Hi,

I've been busy getting up to speed on all the great info here, as I'm planning to upgrade - currently playing flacs and lossy, two-year-old laptop -- analogue cable --- boom box (that looks like it's been beat with a baseball bat) with two rca inputs, ca. 1995.

I want to start with an external sound card but I'm wondering why some people seem to hook their external sound card up to a dedicated DAC? I'd rather just get one device if I can...

Also, would it make sense to forgo the ext. sound card and just go for an amp with a USB input?

Overall, I'm aiming for a warm, full sound, so I guess I'll have to purchase my audio components, spec. the speakers, separately, unless someone can actually rec. a good all-in-one (with USB inbuilt). Buying the devices separately would take a while as I'd have to save up some and bargain hunt lots.

Thanks for any input.

Glitz

The best solution is this:

http://www.roku.com

...or


this:

http://www.slimdevices.com/



You won't need sound card. But you will need a router.

Can I ask why you want to start with a soundcard?

I'd have thought that the biggest bang for buck in improvement in sound would be with speakers. Old but decent speakers can be found in op-shops, junktiques, yard-sales and so on. Maybe even your boombox could drive them.

I realise about being on a budget and everything, but unless your laptop is sending obvious noise or glitches down the line, an external soundcard is likely to give you less audible improvement for your limited money than anything except an external DAC.

If there's a good reason for the way you're planning to do it, it might help people who know about this stuff if you spell it out.

Michael

'Audiophiles' like to think that external DACs "sound better" than a quality, internal sound card - but you'll not find them willing to ABX them / level-matched. I've tried a wide variety of internal and external solutions and quality-built internal solutions are every bit as good as external DACs with regards to sound.

The benefit of an external DAC might come from flexibility of moving it from PC to stereo etc., as well as the fact that some sport very high-quality pre-amp stages; helpful in driving difficult headphones, as well as multiple inputs with high-quality, independent volume control.

That said; if you are into simplicity - grab a decent PCM soundcard such as this one:

http://secure.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15971 ($118.00)

...and drive it into a set of amplified speakers such as these:

http://www.razerzone.com/p-90-razer-mako-2...ktop-audio.aspx ($400.00 at NCIX)

All in all; an economical way to kick some Rock and Roll ass...

Andrew D.
www.cdnav.com

OK, thanks for the replies.

I should have said that I've inherited some JPW Gold Monitor speakers and a Pioneer amp - my lineout from my laptop has a loose connection tho. Plus the amp crackles when you adjust the volume, and the JPWs had to be fixed before they got to me.

I thought I'd get an extrernal sound card to fix the lineout problem, and also then I can digitize some old tapes from bands in my in my home town.

I listen mainly to all sorts of stuff but ideally I'd like good rock speakers for my reggae sounds and such.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

cheers,
Glitz

The M-Audio Audiophile 192 has RCA output and, in my opinion, sounds as good, if not better, than any other low-cost internal or external PC setups that I've heard.

Perhaps a MobilePre USB or something like this: Sweet-2 Mini Tube Amplifier

Personally, my advice is to listen to as many different types of systems as is possible. I'd also recommend listening to some of the set-ups at the high end shops. I find it helps to use the same few tracks from some of my own favorite CDs, as I'm really familiar with the music. Once you've found what you like, keep an eye on the classifieds, craigslist and ebay. I actually found my first real speakers, a pair of broken down Quad ESLs, at a garage sale.

As well, I've found speakers are what I seem to 'hear' the most, so this is where I've invested the most in terms of both time and money. I myself, prefer an electrostatic panel type speaker but am currently quite happy with a rare pair of hand built Perkins PR-2 two-ways powered by mono-block tube amplifiers driven directly from an M-Audio 24/96 soundcard.

This should be very easy to fix. Just spray a little contact cleaner into the volume controls.