wldrns1 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) In today's techno world, thought I'd ask those who know WAY more than me. I'd like to round out my music collection. Quite lost as to how to go about this with the resources available today. I'd guess I say I'm not super critical but for sure better quality does sound better. Here's what I have for gear (very satisfied so far): Heresy1 HSM's/E XO's/ with Crites recap kits. JBL (ok for now) 10" sub. Scott 299 w/deluxe rebuild by Craig. New NAD C546BEE with USB input. Has internal DAC (all I really know about DAC is what it stands for and is good to have). Nexus7 Tablet. I use headphone jack as can't get output otherwise. Currently TuneIn and IHeart...nice to be able to do that. I use an A/B switch for either Tuner or Tablet. Sound is fine but output is a little lower so have to turn volume up some. I read that the NAD USB can be used for Audio with a Flash drive or Apple product. My wife has an iPod mini but does't have music on it/doesn't care either way about this. So, do I download? Google Play? Buy CD's? No clue here. Please keep any reply in simple terms. I'm willing to learn but have to start from scratch with this process. Thx, Joe Edited October 17, 2014 by wldrns1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Heresys with the Scott 299 can give you some nice sound! The NAD is fine for CD's but doesn't look like it can do much more than MP3's via the USB connection and there is no streaming capability. I don't think I'd bother with the USB connection on the NAD personally... just use it for your CDs. Using the headphone jack from the Android device is going to hurt your sound quality... I'd say this is where you want to pay some attention. Do you have a PC or MAC? Do you have a budget in mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Have a PC. Budget isn't unlimited. Not obsessed with highest quality. I like to start with what would do a very nice job/how to do it and what's it gonna cost, then go backwards from there. You mention: "Using the headphone jack from the Android device is going to hurt your sound quality... I'd say this is where you want to pay some attention." What do mean by 'pay some attention'? For now, headphone jack setup will do for device-as-tuner low as background and for company to play with. FYI...Last night, heard Scorpions 'Still Loving You'. I'm thinking the Scott would love that. Hungry to hear that cranked on my system...it's been quite a while. That's what started all of this. Edited October 17, 2014 by wldrns1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattSER Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Sign up for Spotify. You can run it from either your PC or your android phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Sign up for Spotify. You can run it from either your PC or your android phone. My Andoid is a Nexus7 tablet. No phone. Per muel, NG. Don't get it. Sorry to be such a bone head. Explain just a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattSER Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Sound quality should be fine from your nexus, but yes, as you mentioned, volume is a bit low. Is your pc near your audio gear? That would be the way to go. You can get very good sound quality from the line-out headphone jack on your pc. Also, I cannot overstate how incredible spotify is. First month is free, definitely try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) I was just addressing that your sound quality won't be as good from the headphone connection on the Nexus. If the quality will suffice then it would just be a matter of getting a player app for the Android. I'm sorry I don't use Android so I don't have advice on that. I assume you have wireless at your house so you can connect the Nexus to the Internet? You could use the Nexus as a remote control to connect to your PC to play music. For better sound I'd suggest using your PC and buying an external DAC to connect the PC to your Scott 299. You could also get a CD player that is capable of streaming quality audio... I don't do that so others can jump in about their solutions for that. External DAC such as: The HRT Streamer II + or Audioquest Dragonfly You can spend as much as you want on a DAC. If you love your tubes I'd suggest an asynchronous tube dac. Here is an example of a cheaper tube DAC: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301025901367?item=301025901367 (I don't know anything about this ebay seller though). My favorite tube dac with the Scott 299 was a MHDT Havana. You can use any streaming service you want with the PC. You can also rip your CDs to the hard drive. There many ways to do that and once you have them on your hard drive there are many players available. Jriver is a favorite of many people but I prefer Foobar2000 which is not as user friendly. Lots of options! For players I like Pandora and Beats but Spotify might be replacing Beats for my use. Also check out used CDs on Amazon Edited October 17, 2014 by muel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Sound quality should be fine from your nexus, but yes, as you mentioned, volume is a bit low. Is your pc near your audio gear? That would be the way to go. You can get very good sound quality from the line-out headphone jack on your pc. Also, I cannot overstate how incredible spotify is. First month is free, definitely try it. Sound quality from nexus is fine for TuneIn and iHeart as background and turn up a little from time to time. How would using Spotify be hooked up? Using Nexus? PC is not near Audio stuff. Would prefer operating devices from audio gear location area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattSER Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Yes, sign up for spotify on your pc and then simply download the app onto your nexus from the Google play store. Using the pc is not required, but I figure it may make the sign up process easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 Heresys with the Scott 299 can give you some nice sound! The NAD is fine for CD's but doesn't look like it can do much more than MP3's via the USB connection and there is no streaming capability. I don't think I'd bother with the USB connection on the NAD personally... just use it for your CDs. Using the headphone jack from the Android device is going to hurt your sound quality... I'd say this is where you want to pay some attention. Do you have a PC or MAC? Do you have a budget in mind? Regarding the 546. Just got it from Crutchfield. The 516 specs different. If USB is never used, would the 516 be extremely close to the same thing sound-wise? Exchange for 516? