I have found myself listening to plenty of music on internet radio lately. I use a Compaq laptop and connect it to my Denon receiver using the headphone jack. The problem is that the laptop DAC is pretty bad and there’s a continuous and annoying kinda of a buzzing (ground) sound. I now that there are external USB DAC devices, but I’ll prefer (if it exist at all) a device that I could plug to my laptop using usb and have only a digital output so that I can use the Denon DAC for DD5.1, DTS and PCM. Is there such a gadget in the market?

Jaime G.
Denon3300
M60t

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=9103&nav=technicalSpecifications

This requires USB 2.0 for 5.1 sound. It also has in /out optical connections. I hope this helps, it looks pretty cool.

I use the Xitel Pro Hi-Fi Link to connect my iMac to my Denon AVR-884 via USB. I like it a lot, and it comes with a ridiculous amount of cable.

Stereo Link 1200 is my prefered set-up... I think the URL is stereo-link.com

Thanks all for your help. I found this googling around, here . I did not want to pay for a good DAC or ADC if I was not going to use it.

Jaime, it looks as if that may be the most cost-effective way to go. Although you'll also have to get an optical cable for the digital output, depending on length that shouldn't run more than about $10. Incidentally, since it also has an analog output, that indicates that it has a DAC, although it's probably one of the excellent ones available these days to manufacturers for about $1 a piece.

I also am almost always listening to streaming audio when I'm at the computer, taking in classical music stations from all over the world, using that great classicalwebcast.com site. The regular(stereo only)Xitel link(paid $40, including the cable)takes the USB output to a stereo receiver. Hope that you were able to get a good Rhapsody in Blue that you were asking about a couple of months ago.

Hi,

a question along the lines of this thread (no hijacking intended :-) )

can anybody recommend a USB (I, not II) DAC for a laptop with a decent headphones output? I hate all that noisy mess my laptop produces but I’m chained to it as a slave – currently it’s my development PC.

Thanks,
Dmitry.

In reply to:

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Thanks all for your help. I found this googling around, here . I did not want to pay for a good DAC or ADC if I was not going to use it.

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As others have pointed out, the unit you linked to also includes a DAC and DACs are really cheap. I think mostly what you're paying for with the Xitel Pro HiFi-Link are the included cables. It comes with the following, according to the website:

- 30 feet of studio grade TOSLINK fiber optical cable.
- 30 feet of fully shielded, high definition coaxial digital cable with gold plated jacks.
- 30 feet of fully shielded, high definition audio cable with gold plated RCA jacks.
- USB to USB cable to connect your PC to the Pro HiFi-Link

I was going to need most of those anyway, and in lengths around 30 feet due to the setup of my room, so I felt like the Xitel was more than worth it. Plus, in my research it got great reviews. I've been very happy with it.

Dmitry, wouldn't the Audio Advantage item that Jaime linked to(lower price here )also be suitable for your use?

That's exactly what I'm trying to find out :-) . Unfortunately very often an audio device providing decent line output totally stinks while its headphones out is used. It's often true even for costly equipment (like receivers). So I'm trying to get some input from the people having experience with headphones/ headphone amps etc.

Regards,
Dmitry.

I end up buying this on circuit city or best buy (I cannot tell the diff :-P). 40 bucks. It has a optical digital output. Though, you cannot find it anywhere on the prod. literature outside/inside the box. I found out by actually looking at the unit back panel.
I connected the thing to my denon 3300 using the optical cable and it work great , what a difference compared to the laptop headphone outs. The only thing is that it cannot play dts or dd5. just stereo PCM (I guess). But hey, if I want to play a dts dvd I'll use my, ...er dvd player ;-> For internet radio and playing mp3s is perfect. If you have broadband internet you should check internet radio, very good, unusual and refreshing stuff there, especially if you are into jazz, blues, or classical music. Just browsing the stations on MS Media player you can find tons of great stuff, and I'm sure there's plenty more out there on cyberspace.


John, I bought Bernstein (Sony 63086), excellent, thanks again. I'm listening more jazz now than classical, it's kinda of cyclical, I know I'll return to listening classical music again sooner or later.
Here's the station I'm listening most.
http://www.specialradio.ru/ They usually play a blend of good old jazz with some elements of blues/funk, most of the artist/band are unknown to me. The station sound is one of the best IMHO. It's Russian, you can find the station on media player under the name of Special Radio 10th Button (Moscow Russia) if your russian is not that good to follow the links on their web page :-P.