Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners PC Audio Advice

Due to my disability I can't make fart noises with my armpits so I just do it the way it was meant to be done . Funny thing that makes my friends laugh their head off, is that whenever I do, I scare myself because I don't know it's coming

I can imagine so.

LOL... truth be told, I've had so many shoulder problems of late, I think if I tried to do that right now I'd end up with rotator cuff surgery...

Looks like others covered it nicely, but yep I was talking about interference with the analog side.

Mark I think you've found the perfect sig!

Thanks for the feedback on the soundcard. Looks like a separate card may be in order. Now if I get one I’m going to be twice as pissed off about the time it took me to get the onboard audio working on both PCs.

I just spotted this article linked over on the Audioholics forum.

http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/index.html

Unless I can find a compelling reason not to I think I’m going to stick with using FLAC for storing the files.

Now I just need to settle on management software. Media Monkey is looking pretty good for both management and playback. Does anyone have any other recommendations or know of any reasons not to use Media Monkey?

Yes, Andrew; it's after the digital to analog conversion would happen inside the computer that the noisy computer environment could affect the signal. So, one idea would be to take the digital output from the USB port to an external converter and then feed the analog into a receiver(which didn't have a USB input to take the digital output directly from the computer). I've used a Xitel hi-fi link to do this for several years for the purpose of listening to streaming classical music stations from all over the world.

I also use a Xitel hi-fi link and have been for many years and have never had a problem with it, even at a 60 ft. run from upstairs to the basement; they are great units.

I assume you want to connect your PC soundcard to your HiFi? I suggest an alternative - try a network music player such as a Squeezebox. You can connect it to your PC or server via wired or wireless ethernet, and to your amp via analogue (RCA) or digital (optical or co-ax)

The DAC in the Squeezebox is better than most (if not all) soundcards, and you don't have to worry about interference from the computer. You can also put the computer elsewhere in the house, so any noise it makes won't be a problem either.

You would also need to install their Squeezcenter software, which controls the Squeezebox, indexes your music, and provides a web front end for browsing your music, and setting up playlists etc. It's written in Perl, but is simple to install. The Squeezebox also has a remote.

http://www.slimdevices.com/

As for ripping software, I also use Exact Audio copy to create lossless FLAC files, and it does a great job. I have never used MM but others on the Slimdevices forums do. I use MP3Tag to edit the tag information in the FLAC files, that is used by Squeezecenter for indexing.

It also supports internet radio

Shane

Having said that, I just checked out the the Xitel website and their stuff looks really cool too

Thanks Cam and Shane for the info on Xitel and Squeezebox. Presently I do have my music on a network server and am just using the onboard Sound Blaster audio. However, I’m liking the idea less and less of tying up one of my computers for playing music.

@ Shane - are you saying that Squeezecenter supports internet radio. That’s one thing I presently like about Media Monkey is that it also supports Shoutcast which I use all the time.