PC sound to old Amp

[XelreD]

Greetings everyone.
I have a few years old Teac amp. I've been googling for a way to send my PC sound (mp3, videos, games) to this amp cause the wife goes berserk with cables showing up... 😅 But after lots of searches and several reviews I'm still not sure of which equipment to buy... Im completely in the dark on how to achieve this. I'm also kind on a budget...
Would any of you be so kind to point me on what equipment to search?
Thanks a lot.

 

[Gray]

Greetings everyone.
I have a few years old Teac amp. I've been googling for a way to send my PC sound (mp3, videos, games) to this amp cause the wife goes berserk with cables showing up... 😅 But after lots of searches and several reviews I'm still not sure of which equipment to buy... Im completely in the dark on how to achieve this. I'm also kind on a budget...
Would any of you be so kind to point me on what equipment to search?
Thanks a lot.

Greetings to you too.
If you want to do it wirelessly:
Bluetooth from PC to this:

iFi Zen Blue review

Bluetooth for your traditional hi-fi? This does the trick

www.whathifi.com

Or the Zen Air Blue from their even cheaper new range:

https://www.whathifi.com/news/ifis-zen-air-hi-fi-range-brings-its-successful-zen-series-to-a-lower-price

The receiver then connects to an 'aux' line input on your TEAC.

You did say you were on a budget, so I should point out that you can do Bluetooth a lot cheaper than even the £99 price. (I paid around £20 for a little receiver for non-critical listening to speech radio from a tablet and phone).
But as you want it for all your sound, you'd be better with one of the iFi units - which by all accounts do Bluetooth better than anything else.

 

[XelreD]

Greetings to you too.
If you want to do it wirelessly:
Bluetooth from PC to this:

iFi Zen Blue review

Bluetooth for your traditional hi-fi? This does the trick

www.whathifi.com

Or the Zen Air Blue from their even cheaper new range:

https://www.whathifi.com/news/ifis-zen-air-hi-fi-range-brings-its-successful-zen-series-to-a-lower-price

The receiver then connects to an 'aux' line input on your TEAC.

You did say you were on a budget, so I should point out that you can do Bluetooth a lot cheaper than even the £99 price. (I paid around £20 for a little receiver for non-critical listening to speech radio from a tablet and phone).
But as you want it for all your sound, you'd be better with one of the iFi units - which by all accounts do Bluetooth better than anything else.

Thank you for your answer my friend.

By "on a budget" I meant nothing excessively expensive. I would risk a 200-300 equipment if that means a huge sound quality difference.
From several opinions I've been reading, I have a feeling wifi is the way to go?

 

[Gray]

I have a feeling wifi is the way to go?

Wi-fi?
Or did you mean ifi?
With your source / purpose / budget, I'd say that Zen Blue was made for you and your wife.

 

[XelreD]

Wi-fi?
Or did you mean ifi?

Sorry, yes Wi-Fi

 

[Gray]

Sorry, yes Wi-Fi

I think autocorrection might be changing ifi to Wi-fi.

To be clear, the Zen Blue receives Bluetooth transmission - which is different to wi-fi.

 

[Vincent Kars]

If it must be lossless over WiFi, a streamer supporting UPnP/DLNA is your best bet.
Windows Media sharing is DLNA certified.
If you have a Android phone, you can simply try by using Foobar Mobile: https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Android/MediaPlayers/Foobar.htm

A box like this might do the job as well: https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/accessories/wxad-10/index.html

 

[XelreD]

Thank you both for your suggestions.
I had already previously found both products (among o several others) you suggest and I have to say the Yamaha unit kind of kept my gaze...

I believe my main doubt is (before I invest my coins) will I be able to select both the iFi or the Yamaha as a regular sound output device on Windows devices list?

Or maybe that's what the DLNA norm is meant to be all along... right?

 

[Vincent Kars]

No.
The iFi will present itself as an audio device because it is Bluetooth

A streamer has its own interface. It will see the PC as a server, a bit like a browser sees webserver.
Media players like WMP do have a "play to" function. This allows you to push audio to a streamer.
If you want to select a audio device and send all audio to it, just like you send it to e.g. the iFi, you must use Bluetooth or any casting tech like Chromecast.

Another option is AES67, real time audio over IP but then you are in the mids of typical pro-tools.

