Options for computer to hifi connection please

[Tomyum]

Nad amp c320bee

Sony MDS-JB930 minidisc

Samsung NP550P7C-S02UK laptop

Wifi

Hi all,

I'm out of date with my hifi!

Ideally I would like to be able to listen to my music on my hifi from my laptop (and possibly my phone?) via say spotify or itunes etc with no leads at cd possible quality if not better as the thought of being able to download better than cd quality music sounds brilliant but again I don't know anything about that either yet!

Is this possible?

I understand you can get a dac to plug into your usb and then amp with good results. I have use of my sony minidisc players dac as it has a coax input which you can monitor so perhaps I don't need an external dac as such just a coax lead from computer usb somehow or from a wifi or bluetooth dongle thing? Confused.

What are my options?

Ideally capable of cd quality or better

Ideally lead free to be able to move laptop around and use phone (although ultimatly I think the quality would probably take preference if I can't have both and quality isn't up to much!)

Can use Minidisc dac and Wifi

Thanks very much in advanced, I've been trying to figure out my options for a while now but thought asking might clear a few things up!

Tom

 

[spiny norman]

Yes, you could use your MD player as a DAC if you wanted, but not sure it would handle 'beyond CD' bit-depths and sampling rates, eg 24-bit/96kHz or whatever. Its DAC input may be limited to 16/44.1 or 16/48, which is CD quality. Connection will involve the use of a USB-to-SPDIF (optical/coaxial digital) converter: these start from the right side of £50 via the usual online sellers.

The alternative would be an external DAC with a dedicated USB input for your computer.

Wireless? Well, Bluetooth would seem to be your friend, as it will allow you to connect both your computer and phone wirelessly to your system via a Bluetooth DAC. But it is limited to CD quality, and some claim that wired digital connection sounds better than Bluetooth. IME Bluetooth sounds pretty good: have listen to the likes of Arcam's rBlink, thought devices offering similar functionality are available for less.

No doubt some will be along soon to tell you CD-quality is more than good enough, and 'beyond CD' filesizes are just a waste of storage space, with no audible benefits. There are some sites offering the same music in a variety of file formats as free downloads, so you can have a listen for yourself and decide what you think.

 

[Tomyum]

Brilliant, Thank you very much for your reply!

Is there a USB-to-SPDIF converter you might recommend or is known to be a good one?

I have read a review on the acram rBlink that said that it’s still a sonic compromise compared with a cheap cable, so as convient as it might be I might go with the faff of a cable set up and save some money and not compromise on quality?

Think a start would be to get a usb to spdif and a long coax cable to the minidisc dac and see what the results are like!

Again thanks