Jeff Matthews Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Does anyone use a laptop as a source by connecting the headphone jack to RCA cables into a preamplifier? If so, is the sound quality good? Edit: Do I even need a preamp if the laptop will be the only source? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iteachstem Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I do this all the time for causal listening. Of course you are going to get the people that will poo poo this and say you need expensive gear, etc. But let your ears do the deciding for you. I simply run the 1/8" output jack from my laptop and use a 1/8" to RCA cable to go into my pre-amp or directly into Klipsch The Fives for my computer set up. It sounds great for what I use it for.... back ground music playing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iteachstem Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I also use it when I do A/B comparisons as well. Sure, there are better ways to run a cleaner signal path... but this is a real world application! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I DJed a couple dances over the past few years doing that. I have Amazon Music Unlimited and I downloaded each song I was going to play in the highest format that was available. I connected a 1/8” to stereo RCA cable to my receiver. Worked great and sounded fantastic. I listened at home first and was really impressed. I have no idea what DAC my laptop has. It can’t be that high end since it’s only a $300 HP laptop. You shouldn’t need a pre-amp if you were connecting it directly to a power amp. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Will it work? Yes. Is it ideal? No. When you can buy a good streamer for a thousand dollars or less, it makes no sense. I streamed from my laptop years ago and the first one I bought (a raspberry pi) was a huge improvement. I now have a Lumin, but there are several less expensive choices. Just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Not only no... HELL no. works, of course... desired, not if quality is your goal. your mileage may vary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Laptop → Dac → Preamp → Amps → Speakers ↓ Mini DSP → Powered Subs 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigdnfay1 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I've have been using output from the usb of my laptop into a Topping HSO2 Power supply filter(ground loop suppression). out of that usb3 to usb typeC into a Schiit Modi Dac, out via rca. into a Fosi Audio BT20A Pro amp w/Sparkos 3602 op-amps. Speakers are AR tsw-110 acoustic suspension book shelfs and a Cerwin Vega 10" sub. Sorry about the mumbo-jumbo. Been using this setup with really good results. Just my opinion, with the right setup your laptop can be an excellent source. Using wav(lossless) files that I've ripped from CD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigdnfay1 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 What stormin' said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 3/2/2024 at 9:53 PM, Jeff Matthews said: Does anyone use a laptop as a source by connecting the headphone jack to RCA cables into a preamplifier? If so, is the sound quality good? Edit: Do I even need a preamp if the laptop will be the only source? I do it in my music room. You'll want a preamp. Adjusting volume and tone with a laptop is slow and frustrating. I feed a Mackie 402 mixer from my laptop with 1/8" headphone to phono cables. The Mackie feeds various mics and the laptop to my Yamaha receiver. It drives KG2s or Heresy IVs and sometimes a subwoofer. My audio path is all analog; the D/A voodoo is all in the laptop. The sound quality from CDs is very good. Try it, I think you'll be pleased. Some of you would be appalled at the gear The Chief uses to demo speakers in the lab, including Jubilees. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parlophone1 Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I occasionally use laptop that way if I wanna hear how a particular track, usually from youtube, sounds on my system. Headphone jack from laptop and cable with cinch connectors on the other end into a preamp. The sound is a bit more muffled than from other sources, but that may be for various reasons. The cable connecting laptop and preamp is also cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the real Duke Spinner Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Done it for 20+ years.... FLAC Is your friend. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tragusa3 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Most of my listening is from the laptop via blutooth! It may be the worst possible path, but I've compared side by side with CD and "if" I hear a difference, it isn't worth the expense of a nice DAC. I hope to be proven wrong someday by experiencing the difference. Until then, I'm happy as a clam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Use a laptop into a DAC if sound quality is only marginally important. Use the DAC in a laptop if you really don't like music at all and just want some noise in the background. Choices, choices...... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 12 hours ago, Shakeydeal said: Use a laptop into a DAC if sound quality is only marginally important. How is using a 5000 dollar laptop with audioquest usb cable into a dac only marginal compared to a 100 dollar raspberry pi. Serious not trying to be a smart ***. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Because a raspberry pi has one job and only one job to do. Stream your music. No background processes or other programs running. It also has a better output stage with less jitter and noise. It’s not going to be a huge leap going from one to the other but it will be noticeable. Things get better when you move up the streamer chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 5 hours ago, Shakeydeal said: Because a raspberry pi has one job and only one job to do. Stream your music. No background processes or other programs running. It also has a better output stage with less jitter and noise. It’s not going to be a huge leap going from one to the other but it will be noticeable. Things get better when you move up the streamer chain. Well I understand the reasoning behind one job. But again that is what the Sony PS5 and XBOX 1 gamers say. "Well ours are better cause it only has one job". Wrong! These newer laptops absolutely destroy gaming systems in video quality and speed(fps). Heck my laptop destroys most desktops in gaming performance. Only my high end desktop can out do it. I just feel with Thunderbolt 4 technology with USB built in these new machines it feels like a new laptop would be like having 10 raspberry pi's built in. I could be wrong but I would think I would have to climb along way up the ladder to beat these new laptops. Heck a high end laptop these days could literally run the country. Appreciate your opinion and I am still willing to learn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Granted my experience with a laptop was many years ago. At the time I thought it sounded pretty good. But as usual, better is the enemy of the good. I think sometimes in this hobby people expect improvements to be on the same scale as tuning a boosted car. You'll certainly notice 150 more hp at the wheel. Whereas with audio upgrades, differences are more subtle. So it comes down to whether or not you want to spend an extra 5K to get that next 5 or 10% improvement. Now in your case it's somewhat the reverse. You have a 5K laptop and find it hard to imagine something much cheaper could even be even as good, much less better. Only you can say if this could be the case or not. I just know my Lumin sounds better than any laptop I've experienced. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWelsh Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 At AXPONA last spring, I attended a session on streaming and was surprised by how many "industry experts" suggested using a laptop with a DAC dongle as a great way to get started in streaming. They did all say you would probably want to move up to a dedicated component for extended functionality, but they didn't seem to suggest the audio quality would be significantly superior at the entry level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iteachstem Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 This is nothing new: Audio Companies want to sell you their expensive DAC's, so of course they scoff at anything less. Just think of the cable debate! For me, by the time I could afford anything high end, any and all improvements are not really realized as my hearing isn't what it was like back in my youth! (think nerds retiring to their nerderies and taking countless measurements that only appear different on paper) I have done countless A/B comparisons over my life and some are very apparent (mostly with speaker comparisons and room treatments) and others are not really audible... but sure can hit the pocket book! (think speaker wire/signal wire/most cabinet damping, cheap power conditioning, cable risers, etc.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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