USB DAC (In English - please ignore previous post)

[admin_exported]

I have recently been listening to a lot more music played through my laptop, which is connected to my amp via a headphone socket to RCA cable.

The question I ask is, will a DAC improve the sound quality and would it have to be a USB DAC as my laptop doesn't seem to have an optical out connection?

The mp3's (itunes) I listen to are generally encoded at 256kbps and higher.

I know this topic has probably been covered numerous times but any information or recommendations are much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

The new CA USB DAC coming out may be just what you are looking for!

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, in my opinion it makes a huge difference. Just getting the DAC outside of the noisy laptop will make a big difference, even if it were the same exact DAC, although most external ones are indeed better than the standard ones inside computers. I listen to a lot of music on my laptop (MacBook Pro) and use my Grado's plugged into a HeadRoom USB DAC/amp and the difference is so big that I find it annoying listening to the headphones plugged straight into the computer now. As for the USB question, there are plenty of DAC's available with a USB input (although many will only have 16 bit capabilities which can be a bummer if you have bought 24/96 tracks from HD Tracks or Linn) but you may have an optical port on the laptop and not realize it. A lot of times the headphone port doubles as an optical port so you may want to look into it as you may get a pleasant surprise. As for recommendations, there is the new Cambridge Audio DAC which looks mighty impressive and I'll be buying one to use in conjunction with an Apple AE optical out. HeadRoom makes some fine DAC's with and without amps built-in, and the final product I'd suggest you'd look at is theÿFubar II USB DAC which again can also come with an amp if you so choose.ÿ

As for bit rate, I can easily notice a difference with all my music. I will say though, now that I have the Grado's, DAC & amp I can clearly hear the benefits of using Apple Lossless over even AAC 320kbps. Not to imply compressed music always sounds bad, its just I can hear more in lossless and pick out sounds I've never noticed before. Thats the double edged sword though, the better the system you put together the better the music you'll want to feed it to get the most out of it - so I'm going through slowly and re-ripping music I added years ago in compressed format and using only lossless now in addition, I've stopped buying music from iTunes because of the quality. Worth it though I think, to me at least but your milage may vary of courseÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, I will look into the optical out/headphone socket issue.

Cheers

 

[John Duncan]

What laptop do you have?

 

[Anonymous]

It is a massively powerful (not) Acer aspire 9300!

 

[John Duncan]

From their website:

"S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers"

and later on:

"1x speaker/ headphone/ line-out jack with S/PDIF support"

which suggests the headphone socket has an optical out.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that, you learn something everyday.

Now if the Icelandic banking system doesn't sink under the waves before my ISA is transfered back to the UK, I may buy a DAC.

Cheers

 

[John Duncan]

Gold, my friend, that's where it's at.

 

[Anonymous]

Spandau Ballet?