Playing Computer Music Files Through Stereo Receiver

MalwareT · Jan 20, 2025

Marcus Vinicus said:
Hi @MalwareT

I've got a question for you. What is the highest level of sound you want from your setup?
Which of the following?

Mp3
16bit/44khz (cd level)
24/96khz or higher (audiophile)
Any other, please state

24/96khz or higher (audiophile) I want the best possible sound.

Edwin · Jan 20, 2025

I have a Dragonfly USB DAC to L/R RCA to NAD Pre-Amp..., works great.

MalwareT · Jan 20, 2025

Edwin said:
I have a Dragonfly USB DAC to L/R RCA to NAD Pre-Amp..., works great.

Could you post a link for those products?

Marcus Vinicus · Jan 20, 2025

MalwareT said:
Is USB audio just using the USB port and perhaps this adapter? > GINTOOYUN USB to Optical Audio Adapter Also, what is a windows driver?

Pictured below is my old DAC - Headphone Amplifier. It is this one a Fiio K5Pro. A relatively inexpensive one for up to audiophile level sound. I'm using this one as an example only.

K5PRO

FiiO--Born for Music

www.fiio.com

Here is a picture of the rear. The USB in connection (USB-B) is highlighted. When connected it would plug into a standard USB connection on my PC (USB-A). In order for the computer to be able to send audio to the DAC it requires a Windows software driver from Fiio to make it all work. In addition, on the rear of the Fiio Dac is two phono out connections. They would go naturally to phono in connections on an AVR.

bobkn · Jan 20, 2025

I checked. I'm not sure whether anyone has suggested using the USB port on the AVR, but on p. 57 of the downloadable manual,

"It is not possible to use this unit by connecting the unit’s USB port to a PC via a USB cable."

(The port is intended for use with a USB memory device, only.)

For stereo, USB to optical might be good. I see that there are adapters that can do 192kHz/24 bit. Example (NOT a personal recommendation):

https://www.amazon.com/Cubilux-TOSLINK-Converter-Compatible-Computer/dp/B0B2DBGKL3/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=35DYQGKYZN8VL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tBZmod9DSkVoD1E6BNO9Jis4R9JrGiipWol8A0UztsQoMhq7MvYD-jXPWujtHib_LxQlfvuckMtjGneZ2t-gM90aJrQQQYoE3ezSWro6LCSJKIN_ohZ_j2mOpZbSlVtZx6Y-1ouDInbLvhBASwzfEhWZ0eFBigOXXEL943_XHIO1J5153UEZZ6BIqThTANDxGhPTCexIvFXRa771HZbex1dluzxeUoLb6zvgqkUdABE.gP9AsTqp0u7N81GezMQgj6DfQw15fqqGIdAJ6rOIC4E&dib_tag=se&keywords=usb+to+optical+audio+adapter+96khz&qid=1737430131&sprefix=usb+to+optical+audio+adapter+96khz%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

I use a CD player, connected to my AVR-X3800H with an optical cable.

Edwin · Jan 21, 2025

MalwareT said:
Could you post a link for those products?

(Click on the pic for the link)

hdmi · Jan 21, 2025

MalwareT said:
I would like to get as close to audiophile sound as possible. Therefore, is the USB path from the PC better sounding than a Bluetooth setup? Does anyone know?

It depends. Although they aren't cheap, good USB DACs simply mop the floor with Bluetooth audio. However, USB cables and Bluetooth connections do not generate any sound waves. Your loudspeakers do.

My USB DAC uses an XMOS USB Audio 2.0 ST input interface with a metal shield and isolation transformers. The XMOS operates in asynchronous USB mode to eliminate input jitter, while the metal shield stops the Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) that gets emitted by the digital input interface hardware module, and, the isolation transformers cut ground loops [between electronic circuits one of which is the input interface module].

In short, USB audio input interfaces are not created equal. But like I already tried to point out from the start, there are many other factors that determine the sound. The quality of the recording also matters a lot, which is often overlooked, and, another excellent example of what is often overlooked IMO are room acoustic treatments.

Similar to HDMI, DisplayPort does have the ability to transfer digital audio, though. Normally, a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter/cable should work. Have you updated your device drivers to their latest version?

Edwin · Jan 21, 2025

hdmi said:
The quality of the recording also matters a lot...

... and the file quality, is where it all starts.
You can't really see the Magenta on my Dragonfly, except for the reflection...

hdmi · Jan 21, 2025

Edwin said:
... and the file quality, is where it all starts.
You can't really see the Magenta on my Dragonfly, except for the reflection...

