans of them on this forum as well as everywhere else on the web. If you're willing to travel with a power strip and want to get the best sound while working remotely, then let's keep it simple. The Audio-gd NFB-12 is $200. If I were in your position I wouldn't even look around to see what's out there, I'd get this. It's a Headphone amp and Digital Audio Converter. You could run a USB cable to it and you'd be set. I haven't owned this piece but I'm willing to bet it blows your mind compared to what you have going on now. You could even listen to High Resolution stuff with this thing.

Also, if this is a headphone rig, what kind of cans do you have? Definitely something worth upgrading if you're trying to get some serious sound.

heiney9

The headphone jack is the worst possible way to output quality sound on a laptop. The worst. Are you wanting a headphone rig? Or is this the only way to get the audio signal to an external rig you listen on?

H9

Milsivich

It seems I have been too vague!

Here is my situation EXACTLY:

Setup:
parasound 2100
parasound 2150
LSI9's
micropro 2000
laptop (I do not own a desktop) - specifically a dual-booted macbook pro with i7, which I spend most of my time on windows 7
thorens TD-158 turntable

The goal:
My ultimate goal is to get a sound out of my system that makes me forget about the system and just hear the music. In my mind there is a threshold where faults can be heard. For some people, default computer speakers sound great, and they can't begin to imagine why someone would spend thousands of dollars to buy what they themselves got for under a hundred. On the other hand, some people are interested in improving their system in every way possible, despite what their ears tell them. Their is something to be said about the cumulative effect of buying the very best of everything, but I think in some cases a blind test would show us that no audible difference can be discerned. I myself have a limited budget, seeing as I'm still in school. Sound is extremely important to me though, so I'm willing to do what it takes to get to the point where I don't notice flaws in the sound that are caused by my setup.

The issue at hand is that I have almost all my music on my laptop, and this headphones jack business just sounds like crap. I know that the hum and the general crappiness is the headphones jack, because my turntable sounds great. Unfortunately, I spend the majority of time listening from my computer. It's kind of silly to have a fairly nice system (at least one that I have spent a lot of time and money on) connected at one point in such a silly way. I have NOT heard the difference between the different USB DAC products out there, but after doing a few hours of research it seems like if you aren't careful you could spend not enough and have a crappy product, or you could spend too much and not realize that what you bought sounds no better than something cheaper (even if, based on quantitative tests, it might actually be technically better in some way; sound is subjective, after all).

I realize that none of you can borrow my ears and see what it's like in my head, but I love the advice that everyone here gives, and I use it in most audio-related decisions I make.

My current favorites are the HRT Music Streamer II and the Musiland Monitor 02, based on what I have read so far. If anyone has a cheaper solution that have tried that doesn't introduce any sound issues to their ears, I would love to hear about it. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this, but I absolutely don't want the quality bottleneck of my system to be one connection, and I will spend what it takes to avoid this (budget below $300).

heiney9

The reason I like the Musiland over the HRT is because the HRT runs off the USB power supply, IMO and experience with other similar things that is not ideal. The Musiland has a dedicated chord and it's own power supply section. The Musiland has really nice software as well.

You don't mention the software player you use (Foobar, Media Monkey, Windows Player) or what type of files you play (lossless, mp3's, cd's, WAV).

H9

falconcry72

Bump your budget up to 349 for the Musical Fidelity V-DACmk2.

Or spend 99 on the Musical Fidelity V-Link, and then find a cheap used DAC. You can always upgrade the DAC later on.

Milsivich

heiney9 wrote: »

You don't mention the software player you use (Foobar, Media Monkey, Windows Player) or what type of files you play (lossless, mp3's, cd's, WAV).

Whoops! I use iTunes and Windows Player mostly. I listen to as much lossless as I can, usually FLAC, ALAC, or WAV for music that my friends or I record. Most of my classical collection is lossless. The majority of my "pop music" collection (pop music encompassing anything not "classical") is lossy, usually AAC.

