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audio question

E

eli

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 30, 2003
Messages
1,648
I have a few audio related questions.

1. What is a DAC? 2. I am getting a source, but I cant decide which quite yet. I am either going to get an emu sound card or a Toshiba SD-3950. now my only question about the toshiba player is how do people usually go about hooking headphones up to it? is there a headphones jack on the player? I have a digital receiver, would the best option be to hook that receiver up to the player, and plug my phones in the headphone jack on the receiver?

I would have posted this question on head-fi, but i can't post there for some reason....waiting activation or something...anywho, thanks in advance
 
also, is the emu 0404 a good card to hook a stereo digital receiver up to, and if so, will media played on my computer sound decent on my speaker setup?
 
1. What is a DAC?

--Digital to Analog Converter. It's an IC that takes the digital signal from your digitla source (CD player, DVD, PC, whatnot) and converts it into an analog signal that your amp and speakers cna handle. Keep in mind there is no such thing as digital speakers....speakers run on variable frequency alternating current.

2. I am getting a source, but I cant decide which quite yet. I am either going to get an emu sound card or a Toshiba SD-3950. now my only question about the toshiba player is how do people usually go about hooking headphones up to it? is there a headphones jack on the player? I have a digital receiver, would the best option be to hook that receiver up to the player, and plug my phones in the headphone jack on the receiver?

--I would say to use a headphone amp. You can get some CMoy based designs for as low as $50, less if you do it yourself. You could also use your reciever. Basicaly look at your phones and ask if spending coin on an amp is worth it for your headphones. Some receivers have nice jacks, but most that I've seen arent all that great.
 
ok this all sounds good. i have an idea of how to connect the amp to the emu 0404, but in case i decide to get that toshiba player, would i just connect the amp with rca to the back of the player.. or can i just connect the amp to my digital receiver jack, or will that completely ruin the sound?

thanks man ;)
 
Digital or analog is fine. The DAC's in the player are probably just fine, and might be better than the the DACs in the receiver, but I really don't know. Hook up the player using both stereo RCA and digital coax or optical, and then switch back and forth between them while playing something. If you notice a difference, then use the method that sounds the best =]

Just so you know, I got a great example highlighting the differences between DAC's yesterday. I was auditioning a fellow's gear, and he had a DVD player hooked up to both his processor and to an external DAC, so we could switch between the external DAC, the processor's DAC's, and the player's DACs. I was really surprised by the difference between the player's DAC's and the external DAC. There was a world of difference.. made the speakers sound much cleaner, much airy-er. The difference between the external DAC and the processor's DAC was a tough call.. I really couldn't notice anything there, but we didn't spend too much time playing between those two.

For everyone interested, we were using a Panasonic DVD player [~300$] Pepertual Technologies P3a + P1a + P3b combo DAC setup [~2000$ new] and the Emotiva DMC-1 processor [3000$]

The processor is a brand new product with top of the line componentry, and the DAC is a few years old, but has an interpolation engine built-in, which probably helped it keep the race close.
 
Usually your audio system has to be well into the audiophile "holy s**t you spent how much on those speakers?!?!?!" price range before you start hearing any advantages from an outboard DAC.
 
Heheh, I suppose that that might be true. So you know, the speakers we were using were 1500 for the pair [we used both Rocket RS750's and Reference 1's , both from www.av123.com , both for 1500 new]. Expensive, but not absurd [at least my thinking, I guess. I probably don't really count anymore though =]

Anyways, at that point, most people wouldn't understand the point of an external DAC.. my g/f who was there with me didn't notice a damn thing, while I thought the change was huge.
 
i have a few more questions

I am selling my uncle my sound system, and buying myself a new one. I want to get a really nice subwoofer and bookshelf speakers. i am either going to get the klipsch sb1's or these:

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=stock&product=55.1

which ones are better? and i really want to get the svs subwoofer thats $400..its the box one i think its psb10 or something...anyhow will it go good with either of those speakers...?

im a little stoned...so if i don't make sense, you know why

thanks
 
Not having heard either set of speaker, I'm going out on a limb a bit, but I'd fully recommend the ELT's. Actually, if you are going to be buying some speakers right now, there's an even better deal, same thing for only 130$.. DAMN good deal for a 250$ pair.
http://forum.av123.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6649&perpage=15&pagenumber=3

There's also a deal for those speakers and a nice [not as powerful as the SVS] sub for 500.

