Klaatu

Good evening: First thing is that I'm not here for a free lunch. And quite to the contrary of how naive and amateurish my conversations and questions might sound, I have done research and much time reading. But it seems that filling in the blanks can be quite difficult. To find a thread or a site that speaks specific to one's particular niche of inquiry, I have found impossible - I'm "googled" to death. By the way, I did not intend for my statement about the DAC to be taken the way you did G. I thought that one would have gathered that I meant to connect one onto the laptop via USB port, but anyways no matter I must be more clear. Thanks for writing, Klaatu

Wow! Those are some thoughtful ideas. Thanks. Some of these items I've not heard about before. The two high-end audio stores that we have here in town carry companies like Bryston; Arcam; Lynn; Sim Audio; Nad; MacIntosh; etc, but I guess they can't have everything. But thanks, I will look into these. Can you tell me the make up of your computer audio system? The items that it consists of including brand names? Also, the HRT - Streamer II+ dac, do you yourself have one of these? Or heard one? Here is a quote from "The Absoute Sound" by Alan Sircom "The HRT soundstage is not an expansive one; sounds sit between the speakers rather than spread wide and deep. It’s sort of string quartet sized, instead of expansive orchestral sized..." If you have heard one before, do you concur with his opinion? If his conclusion is correct, do you think that it is due to the fact that it is one of those "you get what you pay for things" and if you want good soundstage then you have to be willing to pay more for it? Finally, you mentioned the Little Dot DAC. Do you know anyone that has one of these and what they think of it? Thanks Bixby, Klaatu

Then tell me where I'm wrong when I say the above. When I go into my local electronic store and all they have are USB ported laptops and no optical outs and they also say that those with optical outs usually cost more and you usually find them in higher end gamer's laptops, are they lying to me? And tell me where I'm wrong about by-passing the USB port in my statement. Tell me where I'm wrong about connecting a DAC into the laptop's USB port for better sound which by-passes the laptop's often times inferior audio component? If I'm wrong then correct me. I think that you could help me now if you wanted to, but if you do not want to and you think that I'm too unschooled and have to be sent back to bleachers before I can walk the hallowed halls again, then hopefully others will be willing to help. Klaatu

Good Evening: First to Bixby - my room is 25'x 25' x 9'. Sorry about the error previously. Also, listening level would be mid-range whatever db that is and the quality of audio that I'm looking for would be in the above average category. I've got pretty high expectations but hoping price doesn't follow that too closely as I've heard some amazing sound being achieved at not so lofty prices. To the others who offered suggestions - thanks. It might take me a few rounds with you to get to that place where I can safely say that I'm getting a handle on how to achieve my goal of putting together a laptop based high end audio system. I appreciate your patience and you offering your help to me at all. Can I start back at the first piece of equipment I'd be purchasing i.e. a laptop - PC based. Are there some features that I would want to have in a laptop so that I would not be leaving myself without in reaching my above goal. A lose example would be: the laptop's chip support of DVD audio at 24-bit/96kHz. Note: The laptop that I could afford would only have USB capability. The more expensive ones have the toslink which are out of my price range. I've heard that when you use the USB, that you bypass the computer's cheap audio chip - which is what I want - so that I can pop a good DAC into it. Alternatively, does anyone think that I should go with a custom built desk top specifically for this purpose therefore giving me the optical out but maybe less expensive than a laptop with the toslink? Please explain. I would rather have my computer audio station to be laptop based just for the more minimalist avenue. Any feedback would be great. Thanks, Klaatu

Thanks for your response Gordon. Much appreciated. I'm falling asleep now so must sign off. Take care and we'll talk again to you all. Klaatu God Bless

Thanks for responding bixby. And yes it was a good album. Those guys just live down the road from me relatively speaking. Toronto. 1. I will be running a PC. 2. I have ripped them in FLAC format and decoded them all to WAV to listen on my work PC laptop. 3. Not too handy at tinkering with my OS, but can learn. 4. 25' square feet by 10' high would be my listening area. 5. I have 2 USB drives 1 terabyte and one 500 gigabytes. 6. I have a pair of paradigm monitor series speakers from my dead system but will most likely up-grade soon. Aside from the above information, what do you think of either the Beresford TC-7510 or the HRT Streamer 11 to act as my DAC for my setup? Would either of these be as good as a more expensive Magic or Arcam's DAC? Or are we talking oranges and apples here as far as sound quality. Thanks Bixby, Klaatu

