Connecting a Meridian 203DAC to Laptop help needed

[admin_exported]

Whist waiting for my NAD BBE545cd player to be repaired (Again!!!! grrrrrr!!!...)... I`m currently using my Ipod 4th gen NANO through an apple dock to my amps , which isn`t too bad as long as the music is of good downloaded quality

My question is that If I were to use my elderly HP laptop and external Hard drive and incorporate my faithful Meridian 203 DAC , which would be the best way to connect the laptop and DAC.???... is it possible to send a signal from the USB port to the Meridan 203DAC or is it possible to use the headphone socket instead ??

I`ve tried the Lap top to the Amp direct using a 3.5mm to phono lead and sounds worse than the IPOD so I thought that the best route would be to possibly use the Meridian DAC with the Laptop.

The laptop doesnt have any other connections except a USB and 3.5mm earphone socket and the Meridian DAC has only optical and analogue inputs and obviously phono outputs for the amp.

Any advice would be very much appreciated as I`m a little unsure how to do this...

Jotaboy

 

[noogle]

You'll need to fork out £90 for a Musical Fidelity V-Link, plus a USB printer-type cable and a Toslink S/PDIF optical cable. The V-Link will convert USB to S/PDIF plus clean up the signal clocking in the process. Works a treat.