What hardware do I need to listen to music (flac, mp3,..) from my PC on my stereo (Preamp AUX RCA inputs)?

A soundcard and an audio cable would be a good start.

Since you made a post on the internet I assume you have a computer. If you have a computer made in the last 4 years, you probably have a sound card in it.

It's likely you'll need a mini to RCA cable. I don't know where you are located, but in the USA most large grocery stores (Target, Walmart) will have it available for a few dollars. It shouldn't be hard to find it in any electronics store.

Example Y Cable

Ok. There are lots out there and most of them have 5.1, 7.1, coaxial, optical, etc. which I don’t need. How about the E-MU 0404 PCI? I don’t need the input stuff but it has RCA outputs.

I want to put build a PC/Box I can put next to the stereo. So I guess I’m asking what it a good card (external DAC or whatever) to mate with my preamp (Adcom GFP-555) to get decent sound? And yes I am an audio-tard. Thanks.

As odigg says, the cheapest approach is simply a cable from the analogue out from your computer's "sound card" (which may be on your motherboard) to your preamp.

Building a normal PC to put next your hi-fi in you listening room is rarely a good idea because the PC is noisy, puts out heat, consumes large amounts of unnecessary electricity, requires you to get up and walk to the PC whenever you want to do something, takes time to boot when you want to be listening, is ugly, etc...

It is possible to build silent, low power PCs but this is time consuming and often expensive but can give exactly what one wants in a single package. Sorting out a screen, remote, volume control, relevant software, etc... would be a pain for me but perhaps more of a hobby for others.

A system that seems to work well for a reasonable price is a device like a squeezebox which provides a small screen, remote, digital-to-analogue converter to plug into the preamplifier and a wireless or wired ethernet connection to a separate computer with a hard disk containing the music. This computer could be a normal PC in a different room where the noise is not intrusive, a laptop in the living room or a NAS box (a hard disk with small computer and a network connection) fanless examples of which could be placed in the living room.

How about a mini-itx Atom 330 based unit with 1 stick of RAM, a single WD Green hard drive and a tiny TFT monitor? V.small and does not use a lot of power at all. Or a VIA Nano or NVidia Ion motherboard with similar?

Get an iPod and a dock for it. The iPods provide line level output via the dock connector, you just connect the dock to a set of inputs on the amp. That is what I do. The sound quality is indistinguishable from a good CD player.

Thanks Nick. I've done a little research on this type of build and I think I'll go min-atx. They are inexpensive and apparently the on board sound is good enough for MP3 V-4 listening?

I think that mini-ATX is a good way to go. You've got a lot of alternatives when it comes to system boards. Many have the Realtek High Resolution audio, which is pretty good. One thing to watch out for is system boards that have built-in grounding problems, which results in noise being added to the audio when there is hard drive activity, etc. No matter what audio chip a board with grounding problems uses, it is going to be problematical.

If you have a system with problematical audio and need just 2 channels, then the Behringer UCA-202 is a cheap, effective alternative. It has RCA jack I/O.

If you want multichannel output, I'd recommend one of the many low cost USB devices with optical outputs, or a system board with on-board digital output, rather than doing the multichannel decoding in the PC.

If you have a wireless router, you could consider the Sondigo sirocco wireless sound bridge.
I baught one personally and I'm quite satisfied.

Music is broadcasted over your wireless network using a lossless codec witch is based on FLAC.

http://www.sondigo.com/sirocco/overview


Cheers.

Thanks Arnold,
Your post was informative for me. And yes I only need 2 channels. I’m inputting to an (vintage, 1980ish, LOL) ADCOM preamp that only has 2 channel inputs.

It’s good to know I have an inexpensive alternative with a USB audio interface should to the onboard sound be problematic. In that regard, all of the motherboards have surround sound outputs so I would be using a single 1/8” (from the front L/R output on the board or card) to 2 RCA splitter cable. Is that good enough or should I jump right to a USB audio interface like the Behringer UCA-202 you suggested since it has discrete 2 channel outputs?

I see the Behringer UCA-202 audio interface uses a 24-bit/48kHz converter where other audio interfaces such as the Edirol UA-1EX use a 24-bit/96kHz converter. I’ll do some reading on the difference between the 48Hz and 96Hz, but if I could get a jump start (the short answer) it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

If you aren't listening to any sources higher than 24-bit/48 kHz, the Edirol won't have any particular advantage in that respect. The UA-1EX may be an overall "higher-quality" unit, and the converters it uses may be of a higher quality, with greater capabilities, but that can't be gauged solely by its spec'd abilities, and that may not necessarily influence its performance audibly.

EDIT: Removed quote.

Thanks Ron

I'll be playing mp3 (CDs -> EAC -> LAME -V3) as the "source. So to keep it simple for me (audio noob). Which sample rate do I need (best?) for playback 24, 48, 96, 192 kHz for my setup?

I think you are telling me that for sources produced at a sampling rate of 48 kHz a converter with a 98 or 192 kHz doesn't buy you anything in sound accuracy or quality. If so my problem is I don't know / understand my source sampling rate. I'm trying to get it

That is correct. There's the chance the DAC capable of doing 24-bit/96kHz is a better DAC than the one that can only do 48kHz but there's the same uncertainties as per what Ron Jones said.

CDs are 16-bit 44.1kHz. I have an Edirol UA-1EX but leave it in 44.1kHz mode most of the time as the majority of what I listen to are MP3s/FLACs made from CDs so I would gain nothing by using a higher output sampling rate. I only use 96kHz for recording. I'd highly recommend the UA-1EX - it seems to have much better bass and high-end response than my onboard Realtek HD Audio codec (ALC882) and minimal interference in comparison (onboard was very noisy but as others have said it can vary with motherboard design).

I would be interested in seeing some comparisons between the UA-1EX and the Behringer UCA-202 - they seem to be recommended a lot here as entry-level USB interfaces but I'd like to see if there is much difference besides price and specs.