Best way to play music from PC ?
Discussion
https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-one-w...
Plus a Chromecast Audio, or a 3.5mm to phono cable.
Plus a Chromecast Audio, or a 3.5mm to phono cable.
Some speakers and amps have USB PC input which bypasses the PC sound card, like these:
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/spe...
Which also sound fantastic.
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/spe...
Which also sound fantastic.
miniman said:
https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-one-w...
Plus a Chromecast Audio, or a 3.5mm to phono cable.
I think that unit accepts USB input directly - so no need for Chromecast.Plus a Chromecast Audio, or a 3.5mm to phono cable.
USB AUDIO
For the highest quality sound from your PC or laptop, there's a USB Audio connection available. This bypasses the soundcard in your computer and uses the superior processing power of the One for superb sound quality. In addition to this, a second USB is also provided for charging your mobile devices.
Last couple of weeks I have been tweaking my audio for both PC & TV.
For PC I already have a dedicated sound card, a Creative Sound Blaster Z. Nothing too special but works. You could try just using the onboard sound from the motherboard & see if it works for you.
As for speakers my preference is for a half decent pair of active monitors. After some initial research. . .
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075QVMBT9
Excellent vfm, great features. These also work perfectly for improving from the onboard TV speakers. . . I can at last hear all the dialogue!! With that budget you may want to spend more on speakers, assuming you can accommodate larger boxes.
The Presonus have balanced inputs so next I may try similar to the below audio interface. If you have no dedicated sound card this, or similar would be a worthwhile purchase as it replaces the onboard sound card, with a USB sound card.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QR6Z1JB
A £700 budget will obtain great results! If you haven't already, factor in for some headphones & perhaps a HiRes audio subscription.
For PC I already have a dedicated sound card, a Creative Sound Blaster Z. Nothing too special but works. You could try just using the onboard sound from the motherboard & see if it works for you.
As for speakers my preference is for a half decent pair of active monitors. After some initial research. . .
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075QVMBT9
Excellent vfm, great features. These also work perfectly for improving from the onboard TV speakers. . . I can at last hear all the dialogue!! With that budget you may want to spend more on speakers, assuming you can accommodate larger boxes.
The Presonus have balanced inputs so next I may try similar to the below audio interface. If you have no dedicated sound card this, or similar would be a worthwhile purchase as it replaces the onboard sound card, with a USB sound card.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QR6Z1JB
A £700 budget will obtain great results! If you haven't already, factor in for some headphones & perhaps a HiRes audio subscription.
So you can use your internal soundcard, but as other have said, the quality may not be 'up there'
You could use an external DAC (Digital to Audio Convertor) which plugs into a USB Slot and produces Analogue Out for headphones or Amp / Speakers.
One of the ones that wins awards and gets great reviews is AudioQuests DragonFly range, then you can add a pair of active monitor / bookshelf speakers to listen to it. Best advantage of the DragonFly is they are portable, so you can have them on a laptop.
Or, some active speakers are now available with thier own DAC input, so USB from PC to Speaker and that then does the audio conversion for you.
Klipsch offer this in their 'The Fives', Sixes and R-51/41PM's, I have supplied a few of the 'The Fives' now and they really are loved.
A little over budget at RRP, but if you know who to ask, then they get close.
V.
You could use an external DAC (Digital to Audio Convertor) which plugs into a USB Slot and produces Analogue Out for headphones or Amp / Speakers.
One of the ones that wins awards and gets great reviews is AudioQuests DragonFly range, then you can add a pair of active monitor / bookshelf speakers to listen to it. Best advantage of the DragonFly is they are portable, so you can have them on a laptop.
Or, some active speakers are now available with thier own DAC input, so USB from PC to Speaker and that then does the audio conversion for you.
Klipsch offer this in their 'The Fives', Sixes and R-51/41PM's, I have supplied a few of the 'The Fives' now and they really are loved.
A little over budget at RRP, but if you know who to ask, then they get close.
V.
thebraketester said:
I am a bit out of touch with PC land, but I am guessing a decent soundcard can be had for 50quid maybe? I think the last soundcard I remember using was a soundblaster live c1998 
For what it is worth I have the exact same card as below minus the red shroud & the microphone. Purchased it a few years back to use Dolby Digital Live, but have yet to do so!! It is a reasonable all-rounder in my opinion.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Performance-Headphone-Amp...
thebraketester said:
I am a bit out of touch with PC land, but I am guessing a decent soundcard can be had for 50quid maybe? I think the last soundcard I remember using was a soundblaster live c1998
Also worth the OP checking what the PC currently has, a lot of onboard audio is pretty good these days with multiple channel outputs.ash73 said:
Is there such a thing as decent (£100) bluetooth stereo speakers, which sync with each other wirelessly? All the ones I've looked at have a wire between them.
Minirigs will do this, but a pair may be outside of the budget. They sound very good & are easily best in class for battery life. I have both a Minirig & a Minirig Mini.www.minirigs.co.uk/
At risk of simplifying things massively, surely any laptop/desktop/tablet from the last 10 years or more can simply stream music via Bluetooth to a decent wireless speaker?
Or going one step further, do many people actually keep any music on their computers these days when everything is just streamed?
Like the OP, I also mostly listen to music while working at my desk on my laptop, and I just have a Bose Homespeaker 500 (£329) in my office and I find it excellent. It sounds really good and steams music and playlists from my laptop or phone. In the event I want to just listen to different stuff, or the radio, I just use it’s Alexa function to find me things.
I find myself listening to a combination of my playlists from Apple Music and various radio stations from around the world.
Sure, the Bose speaker won’t suit someone who is a massive audiophile, but to 95% of the population it will sound great and easily fill a decent sized room with sound.
Or going one step further, do many people actually keep any music on their computers these days when everything is just streamed?
Like the OP, I also mostly listen to music while working at my desk on my laptop, and I just have a Bose Homespeaker 500 (£329) in my office and I find it excellent. It sounds really good and steams music and playlists from my laptop or phone. In the event I want to just listen to different stuff, or the radio, I just use it’s Alexa function to find me things.
I find myself listening to a combination of my playlists from Apple Music and various radio stations from around the world.
Sure, the Bose speaker won’t suit someone who is a massive audiophile, but to 95% of the population it will sound great and easily fill a decent sized room with sound.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 1st October 17:48
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