EndersShadow

Only thing is you will want to make sure the USB drivers will work with dual boot laptop. I dont know enough about them to tell you one way or the other. I know the HRT and Musiland drivers work with Windows, but not sure about MAC and not sure how much a dual boot situation will matter.

I would send a message to SolidSqual to get his thoughts (he uses a Mac Mini for playback).

Here are some other possible options if you want to use the DAC in some other device that has digital ins:

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-60917-m2tech-hiface-usb-to-spdif-interface.aspx
http://www.belcantodesign.com/Belcanto_USBlink.html

Also a thread to read up on would be this one, specifically post 21: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?127551-Digital-Music&p=1697019&viewfull=1#post1697019

heiney9

falconcry72 wrote: »

Bump your budget up to 349 for the Musical Fidelity V-DACmk2.

Or spend 99 on the Musical Fidelity V-Link, and then find a cheap used DAC. You can always upgrade the DAC later on.

The Musiland Monitor 02 does both (dac and spdif converter), so considering he's on a budget that's what I'd recommend. He will spend more on the V-Link and cheap DAC than on the Musiland and not necessarily have better sound, especially if he buys a cheap dac. Then if at some point in the future he wants a better dac the Musiland will function as a asynchronous USB/spdif converter.

falconcry72

Milsivich wrote: »

Whoops! I use iTunes and Windows Player mostly.

I'd imagine you'll want to be on the Windows side so you can use a media player that's campatible with the bit-perfect playback methods like ASIO and WASAPI. Compatible players are Foobar 2000, Media Monkey, J River etc.

falconcry72

heiney9 wrote: »

The Musiland Monitor 02 does both (dac and spdif converter), so considering he's on a budget that's what I'd recommend. He will spend more on the V-Link and cheap DAC than on the Musiland and not necessarily have better sound, especially if he buys a cheap dac.

I like the Musiland Monitor 02 too. It would be a night and day improvement over the headphone jack, for sure.

I just prefer the V-link, so I'd start on that path with the intention of adding a really nice DAC later on... like one that's outside of his immediate budget. I know he can spend some money based on his other equipment, so it'd be good to have a DAC of comparable quality.

I know that he could add an external DAC to the Musiland also, I just prefer the V-Link.


You're right though, the Musiland is an easier way to get in the game, and if he doesn't want to add an external DAC down the line, then it's probably the best way to go.

heiney9

I still have a huge bias against anything touted as "audiophile" that runs off USB power like the V-Link. But, having never heard it, I can't really condemn it, but it just makes me uneasy because I am huge into a proper linear power supply making an audible difference.

I am not even sure what the Musiland sells for. I bought mine NIB from a Polkie for a great deal so maybe part of me thinking it's such a great value is somewhat based on what I actually paid. I still think for the money and versatility it's a really nice performing product that he would be happy with.

H9

Milsivich

Do you guys know much about iTunes playback performance? Falconcry72 mentioned bit-perfect playback, but this is a new concept for me. I use iTunes for probably 75% of my listening--should I be trying out a different method?

falconcry72

Milsivich wrote: »

... I use iTunes for probably 75% of my listening--should I be trying out a different method?

Yes. Use the Windows side, and use a media player that supports either ASIO or WASAPI, which are bit-perfect, or bit-tansport playback methods. Google.

heiney9

falconcry72 wrote: »

Yes. Use the Windows side, and use a media player that supports either ASIO or WASAPI, which are bit-perfect, or bit-tansport playback methods. Google.

I agree 100% and put a plug in for Media Monkey which, IIRC, is compatible with iTunes functions. The ASIO plug-in provided with the Musiland software works really, really well with Media Monkey

www.mediamonkey.com

H9

falconcry72

heiney9 wrote: »

I still have a huge bias against anything touted as "audiophile" that runs off USB power like the V-Link. But, having never heard it, I can't really condemn it, but it just makes me uneasy because I am huge into a proper linear power supply making an audible difference.

