Using a Laptop/Notebook as the Music Source

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Most of my CD library is now stored as WAV files on my computer hard drive, using iTunes to keep it organised. I have an Arcam solo and using the Arcam dock I can play music via my iPod and the quality is fairly good. It’s a bit fiddly however to select music, plus using uncompressed files the iPod hard drive is close to full.

For this reason I'm considering buying a laptop/notebook to use as the music source and with a decent screen size will make it easier for me and my wife to navigate around iTunes when selecting albums/playlist etc. I know however that the sound quality can be compromised when go through a computers sound card. With this in mind if I choose a laptop/notebook that as an S/PDIF out will this mean the digital single will bypass the computers soundcard, and be converted by the DAC in the solo?

If in principle the answer is yes then I guess I will need a lead that connects to the computer S/PDIF out with phono plugs ant the other end to connect to one of the Solo's inputs?

I'm not interested in streaming music wirelessly as I don't want the hassle of having to switch on the main computer where my music is currently stored, because it's situated some distance from the Solo. Using a laptop I can locate it on the same rack as the Solo, plus can transport when we go travelling

I be grateful if someone can confirm if this is possible and if yes appropriate laptop/notebook recommendations. If no is there any alternatives?

Many thanks

 

[Craig M.]

if you want to connect a netbook to your solo via the netbooks optical out, you will need a dac to go inbetween them as the solo doesn't have digital inputs.

 

[idc]

Hi Gas Band. The way you are going with using your PC as the source is a route to high quality music. But as Craig said you will need a DAC. Your setup will then be laptop digital cable (be it SPDIF or USB) to DAC and phono cables to the Solo.

Your own debate should be whether you go Apple Mac or PC, which DAC to buy and is it worth spending loads on the cables? For me the answers were PC (Sony Vaio), Firestone Fubar USB DAC and no.

 

[Anonymous]

I use a MacBook Pro myself. More expensive than most Windows laptops, but unrivaled built quality and absolutely no fuss with OS or software. Plus an optical output and no issues with the OS interfering with sound quality.

As stated above, you'll need a DAC if you want high quality sound, as the analog sound output of laptops are never quite good.

There's inexpensive 'USB sound cards' from M-Audio, Edirol and others, but even if they ought to match a budget DAC soundwise, they're dependent on the computer to work. A proper DAC have its own power supply and a wider range of inputs (and most often a switch to choose between them), so you can hook up other digital sources as well, and use them when your computer is switched off.

The most popular budget DACs are Cambridge Audio's DacMagic and the various models from Beresford. But there's Chinese DACs (sold at eBay or the vendors' web shops) that rivals their sound at a lower cost, or offer better specs or more options at the same cost. I've tried some of them myself, and ended up with the Matrix mini-i -- not the cheapest one around, but with specs that beats far more expensive DACs.

Unless you're going to play a lot of 24bit FLACs, a wireless connection will be ideal when you use a laptop. If you like iTunes and are happy to control your music through the computer, nothing beats Apple's AirPort Express. It's cheaper than most cables people buy for their hi-fi. It's really a router, so you can use it to set up a separate wifi network, or as an extension of an existing one, just for music. It's small enough to fit in your pocket, so you can bring it with you anywhere. It's got a combined analog/optical jack for sound, and an RJ45 so you can wire it to a LAN, or use it as a wired access point to a wireless network. It's also got a USB port that can be used for a printer (but not for any other purposes).

There's several benefits from bringing a network into this. As your music collection grows, you can store it on a network disc, while keeping only compressed copies (MP3, AAC) on the computers harddrive. iTunes can handle more than one music library, and you can make the library on the network disc accessible for a number of users/computers. Unlike some other systems, with the iTunes/AirPort/Apple TV approach there's no decisions or purchases you'll do today, that will limit your possibilities tomorrow.

PS: There's also one reason to use optical cable or wireless, instead of USB or coaxial cable: Computers might produce electrical noise that might be introduced in your hi-fi system through metallic connections. With wireless or optical you avoid this.

 

[Anonymous]

Comprehensive answer from Fahnsen above. I also have a new Macbook Pro which is great and a Solo Mini. I don't connect the two yet as I either use the Solo Mini to play the original CDs (I still enjoy doing this strangely!) or connect my iPhone/iPod with a GQ24 cable. If I was going to connect my laptop straight to my Solo Mini I'd put my DacMagic between them - optical lead from the laptop to DacMagic (with Toslink 3.5mm adaptor in the Macbook's headphone socket) and then 2 RCA to 2 RCA lead from the DacMagic into the Solo Mini. I've currently got my MacBook Pro set up with the DacMagic into my Lars & Ivan BK21 kit and I do think the Dac has made a big difference to the sound.

So, my suggestions would be a MacBook Pro (it has the optical out which doubles as the headphone socket and is anyway brilliant!), any old optical lead with a toslink adaptor (on Amazon or any hi-fi store I'd have thought) to fit into the Mac, a Cambridge Audio DacMagic (though others will do same job I guess) and then leads to connect into the Solo Mini. I store my files in Lossless - though of course WAV as good or better.

 

[Dan Turner]

Other posts have covered this pretty comprehensively, but I'll just reiterate that if you are planning to go totally or mainly computer based for your music then a MacBook will certainly make the whole experience a lot better!

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks Fahnsen and to you all for your advice and recommendations. I've learnt a lot.

As I will need a DAC to put my original plan in to operation, in turn I have looked at some of the DAC's available - The Cambridge seems popular - any comments?

I've also noticed you can connect most DACs to a computer with either S/PDIF or a USB cable. I already have an Acer laptop but ruled it out because it doesn't have and S/PDIF out but obviously has a USB. With this in mind, would this allow me to take the digital signal direct direct to the Acer (and not through the laptop sound card) in to the DAC? This also would probably be a cheaper option than buyinga new laptop.

I like the option of using an Apple laptop but currently its too expensive to consider as an option.

 

[Anonymous]

The Cambridge is very good and it will be able to take USB from your laptop. The review in Stereophile measures a slight theoretical advantage to using it with the optical/spdif over USB if possible, but you'd be hard pushed to hear a difference in the real world. Arguably the Musical Fidelity V-DAC offers even better value for money if you don't need a fancy face plate and have limited number of input sources to switch between. In terms of sound quality, it is excellent too.

Bear in mind as well that if you get an Airport Express, your laptop will stream music over the network and the DAC will plug into the Airport Express' optical spdif, so the laptop's connectors will no longer be relevant.

In terms of cables, I recommend getting a sturdy, shielded cable from a pro shop and avoid some of the consumer brands which carry large markup for little reason (sometimes to detrimental effect). Check out SoundStable for example.

Get a decent DAC (the above will be fine), well-built cables, perhaps the Airport Express and then spend as much as you can on speakers and amplification which the real differences lie. The best solutions are "active" speaker/amp combos where each speaker driver has its own dedicated amplifier built into the speaker itself. Many such products are very expensive, but not all of them. Popular brands are ATC, Meridian, AVI, B&O.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks to all those who responsed.

I also wanted to let you know I have taken up your advice and bought a Cambridge DAC Magic from Richer Sounds. I'm looking forward to setting it up at the weekend.

I did consider getting the Apple Airport too, but as the laptop can comfotably sit on the same rack as the rest of my hi-fi equipment it didn't seem worthwhile