Basics of home audio for audiophiles..

[Dakshyadav9]

Hello guys, this is daksh. I am av fan and amature audiophiles. I am starting this post to increase my and others knowledge in this topuc thats hardly touched.
How to creat a clear audio and video. If i want my av source to be my laptop.
So my 1st question is ..
If i connect my laptop with a hometheatre's av reciever using HDMI ..to play music .. so audio produced is using my laptop DAC or my av reciever DAC ??

( for example... if i listen to music connecting my head phones to 3.5 mm jack of laptop audio is bad cause its using laptops DAC).

Its just 1st question..
Plz help out..

 

[superczar]

Hello guys, this is daksh. I am av fan and amature audiophiles. I am starting this post to increase my and others knowledge in this topuc thats hardly touched.
How to creat a clear audio and video. If i want my av source to be my laptop.
So my 1st question is ..
If i connect my laptop with a hometheatre's av reciever using HDMI ..to play music .. so audio produced is using my laptop DAC or my av reciever DAC ??

( for example... if i listen to music connecting my head phones to 3.5 mm jack of laptop audio is bad cause its using laptops DAC).

Its just 1st question..
Plz help out..

in your example, AV receiver DAC will be doing the conversion

 

[Deleted member 15865]

HDMI carries digital data. So the DAC of the downstream equipment, in this case the AVR will be used.

 

[Dakshyadav9]

Thanks .. so if we connect via hdmi .. av reciever dac will be used to a better quality audio.. as compared to aux 3.5 mm jack where laptop dac is used..???
Also tell me about other connections like ..
Bluetooth??
If i connect my phone/ laptop via bluetooth with av reciever.. now which dac is in use???

 

[shibashis]

Hello guys, this is daksh. I am av fan and amature audiophiles. I am starting this post to increase my and others knowledge in this topuc thats hardly touched.
How to creat a clear audio and video. If i want my av source to be my laptop.
So my 1st question is ..
If i connect my laptop with a hometheatre's av reciever using HDMI ..to play music .. so audio produced is using my laptop DAC or my av reciever DAC ??

( for example... if i listen to music connecting my head phones to 3.5 mm jack of laptop audio is bad cause its using laptops DAC).

Its just 1st question..
Plz help out..

If you look around in this forum and others, you will find that this is a topic that has been covered extensively. There is no dearth of material on this, read up and then the forum is here to help you out.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

If you look around in this forum and others, you will find that this is a topic that has been covered extensively. There is no dearth of material on this, read up and then the forum is here to help you out.

You could use the hint in my previous reply and figure this one out. What does Bluetooth carry - digital or analog signal?

 

[Dakshyadav9]

If you look around in this forum and others, you will find that this is a topic that has been covered extensively. There is no dearth of material on this, read up and then the forum is here to help you out.

Can plz give me a link ... it would be very kind of u

 

[MaSh]

You could use the hint in my previous reply and figure this one out. What does Bluetooth carry - digital or analog signal?

Bluetooth is digital.

Can plz give me a link ... it would be very kind of u

Look up different sections under the Forums menu. There is also a Search option. Very handy.

MaSh

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Bluetooth is digital.
MaSh

Ah MaSh, I wanted the OP to think it through/ google out.

Can plz give me a link ... it would be very kind of u

Buddy, there’s a treasure of info and insights in the forums if you take the effort to search. Get familiar with the search and advanced search options. Also, you’d only limit your own learning by requesting readymade answers to basics. Like you missed taking the clue from my first reply and extending to your next query.

 

[shibashis]

You could use the hint in my previous reply and figure this one out. What does Bluetooth carry - digital or analog signal?

You quoted the wrong post!

 

[dinesh1201]

You won' get better SQ with any of them in the chain if you are using AVR for music. Otherwise, you don't think of a DAC much for movies...it's all boom boom everwhere.

 

[Dakshyadav9]

Ah MaSh, I wanted the OP to think it through/ google out.




Buddy, there’s a treasure of info and insights in the forums if you take the effort to search. Get familiar with the search and advanced search options. Also, you’d only limit your own learning by requesting readymade answers to basics. Like you missed taking the clue from my first reply and extending to your next query.

Bluetooth will carry digital signal... so it will use av recieve dac .. so better SQ than aux cable.. if av reciever dac is better than lap dac..
Am i right??

