JRuss Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 i have my la scallas hooked up to my computer just though a regular headphone jack to rca's. what upgrades can i do to get better sound quality without spending a ton. i have over 7000 songs on there and want to be able to play them with decent quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdc Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 Check out the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96. I have it connected to my HK430 to run my Fortes and it sounds nice. It has RCA jack outputs on it and it also records really well. You can check out a review here: http://www.digit-life.com/articles/maudioaudiophile/ If you are unhappy with the DAC on it, you can buy an external one later since the digital out on it is in fact bit for bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 Over 7000 songs on your computer eh? They must be MP3s. Considering the degraded quality of the source compared to vinyl or even cds, a cheep way to go would be to get thee down to the salvation army, goodwill or even a pawn shop (pawn shops are notorious for charging near new prices though) and pick up late 70s receiver (real transistors in them things, not chips!) any good brand will do, Pioneer, Onkyo, Sansui etc. I am rather partial to the Yamaha sets. Connect the line out of the computer to the aux, tape or tuner inputs and your speakers to the speaker outputs and you will have just about the best sound that you can get out of an mp3. There will be many opinions about this but this is what I would do. This of course assumes a good quality signal from the sound card. In my never humble opinion, the gear from the stereo wars era is better than the stuff on the mass marketing shelves today. Of course if you want the best sound, tubes are a great way to go if you dont mind the higher maintenance of the sets. An older un-rehabbed tube amp can be bought fairly cheep but you will need to invest in repairing it when the caps fail (which they will, I learned the hard way) Good luck in your quest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 A dynamic range expander would also be useful in restoring the dynamic range and impact to those compressed recordings. It would bring them back to CD quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiEGO10 -aRG- Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 I'm conecting my computer with my Yamaha with an SPDIF Output. You may try that one if you ever buy an amp with SPDIF input. I'm also a bit dissapointed with the sound quality but... they are just MP3s... what else can you ask them? Anyways, try getting them at at least 192kbps VBR or 256 CBR. Not all are available in those formats but if you ever come across the original CD, don't doubt it.. 320 would be perfect Cya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdc Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 ---------------- On 4/21/2004 1:40:14 PM DiEGO10 wrote: I'm conecting my computer with my Yamaha with an SPDIF Output. You may try that one if you ever buy an amp with SPDIF input. I'm also a bit dissapointed with the sound quality but... they are just MP3s... what else can you ask them? Anyways, try getting them at at least 192kbps VBR or 256 CBR. Not all are available in those formats but if you ever come across the original CD, don't doubt it.. 320 would be perfect Cya! ---------------- I'm curious, what kind of soundcard and speakers are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiEGO10 -aRG- Posted April 21, 2004 Share Posted April 21, 2004 Hi man... I've an MSI KT4 Ultra FISR (Motherboard) with onboard Audio. It comes with an add-on to add the SPDIF output wich could be Coaxial and/or Optical. I can also connect to the receiver with 6 analogical cables (3 pairs of RCA) in the 6Ch Input. I've just bought a pair of Klipsch Heresy I and I've a Yamaha RVX640. And a powered subwoofer KSW12 Anything else, just ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdc Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 I wouldn't trust the onboard sound for delivering your audio, even through the digital SPDIF. A lot of sound cards and other devices resample all audio that is passed through it. This especially applies to Creative's soundcards. In essence, all Creative soundcards modify the sound, even if outputted via the digital SPDIF. I don't know if this applies to your onboard, though. Well, regardless, the audio quality is probably good. On another note, mp3s can sound good too. I honestly cannot tell the difference between a well encoded mp3 and the real deal on my Fortes. Maybe some "golden eared" people can, but luckily I'm not cursed with that gift of hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shock-Late Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 mp3 can sound "good" if they're at least 160kbps, i'd say 192kbps is best. That said, i'd be tempted to say that they sound even better once "converted" (of course, they will still have the mp3 sound) to audio tracks and played on a decent CD player. Just because the output stages of a CD player are generally better than those of a computer... But then of course you loose the convenience of having all your music on a playlist in a computer... You could also burn mp3 CDs and play them trough your dvd player, they are often able to read them. But for the best quality... buy records! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiEGO10 -aRG- Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 The quality it's not the best, and I know it, but as far as it's cheap I don't care since it's not the most music I listen to, or the most I like. I got about 120 Audio CDs with the music I like... most of them copied from the original source. I ain't have a "gold-ear" or something, but just can hear the difference when playing from the computer or when playing from my CDP-X500 (Sony). My on-board-audio-card might modify the sound... but as I said above I just use it to play music wich I like now.. but almost sure won't like it in long-term Try listening the same song encoded with 128kbps and another with 256kbps, you should hear a little difference, even more if you have a subwoofer! Cya! DiEGO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRuss Posted May 3, 2004 Author Share Posted May 3, 2004 my computer is a dell and it has the stock soundcard. i think it is a soundMAx digital audio. my speakers are the la scalas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted May 3, 2004 Share Posted May 3, 2004 any kind of soundcard will vastly improve your sound...i am familiar with the soundmax thing you're referring to and to be blunt, it sounds awful. that said, i would suggest you find some sort of soundcard with a digital out that you connect to an outboard DAC. what are you using to power your mains? do you have any kind of reciever connected to them? i'd check out http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ as they have a lot of other cool options (like usb audio adapters and stuff). here's a quick link if you don't wanna dig through their site: Musicians Friend Link The Edirol UA-1D USB Audio Interface and the M-Audio Sonica USB Audio Output both look like good inexpensive options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRuss Posted May 4, 2004 Author Share Posted May 4, 2004 i'm running them on an old Technics sa-5270. so should i just get one of those usb adapters for now. until i can get a better amp. i also run my tv off my computer for movies, will the optical outputs on those get my better quality? those sound like a good deal for me, right in my price range for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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