I had a conversation with a long time IORR'er who admitted to me he still plays ALL of his music on a component stereo system. This got me wondering in a big way how many people still use them exclusively.

Do you use your computer to play music or your "stereo" system?

I have made the jump and ALL my music is played by my computer. Into a less than perfect speaker with sub arrangement. But, the organization of the songs now that songs are mainly just computer files is what made me make this decision. That and the fact I put my vinyl away years ago when the turntable broke yet again.

Thanks for an answer. peace



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-04-06 21:23 by Naturalust.

About 4 months ago my old shelf stereo system finally blinked out after 7 years. Still don't have that kind of money to buy a nice sophisticated system so I was on the hunt for another shelf system for my tiny studio apartment.

It was nearly impossible to find a stereo that had a 3 disc changer. All played one discs. Every stereo was Ipod capable..you could hook up your Ipod with no issue. So I got another Sharp system, brought it home and set it up, popped in a CD..and it sounded very, very flat. Lifeless. It sounded like I was playing music from my Ipod or from my computer. There was very limited EQ I could do on the system so I was stuck with whatever came out. Bottom line, these stereos out there are basically just speakers for your Ipod. You get no real bonus for playing music from the actual disc.

Anyway, so I figured this would probably be my last stereos of this type. By the time this blinks out I don't even want to KNOW how terrible these systems will be then---if they even exist at all. So by then, hopefully I can invest in a more sophisticated setup. But, I'll do whatever I can to not listen to music through my computer.

Justin, I spent a long time at Fry's Electronics Superstore checking out all the computer audio systems and found that the specs on MOST of them were CRAP!

Mostly because the low frequency stuff just wasn't represented as reproduced. The typical frequency response spec for even expensive systems was 80Hz to 18kHz.

It took a lot of shopping but I finally found two systems which were rated 20Hz-20KHz and had enough POWER (Watts) to fill up my studio. I had to do some tweaking in the computers audio section with the crossover frequency but after I did I was pleased. You can get good audio for a computer for cheap, just takes alot of wading through the crap. Certainly a sub woofer is a key part of it.

It is easy to get soundcards with amazingly good D/A converters these days thanks to the gaming people. It is a GREAT test to take one of the outputs from the soundcard and cable it directly to the old stereo system. 1/8" stero plug from the computer to 2- RCA plugs to attach to the AUX input of your receiver. In that case you are using BOTH computer and component systems for playback. peace

i connect my coaxial from the computers soundcard to my denon reciver (coax in)

this sounds much better than anlog (black & red)a lot of hums´with analog.

If you're going to use a computer source as though it were a turntable or CD player (which only makes sense in this day and age) you need to tweAk the sound quality. This does a marvelous job of that....

[onsongaudio.com]

I've got a turntable, cassette deck, tuner, TV & DVD player/recorder and CD player/recorder all wired into a JVC amp with stereo (each pair of speakers can all be turned on or off independently) in 3 rooms, (surround sound in the main room) & (the back room speakers also feed the garden)....the only way to have a party...........>< ....sometimes I listen to music through the computer speakers but can only if I'm sitting at the desk.........



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-04-07 01:27 by EddieByword.

I like to pipe stuff through a york mixer and a coupla 400 watt speakers.

[thepowergoats.com]

I use my computer for most of my listening as my office is in a separate building from the rest of my house. I have a couple of Harmon/Kardon speakers plugged into my Mac. However, when I'm "inside" I either listen directly to my Bose or attach my iPod to the Bose.

I looked into some specific iPod speakers, but they were expensive and I didn't really think it was worth it.

My turntable is on Cape Cod in the basement. My daughter is getting the vinyl buzz so I might drag it upstairs this summer...

My recipe for my desktop is to get a good old 1970s receiver at a garage sale and hook it up to a decent set of real speakers. Connect via a minijack to RCA cable. There is no need to buy "computer speakers."

I have a sound card that has analog out (above) and optical out. I connect the optical out to a 7.1 amplifier in the living room.

But seriously a good 1970s audio amplifier or audio receiver is like gold. Most of the time all that you have to do is spray "TV tuner cleaner" into the volume, bass, and treble potentimeters.

MileHigh

Computer soundcard plugged to my stereo system. So I can listen to my FLAC the same way I would listen to a CD. I still have a CD player though. Listening music on CD and from the computer having not the same feeling actually.

Very cool, I'm surprised at how many people are using the digital out's of the soundcard. People on this board are pretty damn saavy. peace

hey memphiscats, I've never heard the term "on Cape Cod" before. I can infer the meaning from the context but better to hear it from the kittens mouth. What do you mean? Thanks. peace

Quote
Naturalust
hey memphiscats, I've never heard the term "on Cape Cod" before. I can infer the meaning from the context but better to hear it from the kittens mouth. What do you mean? Thanks. peace

I think memphiscats has said she spends some summers in Cap Cod, and thus the meaning is what it is... in your case Naturalust, your equipment would be referred to as "at the ranch".... or "on the bay"... although I like the idea of these words having some higher meaning


As far as my equipment, it is probably unworthy to mention at this point.... it is now a combination of what ever works.... computer(good speakers)... boom box, Stereo hooked into the TV set for music DVDs ... my turn table is curently out of the loop(until needed)... or as the cool people say... "my turn table is "On Cape Cod"".

I thought my analogy would be "in the barn". lol peace Max!

Quote
MileHigh
My recipe for my desktop is to get a good old 1970s receiver at a garage sale and hook it up to a decent set of real speakers. Connect via a minijack to RCA cable. There is no need to buy "computer speakers."

I have a sound card that has analog out (above) and optical out. I connect the optical out to a 7.1 amplifier in the living room.

But seriously a good 1970s audio amplifier or audio receiver is like gold. Most of the time all that you have to do is spray "TV tuner cleaner" into the volume, bass, and treble potentimeters.

MileHigh

I love your approach milehigh. I assume you are from the Denver area? This is good advice to anyone using computer for their audio. One fellow said he gets too much hum from using the RCA analog outs but I find it is not a problem unles you have an extremely long cable or a very noisy environment.

Anyway, How long is your optical cable to the living room? Do you tune the surround sound to work best from a single sweet spot? Or do you just let it sound the way it did when you hooked it up? I love 7.1 and 5.1 surround music mixes and think people who have learned to utilize them are really ahead of the game. It is a huge amount of additional creativity which can be input into the song and with amazing results.

Things like "Thank You" by Boyz to Men and " Seven Bridges Road" by the Eagles sound FANTASTIC on my DTS surround mix. I have heard alot of crap ones too but these are good. peace

I wish I could afford a good audio system. I use my Pioneer amp with a Sony CD player hooked up to two huge 70s Kenwood speakers. Not a techi....so its good for me. And music just doesn't come out the same on a computer.

my coaxial cable to the living room is 15 m,(from the computer)

i only use digital opotical or coax from my dvd player..

the sound is bad using analog cable