Audio From PC to Home System?

[Carlosinfl]

So I have a small form factor PC that has a nice 500GB drive loaded with music on her... My question is what kind of cable will I need to stream the music from my PCI or built in sound card to my home stereo receiver? I remember my friend doing this in college with a simple radio shack cable/cord from the green speaker cord on the PC side to the stereo receiver speaker channels.

Can someone please give me a hand on what I will need?

 

[the_body90]

Does your PC have a optical port in the back?

 

[PCMusicGuy]

If it's just regular stereo (2ch) music then get a 3.5mm to RCA Y adapter. 3.5mm goes into the speaker output on the computer while the two RCA plugs will go into one the receiver's inputs.

 

[Carlosinfl]

Does your PC have a optical port in the back?

Yes she does.

If it's just regular stereo (2ch) music then get a 3.5mm to RCA Y adapter. 3.5mm goes into the speaker output on the computer while the two RCA plugs will go into one the receiver's inputs.

I have not picked out the receiver yet - Will just a 2 channel sound like ass? What if it supports multi channel?

 

[agent420]

Music files are nearly always conventional 2ch stereo. Multi-channel audio is pretty rare, and you'd know it if you had any. You need a cable like this, it doesn't need to be gold or anything fancy. I personally wouldn't convcern myself with optical unless the reciever is quite some distance away or your music library is composed of almost all uncompessed files. If the reciever you get offers multi-channel sound it will do it's own thing with the standard left/right signals you provide. In fact, that issue may be on your list of shopping inquires, I've seen some recievers that limit music playback to 1 set of speakers.

It's really just like hooking up any other line-in component.

Will just a 2 channel sound like ass?

It's mixed that way, so actually it would be a more accurate reproduction. What sounds like ass is a cheap system with cheap speakers.

If it's just regular stereo (2ch) music then get a 3.5mm to RCA Y adapter. 3.5mm goes into the speaker output on the computer while the two RCA plugs will go into one the receiver's inputs.

Technically, it's not a Y adapter... Y infers splitting 1 source into 2, much like a mono->stereo cable.

 

[w1retap]

This is what I use.. 3.5mm to RCA. It works well, and is under $5 if you already have a set of cables to use with them. It does stereo and splits up the channels so left/right work how they are supposed to.

If you need multichannel, you can use optical or coax depending on your sound outputs on the soundcard and inputs on the reciever.

 

[kumquat]

If you have optical out on your computer, get a receiver that accepts optical in.

Don't cheap out on the receiver and speakers or else it will sound like ass.

$175-$200 will get you a nice receiver from Pioneer, Denon, or Onkyo on eBay or uBid (uBid has some very nice refurb deals). Something like this is entirely decent and a very good deal. As for speakers, check out Bic America speakers. You can buy them on Amazon. Their website is here: http://www.bicamerica.com/

The DV62Si is a very good bookshelf speaker. Combine it with a halfway decent sub (this is the best sub you can buy for under $250) and you will have a decent 2-channel music system.

Get the optical audio cable here: http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&style=

Do *not* use the standard minijack "audio out" port on the back of the PC. You will get music with high background noise guaranteed. Optical will give you *far*far* superior results.

 

[agent420]

Do *not* use the standard minijack "audio out" port on the back of the PC. You will get music with high background noise guaranteed. Optical will give you *far*far* superior results.

I think that depends on the card. Good quality cards should easily provide an acceptable signal free of background noise; you may have had a poor experience.

While I will not discount optical entirely, imo it is over-rated for general use, and I have seen several cases where the sound card's DAC was of higher quality that the converters in the reciever, which completely eliminates any benefits. Optical is probably most useful when the balance of equipment as a whole is of high enough quality to make it worthwhile.

In the end, do whatever you like, but I wouldn't expect a substantial difference in a common setup.

 

[kumquat]

I think that depends on the card. Good quality cards should easily provide an acceptable signal free of background noise; you may have had a poor experience.

While I will not discount optical entirely, imo it is over-rated for general use, and I have seen several cases where the sound card's DAC was of higher quality that the converters in the reciever, which completely eliminates any benefits. Optical is probably most useful when the balance of equipment as a whole is of high enough quality to make it worthwhile.

