BT5150

I do have an HDMI output, but no firewire. I recently borrowed the Devilsound DAC that I use at my bar to try out for the home system and I have to say it sounds fine. I think I'll order another one. Plus, we have been using for 8 months now and it is simple and trouble free.

I'm using a HP laptop for my music source for my stereo. Right now I'm going through the headphone jack to rca's and the sound is not very impressive. Besides being rather flat sounding, it sounds like it fades in and out a bit, like someone keeps turning the volume from 9 to 7 and back to 9 over and over again. I'm not in the same budget range as some of the serious audiophiles here, I'm looking to spend around $200 or so, maybe $300 for the Devilsound DAC. Now, I was just on the HP site and I see that they sell a docking station for my laptop that has a SPDIF jack with rca's. Is this a better way to go than getting a usb dac?

I'm putting together my new home stereo and I want to use my PC as the primary source for music. I found a lot of good info here on Computer Audiophile about a year ago when I put a system together for my bar. I ended up buying a Devilsound DAC to connect the PC to the audio system, which has been completely trouble-free in the 8 months we have been using it. I'd also say that the sound quality is good, at least it is to my relatively untrained ears. Now I'm working on a home stereo setup and I'm considering buying another Devilsound DAC, but I thought I'd check here to see if anyone has any other ideas first. I'm not looking to spend as much as some of you guys do, I'd like to keep it around $200 for the DAC if possible. Any new ideas here? I also have one more question. Right now, I have my laptop hooked into the stereo through the headphone jack. (please, no snickering here-its only temporary!) One thing I notice is that a lot of times it sounds like the music fades in and out a bit, almost like someone is turning the volume up and down a bit. Any idea why this is? Is this something that should be solved by going with a usb dac device? One last question, my laptop has several usb ports, and an HDMI but no firewire. Is the usb the best way to go? I haven't found any way to utilize the HDMI as the amp I'm using only has rca's and xlr's for inputs.

I received the Devilsound DAC, unfortunately I'm having troubles with the mixing board on the system that it will be hooked up to. For now, it is connected to my home system, it sounds great! Thanks again for all of the advice.

Great, thanks for all of the advice! I think I'll go with the Devilsound DAC, I like the simple design as well as the price. We hope to be open in a few weeks, (if everything falls into place!) I think it should work out well. Once again, this looks like a great site.

One more question, it seems like people here are more Mac focused than Windows. Is there anything I should be aware of if I want to use a windows PC for this purpose? I bought a new Compaq laptop, mainly because I could get one with 3GB RAM and a 200GB hard drive for $450, while a comparable Mac Book would be well over $1000.

Thanks for the advice. The Devilsound product looks good to me, I like the idea that it is all self contained, it looks like there is no external power supply. As far as what we are playing, at the bar I used to run, we had a pretty extensive Itunes library that we would play from. I know that Itunes is limited by the fact that they are compressed files, but it sounded pretty comparable to what I could hear if we played CD's in the CD player. This is in a bar setting, with a large open space, hard surfaces on all of the walls, etc, not the best listening environment. In my new place, I will probably be playing both CD's and MP3 music from the computer, more so MP3's. Any other thoughts?

I found this site at just the right time! I can tell already that I will be spending a lot of time here. Right now, I have one pressing question. I am in the bar/restaurant business as well as being somewhat of an audiophile (albeit on a budget). I am opening up my own bar/restaurant and I put together the audio system with help from a friend who does pro audio and a great local dealer. I will be using a laptop (space limitations rule out a desktop PC) to play the music selections. At the bar that I used to manage, we had a pro audio guy who would charge big$$$ to come in and constantly tinker with the system, yielding what I considered to be only OK results. At that place, he supplied an Ibook with cables coming from the headphone jack to connect into the audio system. I never really noticed much difference between the sound coming from the Ibook and the sound from the CD player that we also occasionally used there. From my own research, it looks like that was not an ideal setup. The system I put together for my new place is a decent one (Crown amps, EV speakers, JBL subs and a dbx Drive Rack for sound processing) but I am wondering about the best way to connect the laptop to the system. It sounds like going through the USB port is better than the headphone jack- or is it? From there, are there more reasonably priced solutions, as compared to the $1000 DAC's? I found a device-the Firestone Fubar II that is a USB DAC for around $130, that sounds interesting. I just bought a new Compaq laptop that is running Vista, that I will be using for the music selections. A few questions: 1. What would you recommend as my best option for under say $200 for connecting the laptop to the audio system? 2. Should I look at one of these less expensive DAC's, or should I just try running the cables from the PC to the audio system and leave it there? Any other advice for me? I really appreciate the help!