The Well-Tempered Computer

www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com

 

[XelreD]

Thanks both of you to point me a couple of tracks to follow. That changes a bit my opinion about Bluetooth and audio. I always considered BT to be associated to that poor quality and annoying sound you ear inside Asian old rusty taxis 😂

Now I'm reading a comparison between the iFi Zen Blue V2 and the Audioengine B1... It's going to be one of these for sure!

Thanks again guys. 🙏

 

[XelreD]

Well... Back to the start. One thing I wasn't considering: a tech guy from Audioengine just informed me I might experience up to 30ms of latency on Windows systems... 😒

Bad for playback during my guitar jam sessions. I think I'll just try to find a way to hide my cables behind my room baseboards.

 

[Gray]

...Bad for playback during my guitar jam sessions. I think I'll just try to find a way to hide my cables behind my room baseboards.

Yes, latency rules out live sound monitoring.
Cables around skirting boards can be surprisingly unobtrusive, often going unnoticed, especially when in slim trunking.

Ideally you need DAC between PC and amp.

 

[XelreD]

Ideally you need DAC between PC and amp.

Would it be asking too much if you could give an installation example? I'm probably wrong but I have been reading those things require specific applications and I'm not sure it would work as I intend... ie a way to send all my PC sound to my amp, now without any noticeable latency 😅

 

[Gray]

Would it be asking too much if you could give an installation example?

No, not asking too much.
When you talk of guitar sessions, how do you do that exactly?
Do you record it and monitor the sound live? Without latency?

A USB DAC would go between PC and amp. A USB lead connects to its input and a twin RCA lead connects from its output to your amp.
The PC shows the DAC in its list of audio devices (with no app involvement).
Once selected, all PC audio is routed through the external DAC.
Currently, you will be using your PC's internal DAC. The idea being, that using the external DAC will result in a superior sound.
What distance will there be between your PC and amp?

The Zen DAC is one example of the many USB DACs available. There should not be noticeable latency when using them (others can correct me if they know otherwise).
EDIT: The question came up 8 years ago on this forum:

DAC Delay ?

If I add a DAC to convert the digital sound to analogue from my tv in order to connect it to my hi-fi amp will this cause a delay and lip sync problems ?

forums.whathifi.com

 

[XelreD]

I usually practice using my 6 channels Behringher mixer. I connect my guitar amp or multi effects pedal to one of the channels. Then If I'm in a hurry I use a regular 3.5mm to RCA cable into my PC line in... along with usual noise that comes with it. Otherwise I use the mixer USB cable along with some software to capture the sound, but that cames with the usual time lag.

I confess I'm completely in the dark when it comes to new tech so that's why I still don't fully understand the concept of that DAC thing you mention, what it is and how it works... Does it work through WiFi to carry my PC sound to my amp and without noticeable latency? Thats truly my main goal 😅

 

[Vincent Kars]

If you are in need of low latency, a wired connection is best.
If you want a wireless connection and a ultra low latency, look for professional wireless transmitters https://www.shure.com/pt-BR/shows-e...whiteboard-digital-wireless-latency-explained

Assuming wired.
Your mixer probably has direct XLR and RCA out. Connect the RCA to the RCA of the amp.
If you want to record, use the USB to record but listen to the direct out of the mixer.

Playing audio on the PC to the amp.
The most simple one is 3.5 mm analog headphone out to amp (or via the mixer hopefully without hum (earth loop). You can improve on the onboard audio of a PC by using a external USB DAC.

DAC
The compact disk was introduced in the 80's. It contains digital audio ( 2 channel, 16 bit samples at 44.1 kHz sample rate). As an amp is analog, it simply ad gain to a analog signal, it doesn't understand anything about digital. So you need a middle man, the one that convert the samples to a equivalent voltage, indeed a digital to analog converter or DAC for short.

 

[Gray]

...I still don't fully understand the concept of that DAC thing you mention, what it is and how it works... Does it work through WiFi to carry my PC sound to my amp

No it doesn't use wi-fi.
As Vincent explained above, a DAC converts the computer's digital output into the analogue that your Teac needs - using only wires.
If you look at current amplifiers you'll see that some have digital inputs, which means the DAC is built in. Not all have the USB type that you need though.
You could connect both the analogue output of a DAC and the output of your mixer to your amp, using any line input (not one marked 'phono') then switch between the two, using the input selector.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

‎But as you wish for all your sound, you'd be better off with one of the iFi units - which by all accounts make Bluetooth better than anything else.!!‎

The forum's language is English - please use it. Google translate will help you.