Hello everyone,
I often use a laptop to play my stage piano using the Pianoteq 8 software. However, the volume is way too low even if set to max, and even with the volume boosted by 10 db in the software (which causes atrocious crackling anyway). The volume is also much too low in general when I apply amp certain amp settings with a db decrease.
So my first question is: Which amp with decent measurements will help me get a good volume boost without being absolute overkill for easy-to-drive headphones like the Sennheiser HD 560s? The Topping L30 II is what came to mind, but I feel that's too much power. Is there anything with good price-performance ratio that will balance out the low laptop volume without so much headroom, but ideally without having to go to high gain?
For reference, I tried an old Fiio A3, but I need to use high gain to get any form of decent volume, and even then it's still lower than what I'd need. On low gain it's the same volume as the laptop without any amplification. I'm not knowledgable enough if something like the Topping DX1 would do the trick.
In addition to boosting the volume, I also want to add an external DAC because the one in the laptop is quite noisy.
My initial thought was to use an Apple dongle and plug an amp into it.
But when I plug the headphones into the USB slot using the Apple dongle there is noticeable delay even with the lowest delay setting in Pianoteq, and I get a very quiet but still audible crackling sound - no matter the delay setting.
As far as I know the crackling could be fixed with an isolator which would cost about 10 euros, correct?
The delay puzzles me because there is no delay between the note press and the sound when I click the piano keys in the Pianoteq software. This means there is no inherent sound delay when using the USB port, and the port or driver can't be the issue.
Since there isn't a delay when I use the headphone jack for output, the MIDI-to-USB connection between piano and PC can't be the culprit either.
The delay in ms displayed by the software when I select the audio device in Pianoteq is also shown to be the same.
The conclusion I draw from this is that Pianoteq - or something else in the computer - creates the delay when it has to read the input from the external piano and put out the sound through the USB port.
So my second question is: Does anyone have any potential solutions or further troubleshooting steps?
And the third question: Considering the issues above, would you suggest simply running it all from the headphone jack by using a DAC which doesn't have to be plugged into a USB socket (or using an amp/DAC combo device)? I'm not certain if USB is generally a worse option than headphone jack, or if it's just an issue with this specific laptop.
On a sidenote: is the sound quality generally better from the USB port if it works well, or from the audio jack?
Thanks a lot!
I often use a laptop to play my stage piano using the Pianoteq 8 software. However, the volume is way too low even if set to max, and even with the volume boosted by 10 db in the software (which causes atrocious crackling anyway). The volume is also much too low in general when I apply amp certain amp settings with a db decrease.
So my first question is: Which amp with decent measurements will help me get a good volume boost without being absolute overkill for easy-to-drive headphones like the Sennheiser HD 560s? The Topping L30 II is what came to mind, but I feel that's too much power. Is there anything with good price-performance ratio that will balance out the low laptop volume without so much headroom, but ideally without having to go to high gain?
For reference, I tried an old Fiio A3, but I need to use high gain to get any form of decent volume, and even then it's still lower than what I'd need. On low gain it's the same volume as the laptop without any amplification. I'm not knowledgable enough if something like the Topping DX1 would do the trick.
In addition to boosting the volume, I also want to add an external DAC because the one in the laptop is quite noisy.
My initial thought was to use an Apple dongle and plug an amp into it.
But when I plug the headphones into the USB slot using the Apple dongle there is noticeable delay even with the lowest delay setting in Pianoteq, and I get a very quiet but still audible crackling sound - no matter the delay setting.
As far as I know the crackling could be fixed with an isolator which would cost about 10 euros, correct?
The delay puzzles me because there is no delay between the note press and the sound when I click the piano keys in the Pianoteq software. This means there is no inherent sound delay when using the USB port, and the port or driver can't be the issue.
Since there isn't a delay when I use the headphone jack for output, the MIDI-to-USB connection between piano and PC can't be the culprit either.
The delay in ms displayed by the software when I select the audio device in Pianoteq is also shown to be the same.
The conclusion I draw from this is that Pianoteq - or something else in the computer - creates the delay when it has to read the input from the external piano and put out the sound through the USB port.
So my second question is: Does anyone have any potential solutions or further troubleshooting steps?
And the third question: Considering the issues above, would you suggest simply running it all from the headphone jack by using a DAC which doesn't have to be plugged into a USB socket (or using an amp/DAC combo device)? I'm not certain if USB is generally a worse option than headphone jack, or if it's just an issue with this specific laptop.
On a sidenote: is the sound quality generally better from the USB port if it works well, or from the audio jack?
Thanks a lot!
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