DAC

[admin_exported]

New to this everyone, so excuse ignorance.

What is the best bet for a DAC to use with a B&W Zeppelin and a HP Compaq DC5850.

I only want to spend about £100.00.

From what I can see I only have a standard audio jack plug "out" from the computer.

So what do I need lead wise to connect computer to DAC ?

Mark

 

[noogle]

The Zeppelin already has a DAC in it so you don't need another. IMHO the best way to hook up your laptop would be with a Musical Fidelity V-Link (£100). This is a USB-optical adapter. You'll need a USB lead (printer type) and an optical (Toslink) lead - both available on the 'Bay for a few quid.

 

[CustomCable]

Are you trying to play music from your laptop to the Zeppelin? As per the above post the best bet would be to purchase a Musical Fidelity V-Link and take a USB connection from the computer to the V-Link then an Optical Toslink cable to the Zeppelin.

Regards

 

[Anonymous]

Possible alternative for the same price is the Audinst HUD-MX1 which has been creating a bit of a stir on the internet. It includes a headphone amp, optical out as well as dac with analogue outputs, and can even be run off the usb if you it need to. So, it would double up as a very good portable headphones + laptop setup.

http://audinst.com/en/bbs/board.php?bo_table=HUDmx1&wr_id=4

(Edit): Just to clarify the setup scenario:

laptop > usb cable > Audinst HUD-MX1 > phono audio cable > Zeppelin (ie. using Audinst HUD-MX1 as the dac)

or

laptop > usb cable > Audinst HUD-MX1 > optical digital cable > Zeppelin (using Zeppelin's internal dac)

and for private listening

laptop > usb cable >Audinst HUD-MX1 > headphones

 

[chebby]

New to this everyone, so excuse ignorance. What is the best bet for a DAC to use with a B&W Zeppelin and a HP Compaq DC5850. I only want to spend about £100.00. From what I can see I only have a standard audio jack plug "out" from the computer. So what do I need lead wise to connect computer to DAC ? Mark

Have you already bought the Zeppelin? If not, spend the extra £100 on a 'Zeppelin Air' and use AirPlay between it and your computer.

Otherwise 'noogle' has the right solution (above) as far as I can tell.

If you are using iTunes - and have a large enough iPod/iPhone - then just sync everything to that and forget cables.

(Zeppelin Air and an iPod Touch 32GB would give the best flexibility but, obviously, costs a little more than your stated budget.)

 

[basshead]

The Zeppelin already has a DAC in it so you don't need another. IMHO the best way to hook up your laptop would be with a Musical Fidelity V-Link (£100). This is a USB-optical adapter. You'll need a USB lead (printer type) and an optical (Toslink) lead - both available on the 'Bay for a few quid.

or this will do the same job for a £20, cables included. to spend £100 on something that does the same thing but in maybe a prettyer box seems silly to me.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-external-sound-box-34128

 

[noogle]

Both will do the job. V-Link is a bit more hi-fi - it is asynchronous so will remove jitter, and also will handle 96/24 hi-rez files.