I am not even sure what the Musiland sells for. I bought mine NIB from a Polkie for a great deal so maybe part of me thinking it's such a great value is somewhat based on what I actually paid. I still think for the money and versatility it's a really nice performing product that he would be happy with.

H9

yea yea yea, I'm aware of your bias.:cheesygrin:

Part of my bias against the Musiland is its incompatibility with machines that are running Windows 7 64bit on an AMD processor. If the OP doesn't have that setup then he'll be fine, but if he does, then he should look elsewhere.

The Musiland is a nice piece, and its internal DAC is great for the price.

EndersShadow

heiney9 wrote: »

I am not even sure what the Musiland sells for.

I find them to be about 125 + shipping off ebay. 225 direct from the company.

heiney9

falconcry72 wrote: »

yea yea yea, I'm aware of your bias.:cheesygrin:

Part of my bias against the Musiland is its incompatibility with machines that are running Windows 7 64bit on an AMD processor. If the OP doesn't have that setup then he'll be fine, but if he does, then he should look elsewhere.

The Musiland is a nice piece, and its internal DAC is great for the price.

Is that still an issue? I thought they were addressing that. I run W7/64 but with an Intel chip so no issues there. But I do remember some issued with the AMD, but I thought they were releasing updated software to fix that. I haven't followed the chat boards since getting mine, so I don't know for sure.

H9

heiney9

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on an Audio GD NFB 3.1 dac for the office rig, so I will no longer use the Musiland in that rig. If Sal hadn't offered those MIT's for sale I'd be ordering it soon, but the MIT's were to good a deal to pass up. I'll probably set up a 3rd rig in the upstair bedroom and use a Netbook with the Musiland for a rig up there. I just bought a pair of Polk RTi 38's from a Polkie. And I have 3 tube integrated's to choose from.

I have a disease, I can't pass up a good deal even if I don't need it!!!!!

H9

falconcry72

heiney9 wrote: »

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on an Audio GD NFB 3.1 dac for the office rig,...

Hell yea man, I hope you enjoy it. I haven't heard that unit, but I've had excellent experiences with Audio GD and their products.

falconcry72

heiney9 wrote: »

I still have a huge bias against anything touted as "audiophile" that runs off USB power like the V-Link.

Just wanted to add that I agree with the potential benefits of an external power supply, which is why I run an Audio GD Digital Interface, with its optional overbuilt awesome external PS.

That said, I've compared the Musiland and V-Link and I liked the V-Link.

heiney9

falconcry72 wrote: »

Hell yea man, I hope you enjoy it. I haven't heard that unit, but I've had excellent experiences with Audio GD and their products.

Since this is an office rig and I listen to a variety of stuff from bootlegs to reference recordings on bookshelf speakers, I like the "flavor" selector they offer on the NFB 3.1, and it's priced right for this type of rig. Probably wait now until Uncle Sam pays me some of my own money back in a couple months.

But to the OP, that's another option. The Audio GD NFB 3.1 with shipping and paypal fee's will run you over $300, but from what I've read and heard, probably the best $300 you can spend on a dac.

H9

heiney9

falconcry72 wrote: »

That said, I've compared the Musiland and V-Link and I liked the V-Link.

So the V-Link, which is just a USB/SPDIF converter, sounds better than the Musiland as a converter?

I admit I haven't listened to the Musiland that much as a dac because I use a AMC DAC8 dac converter which has a fuller bottom end than the Musiland, but I'm not sure which is the more correct sounding dac. I just know with the bookies the fuller bass of the AMC sounds better. In a reference rig like my main rig, I'm not sure I'd feel the same way. I comapred the AMC to my Adcom before mods and the Adcom was better in everyway. Maybe I should put the Musiland in the main rig and see how it stacks up. It's just such a pain to dismantle everything -lol

H9