Introduction

[ilikemusic]

George here! 76 Years old in 2 weeks. I want to put together a computer audio system soon.
I bought a MiniPC (Windows 11 Pro) last month and it is working perfectly except there are no speaker outlets and the headphone jack is useless.
I've spent the past 2 weeks on the internet doing a bit of research on what I may need and also watching tons of YouTube Videos concerning
computer desktop setups. Needless to say I'm over whelmed.

I tried an experiment yesterday, I put some easy listening digital albums on my Moto E Tracphone and connected a pr of Sennheiser HD201 Headphones to the
phones. The albums are all 128kbps and all were from the 50's & 60's, the sound was perfect! At my age I really can't tell any different between MP3, (128 or 360) Flac or 24/192 etc.

If a few days I want to ask a few questions so I know I'm on the right track to equipment for my DT audio system!
So until then - Thanks for reading this - George

 

[BDWoody]

Welcome!

Looking forward to hearing more from you as you settle in.

Codecs are quite good these days...

 

[Joe Smith]

Welcome! You don't need to spend a lot to have great sound these days. Different options depending on whether you will be listening via headphones, speakers, or alternating between the two.

For instance, in my workroom system I stream via a Windows 10 desktop (Spotify, for the most part) to a JDS Labs Atom+ DAC, thence to amp or preamp (new or vintage, these vary depending on my rotation mood) to speakers (new or vintage, rotate depending on mood).

For rooms where you don't have a PC available for streaming control, the newer WiiM products (Mini, Plus) work great, with control via a smartphone. Not sure if the Moto E would work in that instance.

With a good preamp or an integrated amp, you have more inputs, if you want to also be able to easily play vinyl, tape, CD, etc.

Welcome to ASR!

 

[DVDdoug]

and the headphone jack is useless.

In what way?

The albums are all 128kbps and all were from the 50's & 60's,

OK, but the only downside over a higher bitrate or lossless audio is larger files

Do you have any CDs, etc? What else will you be listening to?

Do you have a stereo or home theater system? (I have an "extra" laptop connected to my home theater system via HDMI.)

The headphone output can go to active/powered speakers, or to line-in on an amplifier or receiver. As long as you aren't getting noise (hum, hiss, or whine in the background) the sound quality should be fine, but you may not notice it until it's amplified.

If you aren't getting good quality, you can get a USB DAC (digital to analog converter). There have been lots of them reviewed by Amir, here at ASR (you can sort by Device Type). Many DACs have both headphone and line-outputs.

 

[lkanies]

For my desk, I find it really helpful to have xlr inputs, because there’s so much opportunity for noise. So I would recommend a preamp/headphone amplifier from smsl or topping (I chose smsl because topping seems to be getting rid of physical controls for things like headphone amps) with balanced outputs. Probably anything by either of them is good enough, unless your headphones are hard to drive. You’ll need one with a DAC.

Plug them into active speakers that fit your budget, and bob’s your uncle. I have the Neumann KH 80, which I regret a bit because they’re small. Even with a subwoofer I feel like it lacks oomph in music. Their power auto management is also, frankly, crap.

I do recommend you put desktop speakers on stands, so that their tweeters are ear height. (I do like the Neumann stands.)

 

[Boris Badinov]

Lenovo computer(under left side of desk) streaming Amazon Music HD, Atom DAC, Atom HP amp, SMSL A300 amp, Jamo 10" sub(under right side of desk) and Keff Q150 speakers. Also Sennheiser HD600 headphones

 

[ilikemusic]

I'm back from raking leaves!!
Still doing my research on the web.

Was asked about what type of music I like - Easy Listening from late 20's - 70's, Classical, Jazz, Folk & Christmas music!

Am I understanding this correctly that a DAC does not alter the actual digital music file but just the actual analog output?
I was asked why my headphone jack doesn't work on my MiniPC and I tried my Sennheiser HD201 again and also a pr of wired buds
and sound does come out but at about 1/2 volume even with W11 audio settings set to max Volume.

