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Computer --> Stereo Interface

threetwosixthreetwosix 270 Posts
edited November 2006 in Strut Central
Trying to find a high-fidelity method of connecting my old-ass g4 laptop to my stereo. I tried the USB 'Imic' which sounded bad, I thought, and currently am running a "Y" cable from my earphone port to my stereo's 'audio in'. Been looking a bit at M-audio's "Audiophile"http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/AudiophileUSB-main.htmlThought a bit about Airtunes but my Internet comes courtesy of my non tech-savvy neighbor. Any ideas appreciated.

  Comments

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    Nothing wrong with running a 3.5mm jack out of the headphone socket into a pair of RCA's into the amp for a nice balanced input. Stick with it. And it's cheap.
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    I have the i/o and it sounds real nice. The best part of it for me is that it's got a decent headphone amp in it, so I take it places when I'm traveling and don't have to deal with an external device.

    You should be able to find an older model with the single output for fairly cheap.

    M-Audio has notoriously shitty Mac drivers, but if you're only doing simple playback stuff you shouldn't have too many problems.
  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
    I have the i/o and it sounds real nice. The best part of it for me is that it's got a decent headphone amp in it, so I take it places when I'm traveling and don't have to deal with an external device.

    You should be able to find an older model with the single output for fairly cheap.

    M-Audio has notoriously shitty Mac drivers, but if you're only doing simple playback stuff you shouldn't have too many problems.
    Yeah that maudio would be the best option. If you are willing to drop the dough i think youll be more than happy with the audiophile. And it allows you to do various other shit that you dont necessarily have to be a musician or engineer to do, like recording vinyl to mp3 and whatnot.
  • bthavbthav 1,538 Posts
    Nothing wrong with running a 3.5mm jack out of the headphone socket into a pair of RCA's into the amp for a nice balanced input. Stick with it. And it's cheap.



    make sure your not playing crapy mptrees.. that could easily be the weakest link
  • mr.brettmr.brett 678 Posts
    I was in your same situation about two months ago and went with M-Audio's firewire solo. I also started ripping all my cd's into .AIF format. It's lossless like wav, but keeps tags like an mp3. The only complaint I have about the Firewire solo is that the output isn't as loud as I thought it would be.
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    Nothing wrong with running a 3.5mm jack out of the headphone socket into a pair of RCA's into the amp for a nice balanced input. Stick with it. And it's cheap.



    make sure your not playing crapy mptrees.. that could easily be the weakest link

    Yuuup. Side note but I cant believe that fools are still using mp3s, given how often most other codecs and formats change. Yeah I know it's universal, and most people can't tell the difference, but it'd be nice to have a format that didn't sound so shitty. Storage capacity is getting to the point though that keeping things uncompressed isn't even a big deal.
  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
    i just think its a hassle to store flacs and shit. 192 well recorded mp3s sound decent enough for me to play for my own use on ipod or when i dj. I would honestly sacrifice a little fidelity for the ease of use and storage of the mp3.
  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts
    I was in your same situation about two months ago and went with M-Audio's firewire solo. I also started ripping all my cd's into .AIF format. It's lossless like wav, but keeps tags like an mp3. The only complaint I have about the Firewire solo is that the output isn't as loud as I thought it would be.

    YES! I cosign on the issue about Firewire Solo.

    Just bought mine weeks ago, and find the output level on it very weak
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