In the end, do whatever you like, but I wouldn't expect a substantial difference in a common setup.

Even a high-quality card will have a huge amount of background noise compared to a noise-free optical connection. Furthermore, grounding issues can lead to hums and buzzes that can be maddening to get rid of if you don't go out and buy a ground loop isolator.

 

[Carlosinfl]

Anyone recommend a receiver with an optical in case I decide one is better than the other?

 

[Mister X]

Even a high-quality card will have a huge amount of background noise compared to a noise-free optical connection. Furthermore, grounding issues can lead to hums and buzzes that can be maddening to get rid of if you don't go out and buy a ground loop isolator.

Thank you.
That is the biggest load of crap I have read all day.
Why do you think sound card manufacturers publish noise specs?
To mislead people?

 

[kumquat]

Thank you.
That is the biggest load of crap I have read all day.
Why do you think sound card manufacturers publish noise specs?
To mislead people?

No, because there is a measureable amount of noise over the analog output.

There is no such noise over an optical output.

 

[Mister X]

Nice follow up.... one more post like that and that Drew person will have to relinquish his title as the resident idiot.
Of course if you can actually show me empirical proof of this I become the resident idiot.

Got some rightmark results or something to back up your claims?

 

[Team Obi Juan]

Isn't the analog (minijack) output from soundcards already amped? And then sending the signal to a receiver... you're amping an amped signal?

How does that work on PC's?

I know that's basically a no-no in car audio. always better to use line-level outputs than the outputs from speakers and using a crossover to get the low notes to the sub...

 

[agent420]

Isn't the analog (minijack) output from soundcards already amped? And then sending the signal to a receiver... you're amping an amped signal?

How does that work on PC's?

I know that's basically a no-no in car audio. always better to use line-level outputs than the outputs from speakers and using a crossover to get the low notes to the sub...

No, they are standard line-level like any other consumer equipment. Some cards have an option to switch in a small amp by offering a 'Headphones' output setting, but you would have to manually select that option. Btw, if I'm not mistaken, it's very popular to use preamp gear in hi-end car audio that has a much hotter signal (as high as 10V) in order to maximize the S/N ratio; in those cases you're amping an amped signal. But you are correct that it is not desirable to use speaker level outs as a signal source.

No, because there is a measureable amount of noise over the analog output.

There is no such noise over an optical output.

But there are measurable amounts of jitter, which can ultimately result in distortion or noise. Cheap optical cables can be much more problematic than their analog brethren. And I want to reiterate my observations that the DAC built into some lower level recievers can be far inferior to those found on good quality sound cards. Neither method is without fault. I'm guessing that it might just be in the manufacturers interest to include some cheap circuitry for optical connections as an advertising tool for unwitting consumers... Hey! This model's got TOSlink! The sound quality must be Great!

Again, I don't wish to dismiss digital connections, but I think it is unfair to paint all analog interconnects as high noise. It is a fact that background noise will be present in any analog connection. However, it is the level of noise and it's frequency that really matter. Just because the noise may be measurable by professional test equipment does not mean you can hear it. This is simply techinical FUD. In reality, noise is actually purposefully added to audio material during mixing and mastering in a process known as dithering. This noise improves the percieved sound quality.

If what you are suggesting is true, then that means that only the small percentage of users who utilize digital connections are the ones that are fortunate enough to experience audio playback without "high background noise guaranteed". Somehow, I don't think that's the case. I know it's not the case in my setup. People have been hooking their systems up with conventional analog cables for years without issue. And I don't see a mass of complaints from all the threads here regarding uber quality headphones and headamps, no doubt connected via analog cable. It would kinda suck to spend several hundred dollars on a set of phones, only to experience high background noise. Perhaps they have a noise fetish?

As far as background noise in general, try this: turn your amp all the way up with no inputs... I guarentee it will not be noise free. And that didn't come from the card or the cable.

So, in the end, I don't think it really matters. Opitcal inputs are becoming more prevalant in consumer gear, and inexpensive versions of both types of cables are available. Try one or both and stick with whatever you like or is more convenient. But when it comes to shopping for an amp, I would always place sound quality over connection features.