I'm being given an old (but good) Marantz Integrated Stereo Amplifier PM-66SE. How do I link it up with a laptop or MP3 player so I can stream etc. Sorry if this is a basic quesion but I just dont know. Thank you, Iain
Get yourself a Behringer UCA202 or 222 DAC, use it to connect from USB on the laptop to any of the line inputs. Prepare to be amazed. For the MP3 player buy a 3.5mm jack to RCA phono lead. You could also use that lead on the audio out on the laptop, though the quality may not be as good.
Thanks that is excellent as I haven't understood how to link analogue with digital. Do people find storing on a laptop or a MP3 is the best approach? With music everywhere nowadays ie laptop, phone, streamed etc I find it all very fragmented and want all my music together in a coherent and easy to access place. Iain
If you have music on a laptop then the Behringer dac mentioned above is a 'no brainer' at just £25. Phones, MP3 players and the like are more difficult, in part because they do not have usb out.
I have an all Apple environment, iPhone, iPod, iPad, Macbook pro, all connecting via Airplay, dead simple, con you do something similar?
I store a back up of my music in iTunes on my iMac, but I also have the same library of my music on my iPod touch which is docked on an Arcam drDock connected to my amplifier. It's a digital dock in the sence that it bypasses the iPods DAC and uses the docks DAC instead.
I control my music using an app called Tango Remote which is installed on my iPod, iPhone and iPad. Of course a dock like this is of no use unless your MP3 player is an iPod, but thought I'd throw the idea out there incase you do have an iPod.
I would personally find using the computer every time I want to listen to music an inconvienence.