PC as source over CD player

I definetely feel hard diks will rule the circular disks in future.,,n ....the sound quality diffrence.hey I gotta do that today and find out.thanks pal for giving me an idea which could see me thru the weekend...

Well. A PC or rather a Harddisk is a very good digit source. If you can take a digital out to a DAC then you may actually have a first rate system.

iRiver MP3 players do haave a digitial out. Since they can also play lossless files , they would make great transports without the intinsic problems of vibrations which traditional transports make.

but doesn't the quality of the sound depend on things like, software being used,the type of algorithms and filters used to recreate the sounds in these programs.
do you get external DACs for PCs here in India.

Well..in case of PCS, if you are using other applications at the same time , definitely music will suffer...

I did hear there were USB based DACs..but not sure which one. Ideally your soundcard should have a digital out to inout into ay regular DAC.

well, my PC has a SPDIF out. that should suffice.
yes i have heard about USB DACs too but i read in diyaudio.com that they have some restrictions.

now i know this sounds stupid but anyway here goes.
i am presently using recordable cds. i burn my mp3s into audio format(wav). does this make sense.
am i better off burning them just as they are.

Makes no sense with regard to
-sound quality as the MP3 encoding process has already removed information.
-Size..you increase size with no advantage


makes sense only if your CDP does not read MP3s.

BTW what rate do u rip them..above 240 the difference between cds and MP3s start narrowing in most entry level setups..

Pcs can't match dedicated cd players by a long shot. I have tried this at home. It can't match even a good dvd player.There is big difference between "loud-clear" and "musical". That is why you need a cd player. That too a good one.Pcs are convenient toys. Maybe a high end pc dedicated to audio with an out board DAC could match a good cd player but I have not tried it.

i was going through diyaudio.com and came across this thread .
http://www.diyaudio....page=10&pagenumber=4
also check this out.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/~mwp/dac3/

there are really some hardcore diy'ers out there. check this one out the post by a deandob on page3.
outta sight or what.
most of the stuff they are talking about just goes over my head. its too much. stopped reading after the 4th page as my haed started aching.

True.

IMHO, currently any good standalone CD player will run circles around a stock PC when it comes to quality sound reproduction.

To put it very simply, a CD player is optimized for a specific function, which is to produce good sound. All internal components, like the sturdy transport, DACs, caps, wiring, etc., etc., are designed and manufactured towards that end.

A stock PC, at a similar price point, is designed for other priorities, with CD reproduction possibly being at the bottom of the list.

Tomorrow if someone manufactures a PC whose prime function is to deliver good sound, and to hell with the other functions, then yes…

Well, depends on the soundcard u are using...apparently nthere are some Audiophile grade stuff coming out

Definitely know of the Indigo for laptops which is very good

square_wave schrieb:

Pcs can't match dedicated cd players by a long shot. I have tried this at home. It can't match even a good dvd player.There is big difference between "loud-clear" and "musical". That is why you need a cd player. That too a good one.Pcs are convenient toys. Maybe a high end pc dedicated to audio with an out board DAC could match a good cd player but I have not tried it.

Ok guys, I also have been using PCs a lot to listen to music and have done a lot of research also...first of all please don't go by the notion that a CD player dedicated for playing CDs will always be better than PCs because Pc is not dedicated to play music....we may sound a bit logical by saying this but not technically logical...The technology that a CD player uses to read and play music is the same in a PC also but a PC uses very high-end resources (such as high-end processors, dedicated CD-ROM just to read data , a dedicated Sound Card etc..) because it has to do many other complicated jobs apart from decoding music and playing them (which is one of the simpler jobs for a PC). Now, before getting me wrong, please read along...I agree that you can mess up with music (played from PC) if you dont use proper accessories (Starting from Sound Card, Softwares, cables etc..) to listen to good music...and there lies the greatest advantage of a PC where you can customise your PC to play the music the way you want it to be played...There are very decent Sound Cards starting at Rs.1500 (from Creative Audio) which gives you very decent outputs and you can go way upto Rs.35000 for a sound card also to get each and every bit you want. Mind that a decent entry level PC can support all these without any compromise on quality.....Apart from that you have highend Softwares which helps you reproduce every bit....now it is upto you, how much you want to spend and "how much" is OK to you.
Though I myself am planning for a CDP but it is because I dont want to place my PC in my listening room. that distracts me from music. By the way I am a Software Engineer....

Most CDps..even many high end, actually use CD-ROM transports (NAD /ROtel/marantz/Cary etc )
BUt, what makes a difference is the clocks, the Isolation/vibration control, the PSU design as well as the DACs..and this is what adds up to the cost

Most Commercial soundcards do not care about distortion in Audiophile terms..hence only way you can get equivalent sound is either using an external CD with a digital out to which you can chain in a DAC or better still keep cd images in the harddisk and use the Digital out of the soundcard..

I got it..just wanted to tell everyone that don't under estimate a PC, I know most of the Audiophiles and music lovers believe in good audio brands and their specifications (of course "trust your ears" logic is always there) but PCs dont highlight themselves in the Audiophile world as they are not associated with any audio brands but there inherent capabilities like, very high-end processing power, minimal loss of data, highly digitalised in all aspects, and ofcourse the ability to be customised and add-in high-end circuitry to reproduce Music. I dont think these things can be neglected but they are neither highlighted because PC and Audio are two different gadgets belonging to two different world of users.

[quote="Arj"]Well, depends on the soundcard u are using...apparently nthere are some Audiophile grade stuff coming out

Definitely know of the Indigo for laptops which is very good

I know there are audiophile grade cards out there. Digital audio studios use them all the time. There are other factors which affect sound quality like power supply, quality of transports, quality of parts used in the audio chain, the isolation of the power supply, isolation from vibrations and countless other interferences which collectively contribute to the quality of sound.
Pcs are not meant for creating music.Just by changing the soundcard in your machine may give you clear audio but a cd player capable of draging you into the music is a different story altogether.

point take square wave..thats exactly what ive said 2 posts back

Spot on, Square wave.

You really have to hear hi-end audio to understand the level to which music can involve you.