I realize that most people who hook up speakers to their computers use active speakers with their own power source, taking the weak signal from the sound card and amplifying it there.
But I have good speakers. Very, very good speakers (Dali), and I was wondering is there’s some nifty gadget that would let me keep them, now that I’m converting to an all-in-one entertainment center with the computer as base.I’d like to get rid of my surround amp and dvd player, which are good, buty redundant, and use only the computer (with XP MCE).
Must I sacrifice my beloved Dali speakers and replace them with some crap from Creative or Logitech?
You, mean, like, an amplifier? For amplifiying? Like, the one you already have? Like the one you already have connected to your speakers? Is there more to this question than I realize?
Like citybadger says, just run a cable from your computer to one of the inputs on your existing amplifier. You’ll probably need an adapter cable to go from the mini-headphone jack on your computer to two RCA plugs for your amp.
As the others have stated, you will need to retain your amplifier/receiver to drive your speakers. If your sound card is not so good, you might want to use a USB/audio interface, like the Edirol UA1-EX. Read about it here. They cost around $80.
Yes, a 1/8" stereo plug to RCA adaptor is about $6 at Radio Shack, although they would rather sell you the $20 monster cable. No computer sound card is going to be able to match the power of your amplifier.
One thing you may want to consider is noise from the PC. Some sound cards can put out quite a bit of noise, which you can listen to by simply turning up the volume on your speakers with the PC on but nothing playing. I have 2 computers, and the older one with the sound card is noisy while the new one with the integrated sound is quiet. What’s the point of using nice speakers if the computer is adding a lot of noise?
If your PC has S/PDIF interface, using an outboard device (decoder?) would probably solve any PC noise problems.
I have been listening to my music from my pc to my stereo since the late 90’s, its simple and easy but afaik you cant get an amp card for your pc, can you imagine what the extra heat an amp would put out into your tower would do?
If you don’t need lots of power, look up the Sonic Impact Class-T amp. It costs ~$30, but it has gotten excellent reviews from manyy people who have tried it. Reviewers have said that (within its practical power limits) it sounds as good as high-end amps costing thousands of dollars, and people I know online who have them say it really does sound amazingly clear. The only shortcoming is the power–it is 15W max, something like 7W actual, and can’t be bridged.
Also–if you use an external amp at all–to get much benefit, you will have to keep the “soundcard” volume very low (like 10%) and control the volume manually on the separate amp. Most PC soundcards with variable output start distorting very early on as you go up in volume.
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I just popped in to say don’t forget to get yourself a Ground Loop Isolator,$17 at RadioShack, probably cheaper elsewhere. After all, what’s the point of connecting nice speakers if you’ve got to deal with a nasty hummmmmmm?
Yeah, I have a NAD.
It’s just that I wanted to get rid of as many devices as possible, minimizing cors and all stupid paraphenilia that’s involved. My computer is there. I’ve got the money for an LCD big screen.
:sigh:
I guess I have to live with hooking up the computer to the amp.
I HATE all the cords involved, bulky, ugly and collecting dust.
You could look into getting a slim 1u amp from a music store - one designed for recording studio use. Pull the rack ears off it and velcro it to the side of your computer
Or go hi-tech and install a 19" relay rack in the room, and get components linke an amp, etc. that are all designed to fit into that rack. You can even find computers (blade servers) that are designed for 19" relay racks. Then all the cords run neatly in the channels in the back of the rack, except the ones out to your speakers & TV.
And you cal look like the premier hi-tech geek ot the neighborhood!
I put rack rails into a cabinet and moved all my computers into 4u rack cases. I could fit these computers into 2u spaces but I’m not pinched for space in the rack - 4u gives me lots of extra room inside the case to play.
I can place the little stuff like my firewall, switch, wireless and cable modem on top. I’ve a rack mount shelf holding my sony amp, under that is another shelf holding two external backup bays. My three computers on the bottom. Below that (not in the picture) are two drawers to put junk like cables and extra backup drives. I velcro’ed my card reader and USB hub to the side of the cabinet for easy access.
It’s a mess right now because I’m working on a project and cables are all over the place. Normally all those cables run out the back and it looks rather tidy.
