Connecting Laptop to HI=FI

[newellij]

Hi I am rather struggling with technology, please can you assist?
I have a laptop in my office on the first floor of my house and I want to send music to my stereo system in the lounge on the ground floor. My laptop has a headphone socket out put and the stereo has twin rca inputs on the aux. Is it possible to connect the two wirelessly, if so how?
Many thanks
Ian

 

[abacus]

The easiest way is to buy a streamer and connect it to your amp, and then share your music files on the laptop (Your laptop will have to be left on), the streamer will then be able to find the files on your laptop and play them. (I presume you have a Wi-Fi router otherwise it gets more difficult)
It all comes down to how much you have to spend and how tech savvy you are for other options.

Bill

 

[iMark]

A streamer will work best if sound quality is important.

Bluetooth is another option. You could connect a bluetooth receiver to the amp. If the laptop has bluetooth you should be able to set it up to send bluetooth audio.

 

[Al ears]

A streamer will work best if sound quality is important.

Bluetooth is another option. You could connect a bluetooth receiver to the amp. If the laptop has bluetooth you should be able to set it up to send bluetooth audio.

if it will work over that sort of distance.....
Best physically take laptop to the hifi system I would have thought....

 

[Tinman1952]

The easiest way is to buy a streamer and connect it to your amp, and then share your music files on the laptop (Your laptop will have to be left on), the streamer will then be able to find the files on your laptop and play them. (I presume you have a Wi-Fi router otherwise it gets more difficult)
It all comes down to how much you have to spend and how tech savvy you are for other options.

Bill

Agreed. I would recommend the Yamaha WXAD-10 for an inexpensive and user friendly 'quality' solution. Currently £135 on Amazon UK.👍

 

[skinnypuppy71]

Wouldn't it just be a bit easier and less expensive to take the laptop to the stereo system in the lounge...it is quite a portable device. Also a wireless connection from ground floor to first floor for music streaming.....it's going to give you issues.

 

[Tinman1952]

Wouldn't it just be a bit easier and less expensive to take the laptop to the stereo system in the lounge...it is quite a portable device. Also a wireless connection from ground floor to first floor for music streaming.....it's going to give you issues.

So how would you connect the laptop to the stereo? Headphone out from the laptop is probably the worst connection from a HiFi perspective. Noisy contaminated power and using the cheap DAC in the laptop. Yes it will work but.......

 

[Kutusov]

I'm not sure about this but couldn't you get a portable audio player, upload the files there and hook it up to the stereo with a 3.5mm to RCA cable? They have good dacs and are not terribly expensive...

 

[skinnypuppy71]

So how would you connect the laptop to the stereo? Headphone out from the laptop is probably the worst connection from a HiFi perspective. Noisy contaminated power and using the cheap DAC in the laptop. Yes it will work but.......

If it were me......and I do run my hi-fi from my pc,...network player and external dac...I suppose then the op could leave his laptop up stairs and use a lan connection from his laptop....hatd wired of course.,..or take the laptop downstairs and use a small usb type dac from the likes of audioquest straight into the stereo......it's going to cost some cash though....I wouldn't use the headphone socket either.....gads.

 

[shipworm-archaism-recede]

Assuming OP is a Windows user, Chromecast?

 

[manicm]

If you get a DLNA streamer connected to your amp, then using common and free software like VLC or Plex will let you stream to it. VLC, for example, even has an app that will let you control playback as well, meaning you can leave your laptop upstairs while changing music.

But the ideal situation would be to get a NAS drive and store your music there, if budget permits.

 

[newellij]

Thanks all for your excellent advice.

 

[robdmarsh]

Agreed. I would recommend the Yamaha WXAD-10 for an inexpensive and user friendly 'quality' solution. Currently £135 on Amazon UK.👍

I wouldn't rate the Yamaha WXAD-10 for sound quality. I had the wxc-50 which is higher up the Yamaha range and the sound wasn't as good as streaming via my ifi Zen blue

 

[Tinman1952]

I wouldn't rate the Yamaha WXAD-10 for sound quality. I had the wxc-50 which is higher up the Yamaha range and the sound wasn't as good as streaming via my ifi Zen blue

Yes I didn't really like the ESS Sabre DAC in the WXC-50 but the WXAD-10 has a Burr Brown DAC (which is also what iFi use) and sounds better in my opinion. However both to me are preferable to bluetooth...