Computer audio and my closed mind

[Vinyl-ant]

I have file based audio via a mac mini and beresford tc7510. and hardly use it.
Its easier to stick a record in than it is to turn on, log in, wait for it to boot up, fire up iTunes, wait for it to load again, search through thousands of tracks and hundreds of albums, and lose the will to live.
The sound of it does nothing for me either. Completely soulless. I simply cant be bothered with it. Its too much trouble and sounds no better than cd.

[terrybooth]

The main decision I think is where you source your music - do you download? or buy CDs and rip (often cheaper than download) or just stream (then from which service).
Chromecast Audio is the base line for me (I have two of them and a Google home mini linked to one of them - so I can say 'Hey Google, Play Schostakovitch' - and it does!)
Then there's the Raspberry Pi plus DACboard (I've got several iterations of that) after that I don't hear much of an improvement in sound other than by improving the PSU.

[Ithilstone]

I would say buy that cheap 5 USD (Doc recommended) DAC - and maybe that LPSU
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30VA-DC5V-Hi ... Sw2XFUiC3m

- connect it up to your PC
- play some RadioParadise
https://beta.radioparadise.com/rp3_play ... ?start=yes
using maximum quality

give it a week or two


and if after that you still dont like it bin the DAC and sell LPSU

very little to loose if you dont like but if you do then you can explore further ;]

[karatestu]

Thanks for all the comments

I still buy physical medium - cd & vinyl. I like to own stuff and have a problem with subscriptions. Call me old fashioned and being of farming stock and from Yorkshire creates a hopeless mix If i went down the computer route it would have to be ripped to some storage device.

After some further thinking i have realised another contributing factor to my reluctance to dip my toe in the water. Being a diy nut i get rather attached to the things i build and modify. I put a lot of time and effort into modifying my cdp and building four psu's for it. It sounds absolutely awesome to me and i think i am reluctant to stop using something which i have laboured on for so long.

I did all the mods to the Naim CD3.5 as listed here http://www.acoustica.org.uk replaced opamps, caps, added super regulators, a fancy clock & dedicated psu, anologue stage psu etc etc

Did lots to the player even some of my own https://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/thr ... ica.166556 Its a long thread and maybe now you can see why i am so attached to this cdp

[terrybooth]

Raspberry Pi and build your own simple PSU (which is what I've done) is fairly DIY.
Storage is the issue in my mind - I've got a home network (wired and wireless) and a Network Attached Storage device which is where I store the source.

(Incidentally, one thing I've learned is that the source isn't the CDP or the Vinyl player or whatever, it's the music laid down on the medium, whatever that is, that makes the biggest difference to me).

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I think a few of you ordered the cheap Chinese Dac I use and PSU for it - any feedback ?

[slinger]

For a (relatively) cheap solution I can heartily recommend the SMSL Q5 It's a DAC and amp in one box so you can plug your PC etc directly into it (it has USB, optical, and co-ax sockets, and even an aux input), add a pair of speakers to it, and you're off. Should you feel inclined it even has an output for a sub.

The sound quality is excellent for the price, the remote is a solid-feeling aluminium affair as opposed to the usual plastic, and even Colin commented on how good the internals looked when he saw a picture of them in a thread about the amp at TAS.

I don't usually recommend things because I'm not a hi-fi nut and I haven't heard ever amp known to man since 1958, but I've got one of these and I know what "good" sounds like, especially in a "bang-per-buck" scenario. It's a cracking little one-stop-shop piece of kit for under eighty quid. The power supply is a 19v brick b.t.w.

[Stemcor1990]

I took a punt on the cheap Chinese dac and psu as per the Doc’s recommendation. I’m currently using it with a P90SA, A20 and a pair of cube 3s. Let’s just say that this is an extremely promising dac but I’m going to reserve judgement until I take delivery of a TSS. Wouldn’t it be interesting if a £50 dac/psu combo works with the TSS. That’s going to embarrass a few manufacturers.

[karatestu]

I think a lot of crap DACs put people off. I dont honestly see the point in a DAC anyway for playing back a pooter file.

Stop listening to Hi-Fi plonkers making things like this hard, absolute lunacy. All you need is something like an HRT Streamer & a laptop, Keep all your files on an outboard HDD.

I know next to bugger all about these things. What is a HRT streamer ? Something to do with menopausal women

Seriously, if i went down this route i would want the best, most musical sound. Good enough does not enter my mind usually, it has to be the best.

Thanks for all the comments so far

[karatestu]

Here. I bought one of the very first one that came into the UK after borrowing one from a friend in the USA

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/hifi-a ... eamer.html

Thanks for that Bobby