quote:
Originally posted by carruthers esq.:
so,can I use one in my office where I listen to iTunes on my PC when working in there, and if so how?
This is exactly how I started with this.
Buy a stand alone USB DAC. A few years ago this was not that easy and I went for a cheapish one from M-Audio. It worked ok, but never sounded good enough to challenge CD as a source.
For the past two years I have used a Russ Andrews DAC-1 USB. A very simple plug&play device which connects to the PC USB socket, and is automaticaly found as your prefered audio device by iTunes. It provides line level outputs via normal RCA phono sockets, which I feed into a headphone amplifier. The USB-DAC also has optical and coax inputs, so you can have a CD player connected at the same time (which I do).
The difference in sound quality between the usual audio-out of the PC card and the stand-alone DAC is HUGE. (Because my PC at work actually belongs to the NHS, I keep all of the iTunes stuff on a separate HD which is also connected to the PC by USB).
Next for me will be a better DAC, and I am waiting for the USB Lavry DA-11, other studio spec. DACs, streamers and perhaps a Naim offering (but not hopeful for a USB input there).
Once I'm used to the new DAC in my office setup, I can decide whether to go down that route at home with a dedicated Mac, or the Transporter/Naim/Linn routes.