I would not want to spend more then $1,000. for a computer DT audio setup.
From my understanding I will need a Headphone/DAC/Amp combo and speakers. My Sennheiser HD201's are from 2013, so 10 years old but
still work great (Use them to plug into TV set).

From the many DAC/AMP I've seen on the internet, many of these have multiple inputs on the back and it seems that most have 2 RCA outputs
also on the back. Since these are analog outputs would I be able to connect this to a set of speakers? And if yes should the speakers be Active
or Passive.
If you have a spare moment check out the SMSL DL200 Headphone AMP/DAC, A fairly new offering from Aug of 2023 with good reviews and a great price $180.00
on Amazon (Do you folks ever purchase an extended warranty when buying audio gear)

I like the picture of one of the responder's home DT setup.
I'm sorry to say my table I use is a 6 FT x 2 1/2 FT folding table (Another item I need to buy someday)

I notice on this site there is a forum for what music you are listening to now and recommendations, got some good
ideas from reading some of the posts in that forum!

Well time to go, it took me over an hr just to make up this post! David n.

 

[ThomasR]

Hi everyone - new member here. This is the only "introduction" thread that popped up when I searched, so I'll just add my greetings here.

I'm fairly active on Head-Fi (same user name) and thought I'd join here as well.

 

[BDWoody]

Hi everyone - new member here. This is the only "introduction" thread that popped up when I searched, so I'll just add my greetings here.

I'm fairly active on Head-Fi (same user name) and thought I'd join here as well.

Welcome!

Here is the 'official' thread, if you want to say hello there as well.

Welcome New Members to ASR, introduce yourself here.

Hello everyone @ ASR. :) I couldn't find a new members section so thought I'd start one... if that is ok @amirm. I'm from Australia and have been a member of a number of audio and tech forums for well over 20 years. So g'day everyone, in particular any other Aussies here (@Sir Sanders...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[coonmanx]

I'm back from raking leaves!!
Still doing my research on the web.

Was asked about what type of music I like - Easy Listening from late 20's - 70's, Classical, Jazz, Folk & Christmas music!

Am I understanding this correctly that a DAC does not alter the actual digital music file but just the actual analog output?
I was asked why my headphone jack doesn't work on my MiniPC and I tried my Sennheiser HD201 again and also a pr of wired buds
and sound does come out but at about 1/2 volume even with W11 audio settings set to max Volume.

I would not want to spend more then $1,000. for a computer DT audio setup.
From my understanding I will need a Headphone/DAC/Amp combo and speakers. My Sennheiser HD201's are from 2013, so 10 years old but
still work great (Use them to plug into TV set).

From the many DAC/AMP I've seen on the internet, many of these have multiple inputs on the back and it seems that most have 2 RCA outputs
also on the back. Since these are analog outputs would I be able to connect this to a set of speakers? And if yes should the speakers be Active
or Passive.
If you have a spare moment check out the SMSL DL200 Headphone AMP/DAC, A fairly new offering from Aug of 2023 with good reviews and a great price $180.00
on Amazon (Do you folks ever purchase an extended warranty when buying audio gear)

I like the picture of one of the responder's home DT setup.
I'm sorry to say my table I use is a 6 FT x 2 1/2 FT folding table (Another item I need to buy someday)

I notice on this site there is a forum for what music you are listening to now and recommendations, got some good
ideas from reading some of the posts in that forum!

Well time to go, it took me over an hr just to make up this post! David n.

Don't know if you are still hanging around. It's been a while since your last post. I would recommend something like this Fosi Audio BT30D Pro desktop amp hooked up to some smaller speakers with 6.5" woofers. Speakers could go on the wall or the desktop. Has bluetooth and also RCA inputs. If you want to stream from the computer then you could get a nice small external DAC and hook that up to the computer through USB...