Connection from Stereo to PC

Willferox

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Mar 7, 2012
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I have: Cambridge Audio S70 speakers & Cambridge Audio azur 540A amplifier connected via phono to an M-Audio Fast Track USB external sound card, which is connected via USB to my computer. I would say that my amplifier and speakers are sufficiently 'warn-in', and I am using high-quality cables. The 'sample rate and bit depth' properties for the driver, on my computer, are set to the highest settings - '2 channel, 24bit, 44100 Hz (Studio quality)'. For practical reasons, I play most of my music through Spotify Unlimited, which streams (having emailed Spotify for official reports) "99.9%" of their music "at [and not just 'up to'] 320kbps", mp3. I understand that these files are compressed and will be of a lower quality than CD's for example. My speakers are located about 3-4ft apart from each other, at a slight inward angle. I am sat just 1-2ft in front of my speakers, and my reciever is located directly in front of my, under my computer monitor. My room is small-to-average.

5

http://i41.tinypic.com/33w30h3.jpg

Although I understand that sound-quality perception is subjective, I have nothing else to compare the quality of my current setup to, since I haven't much of a history in Hifi equipment. With this in mind, I am basically wondering if I am doing anything 'wrong' as such with my setup, MAINLY IN TERMS OF CONNECTIVITY TO PC, and if there are any obvious/simple/cheap/easy changes that I could make to improve my sound quality. Is a USB connection going to have adverse effect on sound quality compared with a minijack connection?

Any advice would be useful and interesting.

Thanks for your time,
Will
 
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Anonymous

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Hi, my suggestion is hopefully some food for thought.

There are subjective reports of cables influencing sound, but little to nothing in the way of hard evidence that they really do. As a big fan of PC based hifi I would suggest getting headphones for when you are at your desk and use the speakers for relaxing, assuming you can sit further away from them. Then you could move them apart and may be further from the wall.

That would get you the best of both worlds and you are spending on what makes the biggest difference, speakers/headphones.
 

paradiziac

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Jan 8, 2011
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It's all connected up optimally, I'd say.

By setting the output to 24bit, you are upsampling on your computer rather than letting your soundcard do it. Try setting it to 16/44 (or 24/96 if available) and seeing if it sounds better or worse.

Spotify Premium is excellent quality and can be as good or better than CD (depending on how good your computer setup is v a CD player).

Of course you can always get a better sound if you spend a lot of money on upgrading components :twisted:
 
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Anonymous

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Lee H said:
The Walking Dead said:
There are subjective reports of cables influencing sound, but little to nothing in the way of hard evidence that they really do.

You're new here aren't you?

Not to hifi, so I know about the fuss over cables. I have just suggested alternative ways to improve SQ and why. The set up is not too disimilar to mine with Spotify as my main listening source. I am quite sure that sitting elsewhere and trying different speaker positioning (free) and a set of headphones (for the price of a cable).
 

Overdose

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Feb 8, 2008
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The Walking Dead said:
Hi, my suggestion is hopefully some food for thought.

There are subjective reports of cables influencing sound, but little to nothing in the way of hard evidence that they really do. As a big fan of PC based hifi I would suggest getting headphones for when you are at your desk and use the speakers for relaxing, assuming you can sit further away from them. Then you could move them apart and may be further from the wall.

That would get you the best of both worlds and you are spending on what makes the biggest difference, speakers/headphones.

+1

An emminently sensible reply.
 

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