|
Post by gadgie on Oct 6, 2015 14:58:31 GMT
Okay I'm new to this but having seen a couple of people using it I'm thinking I might have a go at it.
Getting music on to either a hard drive or PC and playing it through my hifi/phones etc?
I'm reckoning on needing a DAC at least right? Cheers B
|
|
Rabbit
Administrator
Posts: 7,087
|
Post by Rabbit on Oct 6, 2015 15:14:33 GMT
Not absolutely necessary to buy a dac.
Download Foobar or a player like it. You can buy some but Foobar is GAF. (Good and free)
That will play files from a hard drive or your computer drive.
You will hear music on the computer speakers, so if you plug in a low impedance headphone ..... Voila.
Not the best, but a start.
If you already have a portable amp, you can use a lead from the headphone out on the computer to the amp and then use a higher impedance headphone.
Then of course, the ultimate is to use a separate dac which can be quite expensive. That connects to a usb connection on your computer.
One thing. If you go digital..... Back your music up somewhere else. It can be lost in a split second if your hard drive goes down.
Personally, I love the little digital players which can also double as a dac. Plus the bonus that you can carry music with you and your computer files are then backed up to sd cards.
I have all of my music in the cloud, on my computer, on a hard drive and finally, on sd cards for my Fiio players. That way, portability, a separate dac, plus backups all in one go!!
|
|
|
Post by gadgie on Oct 7, 2015 14:09:25 GMT
When I was a friends house last week he had something that was connected to his hifi, but ran from his laptop using bluetooth or wireless type thing. I should have asked him what it involved....doh!
|
|
Rabbit
Administrator
Posts: 7,087
|
Post by Rabbit on Oct 7, 2015 16:44:16 GMT
If you start sending things wirelessly, quality tends to drop. It's not awful, but really not as good as a proper hard wire connection.
|
|
|
Post by gadgie on Oct 17, 2015 5:55:29 GMT
Ok so I've been thinking a bit more on this. My PC is at one side of the room and my hifi at the opposite corner. I could run a cable below the floor boards which would be easy enough as there is space to get down there. I also have a hard rive with MP3 which plays no problem on my PC. So that's a start. However, what I'm not too sure about is the stuff I need. Let's start at the PC and end up at the hifi.
Path... PC - USB - DAC? - cable - ember or hifi.
More questions... 1. Is there any product on the market that allows me to plug in multi RCA connections (for example able to take the RCA's from the DAC, CD etc), with one set output to the Ember prior to running out of the Ember into my hifi amp. 2. Would I be better trying to find a long USB cable to run (15-20ft) from the PC to the DAC (locating the DAC at my hifi) or running a long cable from the DAC (located to the PC) to the Ember?
Then I need to figure out how to download music but that's for another lesson lol.
|
|
solderdude
Administrator
measureutternutter
Posts: 4,882
|
Post by solderdude on Oct 17, 2015 6:49:35 GMT
When you want to combine 2 or more sources you will need a switch like the one in this linky (up to 4 inputs). or for 2 inputs something like THISIf you want to 'split' the signal from 1 source to 2 amplifiers ' splitter' or 'Y' RCA plugs can be used. Long USB cables MAY give problems with certain DACs at higher sample rates. Instead I would use longer (but properly shielded) RCA wires carrying the audio over longer distances.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 9:57:47 GMT
Could you not move the hi-fi nearer the PC and invest in longer speaker cable? I think I remember reading somewhere that USB2 is only good for 5m max.
|
|
|
Post by gadgie on Oct 17, 2015 11:54:39 GMT
Thanks for the links. That could be the very thing. Might need to get special cables made.
|
|
|
Post by gadgie on Oct 17, 2015 12:04:05 GMT
Could you not move the hi-fi nearer the PC and invest in longer speaker cable? I think I remember reading somewhere that USB2 is only good for 5m max. Not really. Might use my lap top though, but would rather still use the PC. 5mtrs might be enough tbh!
|
|