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 I was just addressing that your sound quality won't be as good from the headphone connection on the Nexus. If the quality will suffice then it would just be a matter of getting a player app for the Android. I'm sorry I don't use Android so I don't have advice on that. I assume you have wireless at your house so you can connect the Nexus to the Internet? You could use the Nexus as a remote control to connect to your PC to play music. For better sound I'd suggest using your PC and buying an external DAC to connect the PC to your Scott 299. You could also get a CD player that is capable of streaming quality audio... I don't do that so others can jump in about their solutions for that. External DAC such as: The HRT Streamer II + or Audioquest Dragonfly You can spend as much as you want on a DAC. If you love your tubes I'd suggest an asynchronous tube dac. Here is an example of a cheaper tube DAC: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301025901367?item=301025901367 (I don't know anything about this ebay seller though). My favorite tube dac with the Scott 299 was a MHDT Havana. You can use any streaming service you want with the PC. You can also rip your CDs to the hard drive. There many ways to do that and once you have them on your hard drive there are many players available. Jriver is a favorite of many people but I prefer Foobar2000 which is not as user friendly. Lots of options! For players I like Pandora and Beats but Spotify might be replacing Beats for my use. Also check out used CDs on Amazon I'm 59 yet new to all of this digital to analog stuff. Will have to learn about DAC's and determine if not-best sound pisses me off. Not there yet. Could you please compare sound quality using the 546 USB with flash drive mp3's vs Nexus IHeart via headphone jack? Disregard any needed volume increase when using Nexus (if any). If different, how? What do I listen for? Right now for my expectations, both seem to sound acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 Yes, sign up for spotify on your pc and then simply download the app onto your nexus from the Google play store. Using the pc is not required, but I figure it may make the sign up process easier. I like the idea of this service. Do you like it because of perceived superior sound quality or availability of pretty much any music-at-will for subscribers? Confused here due to some feel Nexus (or any similar) playback is inferior. I'm finding I'm ok with the current sound. Maybe I just don't know any better (yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattSER Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Spotify just makes me feel like I have all the music in the world and it's honestly the reason I even began purchasing my Klipsch and Onkyo components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Just me 2 cents, Spotify's free streaming can stream up to 320kps, where Iheartradio's is only 128kps. You will notice a difference there as I did going from Pandora to Spotify, and yes if you pay for Spotify it gets better along with the capability of downloading music. That's a lot of quality features for $10.00 a month. Could you please compare sound quality using the 546 USB with flash drive mp3's vs Nexus IHeart via headphone jack? If your just using it for background music for parties, cleaning, etc. You probably won't notice much, ymmv. If you actually sit down and listen to music then you are going to want to step it up to better quality play back. Again that is my opinion. I use DLNA to play music through my surround sound receiver for parties and cleaning, but when I sit down and listen, I use a good source such as vinyl and flac playback(or cd if its not on my computer). My thing is, I can't wait for some of these HD download companies such has HDtracks to have bigger selection of music. This has been the easiest way for me to get quality music on my computer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 best music quality that will last a lifetime and there will be no worries about improving you SQ in the future. rip your cds to lossless, buy or borrow cd's and rip lossless to your pc later on get a decent dac, hook your pc to your dac, hook you dac to your scott and you are done I am currently rocking this very set up after owning some systems that cost in excess of 25000 and frankly the convenience of having 15000 songs at your fingertips is hard to beat This setup can rival some of the best cd player on the planet as you get more into music you will want better SQ, if you are only looking for a cheap way to have access to an expanded music selection for background music etc... spotify, pandora, i-heart and the likes will suffice but you will not expand your collection as you cannot keep the music 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 You have some good advice here... try not to worry about too much at once. I think Joesportster is right to say to get started on ripping your CDs and worry about a DAC a little later. For now, the online streaming sources are a great way to find new music that you never considered before. There are various networking devices that allow you to get your ripped files to your audio system so you don't necessarily have to get your PC nearby... an Ethernet connection will suffice. Others who have done that more than I can jump in about that. I have a dedicated (and silent) audio PC that I use but you don't have to go as crazy as I did. I bought and sold many DACs before I was satisfied. My suggestions were a small sample but they would be more than adequate for streaming. It would be nice if there was a library for stereo equipment but unfortunately we have to buy and sell sometimes to figure out what we like and don't like. People have different tastes and I was lucky to find some folks with similar tastes and I find that I can trust their opinion about equipment or music without hesitation. Keep visiting here and asking questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 External DAC for sure and the ones mentioned are good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I don't get it! DAC for certain. Teac has a nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 You have some good advice here... try not to worry about too much at once. muel, you've got that right! Work on getting the music first, the rest later. No hurry here just wondering things as I go/a little overloaded with order of this process. All advice here very worthwhile and clears things up. Thanks to all...now I can relax & proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wldrns1 Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 (edited) Is ripping CD's to my hard drive via the same computer built-in player ok or do I need some kind of external player (for quality)? At this point, all I care about is building my library via CD to hard-drive. Edited October 20, 2014 by wldrns1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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