View attachment 122762

Yes and no. While it is true that audio egalitarians have been proven wrong in that department, and, personally, I, much prefer to listen to 24-bit 96 kHz or 24-bit 192 kHz FLAC files as opposed to 16-bit 44.1 kHz, other factors like, e.g., the quality of the USB DAC can be even more important (but certainly not always).

Some say that it's just the icing on the cake, and the quality of the loudspeakers "matters so much more" that it makes small differences like these "fade into the distant landscape". I always reply with "If you want to study a river, do you take out a bucket of water and stare at it on the shore?" I mean, not that I want to study the music. I don't. But IMO the best way to find out if I can be happy listening to a setup for a long period is to listen to a setup for a long period. In my case it turned out that upgrading to the Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme was worth the investment. (My first DAC was its predecessor, the MiniMax Tube DAC Plus that I still have).

MalwareT · Jan 21, 2025

badrobot said:
The easiest way is via 3.5mm AUX to Dual RCA cable. This cable is very easy to find or you may have one already that came with your receiver.

View attachment 122570

I called Denon today and the rep that I talked to today said that they normally don't recommend accessories for their products, but generally troubleshoot problems. Therefore, I decided to go with the above setup and ordered the below item from amazon. Therefore, after it comes, I'll come back to the forum and let you all know whether or not this problem has been resolved.

MalwareT · Jan 21, 2025

However, I still don't understand why the HDMI cable setup that I had for 10 years with my Dell Windows 10 computer worked seamlessly in playing my computer's music files through my Denon. Although, I did ask this question at the Quora site, but one of the supposedly stereo/electronic experts said that the HDMI setup didn't make sense to him.

badrobot · Jan 22, 2025

MalwareT said:
However, I still don't understand why the HDMI cable setup that I had for 10 years with my Dell Windows 10 computer worked seamlessly in playing my computer's music files through my Denon. Although, I did ask this question at the Quora site, but one of the supposedly stereo/electronic experts said that the HDMI setup didn't make sense to him.

Do you see "High Definition Audio Device" option on the sound setting when you plug in your HDMI?

Dannydet · Jan 22, 2025

Because your Dell OptiPlex 5060 Micro has different hdmi outputs from your old computer.

Kees · Jan 22, 2025

Dannydet said:
Because your Dell OptiPlex 5060 Micro has different hdmi outputs from your old computer.

As you can read in post #4, the Dell Optiplex 5060 Micro of the OP has no HDMI outputs at all. It only has Displayports.

When I searched on the Internet with "converting Displayport audio to HDMI", I found that the two standards both transmit audio digitally as a part of the video signal. But they do that differently. So the converter / adaptercable used to convert the signal from Displayport to HDMI has to have audio converting capabilities.

As it is dependent of digital communication between the computer and the converter and between the converter and the HDMI output device, it is not sure that all audio capable converters will do the job correctly. That's how I understood it. Maybe some setting in the audio driver of the PC could help, maybe some setting of the HDMI audio input of the receiver would help.

But the simpliest solution would still be a simple cable between the analog audio output of the PC and the audio inputs of the receiver.

badrobot · Jan 22, 2025

Kees said:
So the converter / adaptercable used to convert the signal from Displayport to HDMI has to have audio converting capabilities.

That's correct. Not all adapters are the same.

Dannydet · Jan 22, 2025

@Kees, correct.
I shouldn't have called them hdmi ports, lol.

Kees · Jan 22, 2025

badrobot said:
Not all adapters are the same.

In #4 @MalwareT showed which adapter cable he has used.
And it explains together with your link to a usable device why his device did not do the job:
"4K DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter Cable, Gold-Plated Uni-Directional Display Port DP to HDMI Screen Converter (Male to Female) Compatible
for Lenovo, HP, Dell, GPU, AMD, NVIDIA, More Passive"
It's only does the converting job for 'Screen', Audio is not mentioned.
Which is understandable for its prize of $6.

So @MalwareT can choose between many options:
- The right adapter to convert from Display port to HDMI including audio
- A direct cable from analog 3,5 mm PC output to analog audio inputs on the receiver
- Any kind of USB Audio device, like USB to Bluetooth, USB to optical audio etc.

Kees · Jan 22, 2025

Dannydet said:
I shouldn't have called them hdmi ports, lol.

No problem!

Marcus Vinicus · Jan 22, 2025

@MalwareT

Good luck, let us know if you need any further assistance.

MalwareT · Jan 23, 2025

I received the RCA cables, but I have a few questions for anyone looking in on this thread. First of all, I want to make sure that I have it plugged into the correct audio jack, which is the headphone jack in the front of my computer instead of the line-in jack as can be seen in the picture below. And my second question is: Should the "Line in" or the "Headphones" be highlighted in blue in the picture of the little dialog box that appeared over my computer screen as shown in the second picture?

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