Thanks for responding Weib: I wrote the below in another section yesterday and I'm pasting it for you below. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone from a first time writer. My objective is to build a simple computer based high quality listening system. I would describe my level of expertise as beginner and as one who has been acquiring knowledge in this area. My old Luxman 2 channel system has now said goodbye to me and has left me listening to music through my laptop with a pair of inferior Altec Lansing speakers. I have a considerable collection of music on a couple of external hard drives. I extracted these files from an outside source CD collection using EAC software into FLAC and then decoded into WAV for listening through my laptop. Since I have this extensive hard drive collection and would not want to go through the agony of burning it all to disks, I want to now stay dedicated to computer based music. I would like to purchase another laptop for this exclusive use first of all - to use its interface - and then connect it to an integrated amplifier, most likely through the USB 2.0 port. I know that I will not get a quality sound chip from the laptop so I would also want to look into a USB adaptor or extention with an excellent chip to by-pass it and then run it to the integrated amp and out some speakers. I will probably have it just for listening to what is on my hard drives and therefore will not want or need to have online access such as a Sonos. I also will not want to have wireless. The ingredients I've listed above are ones that I have gleaned from the internet for someone who wants to listen to their music using a laptop but at the same time wants very high quality sound. My questions would be: 1. Have I got it right to start with? Or am I missing things that a beginner can miss. 2. Is there another way I can achieve what I want? Or am I on the right track? 3. Should I look for certain things in a laptop when shopping for one for my purpose so that I don't have buyer's remorse? Can someone suggest a few to choose from if you have been down this road that I'm about to travel? 4. If I've got it right about a portable USB 2.0 processor to hook on to the laptop, can anyone suggest a couple of choices for me that would be considered to produce high end quality audio? 5. As far as a Integrated Amp, can anyone suggest a couple of choices that would give me the imputs needed for this task e.g. the Moon i.3.3; and whether or not I should get an Amp with an onboard DAC or a separate external. I think if I purchase an external DAC I would still need an Integrated Amp am I correct? You just can't have a external DAC hooked up to your laptop and expect it to do anything right/wrong. I know that I'm asking a lot from the membership but anything that you can throw at me, correct me on, set me straight, or just throw me a bone, it would all be appreciated. You might even have a different slant on something that is totally different which could still help me achieve what I'm looking for. Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you who are wiser than I. Klaatu --------------------------------------------------------------------If you need more information please let me know what I'm missing as I'm very much wanting to know which direction to turn to with each of these purchases. I don't want to buy the wrong thing. My platform would be PC Willing to spend up to $1000 for a DAC Willing to spend up to 3500 for a integrated amp The speakers: I'm willing to spend up to $2000 I thought that an onboard DAC in the amp was the way to go, but since have been informed that it would be better to buy these separate. Do you agree? Thanks again Weib. Klaatu

Hello. ItemAudio thought that this might be a more appropriate spot for my question which I posted in the DAC section yesterday. I have a couple of hard drives full of Flac files from CDs and want to use them to tie into a laptop based high end home audio system. Does anyone have a system set up like this where their main concern was audio quality? Can you suggest how I should get started? What specific things to purchase for this goal. Example: what kind of laptotp; what kind of DAC; what kind of integrated amp., etc. If you are kind enough to help, I'm a bit of a novice. So, if you can keep it simple I'll understand much better. Thanks so much, Klaatu

Hello ComputerAuthority: I decoded my FLAC files to WAV because the simple laptop system that I have now will not play my FLAC files. Would you be able to, or anyone else, try and advise me as per my original queries? Thanks so much, Klaatu

Thanks ItemAudio: I'm so new at this that alot of what you communicated went right over my head. Sorry about that. I wish that I new more about the nomenclature and overall knowings to take advantage of your obvious experience, but alas I'm a shaved lamb in these areas. Thanks Again, Klaatu

Hello everyone from a first time writer. My objective is to build a simple computer based high quality listening system. I would describe my level of expertise as beginner and as one who has been acquiring knowledge in this area. My old Luxman 2 channel system has now said goodbye to me and has left me listening to music through my laptop with a pair of inferior Altec Lansing speakers. I have a considerable collection of music on a couple of external hard drives. I extracted these files from an outside source CD collection using EAC software into FLAC and then decoded into WAV for listening through my laptop. Since I have this extensive hard drive collection and would not want to go through the agony of burning it all to disks, I want to now stay dedicated to computer based music. I would like to purchase another laptop for this exclusive use first of all - to use its interface - and then connect it to an integrated amplifier, most likely through the USB 2.0 port. I know that I will not get a quality sound chip from the laptop so I would also want to look into a USB adaptor or extention with an excellent chip to by-pass it and then run it to the integrated amp and out some speakers. I will probably have it just for listening to what is on my hard drives and therefore will not want or need to have online access such as a Sonos. I also will not want to have wireless. The ingredients I've listed above are ones that I have gleaned from the internet for someone who wants to listen to their music using a laptop but at the same time wants very high quality sound. My questions would be: 1. Have I got it right to start with? Or am I missing things that a beginner can miss. 2. Is there another way I can achieve what I want? Or am I on the right track? 3. Should I look for certain things in a laptop when shopping for one for my purpose so that I don't have buyer's remorse? Can someone suggest a few to choose from if you have been down this road that I'm about to travel? 4. If I've got it right about a portable USB 2.0 processor to hook on to the laptop, can anyone suggest a couple of choices for me that would be considered to produce high end quality audio? 5. As far as a Integrated Amp, can anyone suggest a couple of choices that would give me the imputs needed for this task e.g. the Moon i.3.3; and whether or not I should get an Amp with an onboard DAC or a separate external. I think if I purchase an external DAC I would still need an Integrated Amp am I correct? You just can't have a external DAC hooked up to your laptop and expect it to do anything right/wrong. I know that I'm asking a lot from the membership but anything that you can throw at me, correct me on, set me straight, or just throw me a bone, it would all be appreciated. You might even have a different slant on something that is totally different which could still help me achieve what I'm looking for. Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you who are wiser than I. Klaatu