skydogpenn75

Thanks Gary, I will check those out for sure. Sounds like my price range too. BTW, any issues with the external hard drive to the computer Vs. an onboard library, not sure about the transfer etc. Again thanks so much for all the help, what a great forum community you all have here.

No optical out on the laptop. The budget is a big part of the problem, kind of tight right now. That's the main reason just want to get things going and see where it goes from there, and upgrade from there as budget allows. It would be somewhere around 300 low end 500 top end, I realize this doesn't get me much as you usually get what you pay for. I have a pair of older polk rt towers. No budget for speakers right now. If I were to go the USB DAC route, are there any budget ones that you would recommend. P.S. I camped beside a group of people several years ago at the Allgood Music Festival from Falls Church. The were great people and we had a blast.

Thanks for the replies. The receiver is a Harmon Kardon AVR 125. The laptop is a gateway NE5SR running windows 7. From what I am reading it is best to have a laptop just for music server and not using it for anything else. The budget, don't know yet just looking to get my feet wet and be able to access all my music on the external hard drive. If I can do that with what I have or by adding a few things, Then do the research and make some wise purchases in the future I would be happy. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE HELP!!!!!!!!!

I have all my music ripped to an external hard drive, about 2TB worth. Basically my question is, what is the best way to get the files to my receiver. I have done some research into the usb dac's, but don't really know much about it. Sorry if this is dumb, but can I just plug my external drive into my laptop and then the laptop to my receiver via a usb dac. If so what should I watch for, or what would I need to do. All suggestions are greatly appreciated. Not to lazy to do the research, just need a starting point. THANKS AGAIN.