Hello everyone,
First post here so please let me know if there's anything I'm doing wrong.
My current setup is made from things I bought second hand and have several problems with it. I would like to upgrade to something more stable and better-sounding.
Here is my current setup :
- sources :
- AppleTV for Netflix and Spotify, mostly
- vintage turntable
- amp : vintage Onkyo Integra a-817rx
- speakers : Wharfedale Diamond 220
The Apple TV is connected to my (not-smart) TV via HDMI, and then the TV headphones out to RCA Line in of my amp.
The turntable is connected to the phono input of my amp.
As you can see it's a pretty messy setup that's not great for digital audio...
My main goals are :
- being able to do room correction (Dirac Live if possible, but CamillaDSP is also ok ; would like to try uBACCH but not a must-have). Preferably on all sources including phono, but I'd be okay to have it at least on my digital sources
- having a better digital audio path : using my TV's DAC is not ideal...
- I also want to change my amp because this vintage Onkyo has a whole lot of issues (crazy stereo crosstalk, overheating etc.)
It's important that I keep the option to watch Netflix easily since my roommates also use this setup. I also would like to keep the budget under 500$.
I live in Japan so a lot of things are not easily available here such as the Wiim Amp.
For the amp part I'm thinking to get the Yamaha A-S301 which I can get here for about 200$. Only concern is the poor phono preamp.
Here are the different options that I'm considering:
1) buy a second-hand late 2014 Mac Mini (~100$) or a NUC mini-pc and use it to stream Netflix, play my music library, do room correction. The Mac Mini would be connected to a USB-toslink converter and into the A-S301.
Issues with that option are mostly remote control : I would have to use a remote for the TV, one for the amp, and use a keyboard + mouse for the Mac Mini
2) use a Rpi to do a Toslink-DSP-Toslink box like described on another ASR post, and connect the AppleTV to its input, and it's output to the A-S301
Issues are that room correction would only be applied to the AppleTV, and that the output format of AppleTV is limited to 24b-48kHz
3) buy a Wiim Pro (~80$ here with a discount) and connect my TT as well as AppleTV to its input. Then connect the Toslink output to the Rpi described in solution 2 and then into the A-S301. That would allow me to have better audio resolution when using the Wiim inputs, and to correct the TT as well as all the rest. Main issue is that it's complex and might be complicated to control with remote(s).
4) find an amp with pre-out/main-in and put the Rpi in-between for room correction. Use a DAC for the AppleTV output into the amp.
Issues are the format limitations of AppleTV, and higher cost from buying a separate ADC.
Which solution do you think is the best, or is there something else I'm not thinking of?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for your help!
First post here so please let me know if there's anything I'm doing wrong.
My current setup is made from things I bought second hand and have several problems with it. I would like to upgrade to something more stable and better-sounding.
Here is my current setup :
- sources :
- AppleTV for Netflix and Spotify, mostly
- vintage turntable
- amp : vintage Onkyo Integra a-817rx
- speakers : Wharfedale Diamond 220
The Apple TV is connected to my (not-smart) TV via HDMI, and then the TV headphones out to RCA Line in of my amp.
The turntable is connected to the phono input of my amp.
As you can see it's a pretty messy setup that's not great for digital audio...
My main goals are :
- being able to do room correction (Dirac Live if possible, but CamillaDSP is also ok ; would like to try uBACCH but not a must-have). Preferably on all sources including phono, but I'd be okay to have it at least on my digital sources
- having a better digital audio path : using my TV's DAC is not ideal...
- I also want to change my amp because this vintage Onkyo has a whole lot of issues (crazy stereo crosstalk, overheating etc.)
It's important that I keep the option to watch Netflix easily since my roommates also use this setup. I also would like to keep the budget under 500$.
I live in Japan so a lot of things are not easily available here such as the Wiim Amp.
For the amp part I'm thinking to get the Yamaha A-S301 which I can get here for about 200$. Only concern is the poor phono preamp.
Here are the different options that I'm considering:
1) buy a second-hand late 2014 Mac Mini (~100$) or a NUC mini-pc and use it to stream Netflix, play my music library, do room correction. The Mac Mini would be connected to a USB-toslink converter and into the A-S301.
Issues with that option are mostly remote control : I would have to use a remote for the TV, one for the amp, and use a keyboard + mouse for the Mac Mini
2) use a Rpi to do a Toslink-DSP-Toslink box like described on another ASR post, and connect the AppleTV to its input, and it's output to the A-S301
Issues are that room correction would only be applied to the AppleTV, and that the output format of AppleTV is limited to 24b-48kHz
3) buy a Wiim Pro (~80$ here with a discount) and connect my TT as well as AppleTV to its input. Then connect the Toslink output to the Rpi described in solution 2 and then into the A-S301. That would allow me to have better audio resolution when using the Wiim inputs, and to correct the TT as well as all the rest. Main issue is that it's complex and might be complicated to control with remote(s).
4) find an amp with pre-out/main-in and put the Rpi in-between for room correction. Use a DAC for the AppleTV output into the amp.
Issues are the format limitations of AppleTV, and higher cost from buying a separate ADC.
Which solution do you think is the best, or is there something else I'm not thinking of?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for your help!
