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just wondering if anyone has any views... i've got some harmon kardman soundsticks on my (home) office PC that i quite like, but as ever think i want better, is it practical to run a hi fi amp from a pc via the headphone jack and get some bookshelf/monitor speakers or is there a better way?
I tried the headphone jack and found the sound "grainy", the "microphone" input was even worse. So plugged in a Creative external USB sound card. Both recording and playback are now adequate though a hi-fi buff would probably disagree.
Look up Lepai mini amps on eBay. Cheap n cheerful,and hooked to to a pair of half decent speakers, not bad sound.
I tried loads of things to improve the dodgy sound on my laptop - in the end it was a better power supply that made the difference...
I would have thought the headphone socket into a DAC into and amp .....
I have sound systems at home and at the businesses using old desktop PCs running itunes, with the line-out port (not headphone port) connected to Pioneer amps. Works great.
Using Pioneer A307 amps.
FWIW, a better sound card makes a big difference.
I've got an ASUS Xonar DG you can have on the cheap if you want to try it?
If you want a USB device, i can recommend the ASUS Xonar U1 - it's made a big improvement to my active monitor speakers.
Did this a few years back. PC optical cable connected to a Beresford caiman dac. This is then connected to my trusty old arcam alpha 7 amp. Then got some wharfdale diamond 9.1 speakers bi wired. Sounds really good.
If it's a pc you can't play with, the cheapest solution would be something like an ELE EL-02 USB DAC.
cheers guys i will do some google searching.
ideally if i can use my old amp downstairs that would be best as it will give me an excuse to go looking for a new used amp for my main stereo, just scored some lovely old celestion 44 so am looking to do something around them and add a bit of vinyl capacity.
i'm not sure what card is in my machine dave or whether i can install that card but i'll drop you an email. if i can just run leads out into an amp it would be great.
I have one of these:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/fiio-andes-e07k-review
Plugged into the USB on my Mac at home, it doesn't make much difference. Plugged into the HP box-o-bland at work, it makes a huge difference.
Something USB or Firewire that bypasses the PC's DAC, amps and headphone/line out. The built in DAC and amp will be a compromise of cost vs quality of output, with a high noise floor.