 

[Dakshyadav9]

You won' get better SQ with any of them in the chain if you are using AVR for music. Otherwise, you don't think of a DAC much for movies...it's all boom boom everwhere.

I didn't understand... so whats best way to connect my lap to av recieve to get better audio quality ? ( if my lap dac is bad and sounds bad)... in india should i go for av reciever with dacs or external dac is necessary???

 

[Dakshyadav9]

Ah MaSh, I wanted the OP to think it through/ google out.




Buddy, there’s a treasure of info and insights in the forums if you take the effort to search. Get familiar with the search and advanced search options. Also, you’d only limit your own learning by requesting readymade answers to basics. Like you missed taking the clue from my first reply and extending to your next query.

Thank you. I will look around .

 

[MaSh]

Bluetooth will carry digital signal... so it will use av recieve dac .. so better SQ than aux cable.. if av reciever dac is better than lap dac..
Am i right??

Yes a receiver is a more purpose-built unit than a laptop. Its always best to let the receiver do everything.

I didn't understand... so whats best way to connect my lap to av recieve to get better audio quality ? ( if my lap dac is bad and sounds bad)... in india should i go for av reciever with dacs or external dac is necessary???

You mentioned you have the laptop connected via HDMI. That is the best way to connect.

Could you list out your setup? which laptop, receiver, speakers, etc? When I last compared my desktop running Windows 10 and Foobar only, it sounded better than 3 other laptops. All connected via HDMI. My pc has a simple Nvidia graphics card for HDMI connection. Googling around I come to understand, laptops are extremely noisy (digitally) due to the tightly-packed nature of components inside. If I did not have a comparison, the laptop sounded just fine, it just got hotter much faster when playing movies.

MaSh

 

[Deleted member 15865]

I didn't understand... so whats best way to connect my lap to av recieve to get better audio quality ? ( if my lap dac is bad and sounds bad)... in india should i go for av reciever with dacs or external dac is necessary???

I guess what he means to say is that while AVRs are appropriate for movies (surround sound etc) they aren’t the best option for playing music (usually don’t satisfy most audiophiles). Stereo amplifiers (two channel) are better placed to play music.

 

[dinesh1201]

I guess what he means to say is that while AVRs are appropriate for movies (surround sound etc) they aren’t the best option for playing music (usually don’t satisfy most audiophiles). Stereo amplifiers (two channel) are better placed to play music.

You got me right, Sir! thank you!!

 

[dinesh1201]

I didn't understand... so whats best way to connect my lap to av recieve to get better audio quality ? ( if my lap dac is bad and sounds bad)... in india should i go for av receiver with dacs or external dac is necessary???

You can connect your laptop to your AVR either via optical or HDMI, I connected my Onkyo receiver to my PC using an optical cable. But let me tell you I use this setup for movies only and if you listen to music (for relaxation) you will start feeling more fatigue than to chill yourself.

For music, I have Marantz integrated amp connected to my Polk RTI A3. For this setup I'm using Fiio K3 DAC which take signals from my PC (connected via type C USB )->convert it to beautiful analogue signals and transfer it to TEAC EQA 220 equalizer which is connected to Marantz...the Marantz send those to Speakers. The best part about K3 DAC is, it's also equipped with headphone amp, a bass switch and a gain switch. And a preamp (Volume control).

Just made a diagram of my actual setup for you.

 

[Dakshyadav9]

You can connect your laptop to your AVR either via optical or HDMI, I connected my Onkyo receiver to my PC using an optical cable. But let me tell you I use this setup for movies only and if you listen to music (for relaxation) you will start feeling more fatigue than to chill yourself.

For music, I have Marantz integrated amp connected to my Polk RTI A3. For this setup I'm using Fiio K3 DAC which take signals from my PC (connected via type C USB )->convert it to beautiful analogue signals and transfer it to TEAC EQA 220 equalizer which is connected to Marantz...the Marantz send those to Speakers. The best part about K3 DAC is, it's also equipped with headphone amp, a bass switch and a gain switch. And a preamp (Volume control).

Just made a diagram of my actual setup for you.

View attachment 44006

Ohh thanks... this is exactly what i wanted to know ... its very very help full

 

[dinesh1201]

Ohh thanks... this is exactly what i wanted to know ... its very very help full

Glad to know