Lucifigus

I easily downloaded and installed the NAD driver and now the system works fine. Many thanks for the direction and advice from all of you. I know all of this is really simple for many people on this site, but my work is around legal issues and treaty negotiations with respect to wildlife/fisheries and Aboriginal people, and computer pathways and operations are not within my area of expertise. So here's hoping that I can finally have good, hi-def files to play while I sit and process photos at the same time. Lucifigus

My cable to connect to the DAC arrived yesterday. However, it doesn't work. I am using Windows 7 on the laptop, and when I open the sound panel by selecting "Manage Audio Device", it has "speakers" as the only selection, so there seems to be no way to choose any other output. When I first plugged the cable into the DAC, I got a dialog box. I don't remember what it said specifically, and I cannot replicate the appearance of the dialog box. However, it identified the device as a NAD but said it didn't recognize it (or something similar). Do I need some kind of a different driver? Can I install some better sound management software that provides greater control than what comes with Windows 7? I didn't run JRiver because I didn't have my external drive with my music library configured yet. Will I have choices in JRiver to use the USB port? Lucifigus

Yes, but that D/A conversion in the computer is precisely what I want to avoid. Lucifigus

I am using a NAD D1050 as a DAC, and it has a USB B input. This is what I was planning to use and I have a cable coming: USB A to USB B. I do not yet have the cable, so I didn't try it. It was when read the manual (which are known to be notoriously erroneous) which said the only audio output was the headphone jack that I wondered if my approach was incorrect. Lucifigus

That's what I had in mind, but the computer manual referenced the headphone jack as the only audio output. Do al USB ports connect digitally to the motherboard for audio?

Do all the USB ports connect digitally to the motherboard? is it really that simple? Lucifigus

I appreciate all the sage advice and discussion here. This effort has not been without some tribulation. Please understand, I am no computer guy, so things make themselves apparent after I make decisions. I picked up a decent (to me) refurbished Lenovo T430. However, there is no way to feed a digital connection from the computer for audio. All that's available is the headphone jack. Is this common? The shop is very good and they will take it back as we try and find another refurbished unit that will fit my needs, but their tech, who is also an audio guy, is away for a few days. What is a common port for a digital audio output among laptops that are a couple years old? Do I simply need to look for something newer? Lucifigus

I am looking at a Lenovo Thinkpad T420 with an i7. Although it has only 4 MB RAM, I should be able to install more. I will be using JRiver. I just want to be sure I can digitally output Hi Definition audio from the computer to my DAC and bypass any unnecessary onboard elements. I appreciate the advice.

I have a pretty decent desktop computer, tweaked somewhat to process photos using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. For the last couple of months, I have focused on digital audio, and much to my surprise, this takes a fair amount of processing power and I cannot listen to music and process photos at the same time. OK, I accept that. I am now shopping for a laptop to use exclusively for music and movies. I have two dedicated external drives for storage and backup. I also have an external DAC and I will be using JRiver. Are there any significant elements that I should ensure are in the machine. What kind of processor should I look for? How much RAM is required just for music and movies? I am hoping to go to a local computer shop and buy a used, but refurbished laptop. I have little experience with using a computer for music and I am hoping to get it right without going overboard. Lucifigus