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Author Topic: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?  (Read 6834 times)

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Offline MakersMarc

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #15 on: March 06, 2019, 12:27:11 AM »
Teac UD-501 is $550 with free shipping here: https://hifiheaven.net/shop/TEAC-UD-501-Dual-Monaural-D-A-Converter-with-USB-Streaming-in-Black?language=en&currency=USD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIopCM9urr4AIV1Rx9Ch0WOgrbEAYYASABEgLIX_D_BwE

I have no idea about whether or not it has "warmth," but it uses excellent DAC chips (BurrBrown) in a dual mono design. 

This is as good a DAC as anyone is likely to ever need.

That looks fantastic!

So I'm thinking one of these and a cheap pc so I can play windows files, and stream MQA from Tidal.  :headphones: :headphones:

You might be able to do that with a Raspberry Pi.  I haven't used Tidal though so I'm not 100% sure.  If it does work, though, the Pi makes a very cheap and efficient PC substitute.

For the dummies like me, how is the pi a pc substitute? Can I just plug an external drive  into the pi? Or does it have its own storage?

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Offline kindms

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #16 on: March 06, 2019, 07:47:41 AM »
Teac UD-501 is $550 with free shipping here: https://hifiheaven.net/shop/TEAC-UD-501-Dual-Monaural-D-A-Converter-with-USB-Streaming-in-Black?language=en&currency=USD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIopCM9urr4AIV1Rx9Ch0WOgrbEAYYASABEgLIX_D_BwE

I have no idea about whether or not it has "warmth," but it uses excellent DAC chips (BurrBrown) in a dual mono design. 

This is as good a DAC as anyone is likely to ever need.

That looks fantastic!

So I'm thinking one of these and a cheap pc so I can play windows files, and stream MQA from Tidal.  :headphones: :headphones:

You might be able to do that with a Raspberry Pi.  I haven't used Tidal though so I'm not 100% sure.  If it does work, though, the Pi makes a very cheap and efficient PC substitute.

For the dummies like me, how is the pi a pc substitute? Can I just plug an external drive  into the pi? Or does it have its own storage?

its a mini computer all its own, you can configure it in many ways but what is pretty common is to have an SD card on the Pi that is used for its boot drive. Basically you download whatever audio OS you gonna want to use, copy it to the sd card and then boot the Pi. the Pi has ethernet and wifi, USB etc. From there you can attach an external HDD to play music off of or if you have a computer or NAS in the house you can map to that collection.

you can control the pi using your phone or any browser as the entire thing is browser / GUI based for the setup / config. If you so chose you can add a touch panel to your Pi to control it directly and there are many tutorials online and kits etc on how to go about doing that. It also has HDMI out so you could attach it to your TV and / or a monitor if you wanted to use a mouse / keyboard. but its headless in the sense that it will just be a black box with no monitor or keyboard needed unless you want them.
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Offline heathen

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #17 on: March 06, 2019, 08:30:51 AM »
Great description by kindms.  I'll just add that you can get operating systems for the Pi (for free) that are dedicated media players from the ground up.  Of course you can also use a more "conventional" OS too.
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Offline MakersMarc

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #18 on: March 06, 2019, 10:42:00 AM »
Thanks for that kindms and heathen, really appreciate it.

 So how do I browse files on the HDD, and an even dumber question, applicable to usb DAC too, where do I hit “play”.
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Offline heathen

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2019, 11:31:00 AM »
Thanks for that kindms and heathen, really appreciate it.

 So how do I browse files on the HDD, and an even dumber question, applicable to usb DAC too, where do I hit “play”.

You'd navigate files/playlists/etc, press play, fast forward, etc on whatever interface you use with the Pi (phone, tablet, keyboard/mouse, etc).  Here's some info about one of the many OS choices that shows a bit of the interface: http://www.runeaudio.com/about/

Edit: That OS is just an example.  I don't know if it will fit your particular needs for Tidal...it might or might not, I just have no idea.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 11:32:57 AM by heathen »
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Offline MakersMarc

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #20 on: March 06, 2019, 05:12:45 PM »
So I’m going the pc>dac route. How do I get the windows pc to output audio from usb>DAC?

Thanks!
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Offline heathen

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #21 on: March 06, 2019, 05:22:35 PM »
So I’m going the pc>dac route. How do I get the windows pc to output audio from usb>DAC?

With a lot of DACs it will be as simple as plugging in the USB cable and Windows auto-detecting it.  Note that you may want to set up WASAPI output (that's how I have foobar2000 set up on my PCs) if you want to be sure you're getting bit-perfect audio output from the PC.
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Offline MakersMarc

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Re: Laptop>USB DAC>Nikko amp?
« Reply #22 on: March 06, 2019, 08:56:23 PM »
Thanks!
😈 Mk4v/41v>nbob actives>Baby nbox>Oade warm mod Marantz 620.

Open: 4v/41v>nbobs>Nicky mod Naiant PFA>Oade warm mod 661.

Home: the Stereo Hospital budget refurb rig: Lappie>DragonFly Cobalt/Red with Jitterbug>Nikko NR520/Sansui 221>B&W V202 speakers.

 

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