Any decent sub will match up well with any decent set of speakers, so I wouldn't worry about that. The thing to note is how deep the sub can hit, and how loudly at a given level of distortion. I think you'd be hard pressed to find one that bested the PB10-ISD at that price though.

EDIT: Just so it's clear, I have heard Klipsch SF2's and numerous Rockets, so I've no reason to assume that there is too great of a sound difference, as the sonic signatures of the lines stay pretty constant I believe.
 
eli said:
I want to get a really nice subwoofer and bookshelf speakers.
Click to expand...

[size=+2]What sort of [equipment] should I get?[/size]
To make useful recommendations, you need to give proper information.​
  • Give your budget.

    How much are you willing to spend to listen to good sound? You might think this computer hobby is expensive but, the amount you could spend for audio can make what you spent on your new computer look like pennies. However unlike high priced computer gear, audio gear does not really become obsolete. Good gear can give years, even decades of excellent service.​
  • Tell us how and where you might use the equipment.

    Do you use you computer audio to listen primarily to music, do you play lots of games, and do you ever watch movies on your computer? List a few kinds of music, games, and movies you like. Give us the size of the room, and how the speakers are going to be placed.​
  • Tell us what other audio equipment you have on hand.

    It makes little sense recommending uber-speakers if you plan to run them off some crappy integrated sound implementation. Also, where available, old speakers or receivers might be rolled in to the solution to produce good sound for rather little money.​
 
I don't have any audio equipment worth mentioning. I want to spend around $150 or less on bookshelf speakers, and the klipsch sb1's and the rocket elt's seem great for the price...the pb100 svs sub, and a stereo receiver...but i can't seem to find one with a sub out yet....? i want to keep the receiver below $200

thanks
 
If you can solder, and are willing to spend a couple hours assembling, go for these:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=300-640
(shielded version availible for $10 more)

They don't have the brightness in the treble that thte Klipsch's have, but they are pretty darn nice for $140 speakers.....good solid bass up the wazoo as well.


BTW with these, you may not need a sub...I found all my 8" yamaha sub did was shake the floor for the most part....these things hit down to about 45hz.
 
thanks for the recommendation. Does any one know of a stereo receiver that has a sub output?
 
If you want a subwoofer output, you would probably be better served by...

- the subwoofer output of a soundcard that does proper bass management, i.e. an M-audio Revolution

- a decent surround receiver

- using the line or speaker level inputs and integrated crossover of a subwoofer in combination with a decent stereo receiver or integrated amplifier

All things being equal, I'd lean towards that last option.
 
I'll just get a surround receiver...who knows I might want to get a few extra channels one day. I hear that the Toshiba 3950 is an excellent CD player source for headphones, do you know of it would be a good source for the speakers too?
 
After much research I managed to find a decent digital receiver in my budget. Its the denon dra 295. I just have one question now. It seems the Toshiba SD-3950 only has one set of rca inputs on the back, and I want to hook it up to my receiver to have it as the source, but I also want to use it as a source for my headphones. is this possible? I can't quite afford an amp yet, but I plan to get one eventually. if the DAC on the source end up sounding better then one the receiver, then how would i go about hooking my cans up to them?

peace out you homey Gs' :)
 
Well, most CD players have a headphone out, so you can always use that. Otherwise, you can get a headphone amp that also has a loop out, so you can hook up CDP > headamp > receiver, or you could just use the digital out on the CDP to the receiver and analog to the headphone amp, or you hook the headphone amp to the receiver and do it that ways.

Cliff notes: Don't worry, there's a way to hook it up =]
 
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