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First Foray into Internet Radio

While I play my music from Bryston BDP-1 digital music player to PS Audio PWD MKII DAC, it does not stream so I need a different approach to try Internet radio.

I was thinking of using a netbook or laptop and locating the Internet radio station, and simply running a USB cable from either directly into DAC (which of course has USB capability). I have decent wireless service in my home.

Is there any reason this approach would not work? If so, what must I do to get it to work?

Thanks.

Neal
nglazer
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,179 posts
 
The easy way if computer has decent DAC in it, is to run a long analog phono rca y connector from headphone output to stereo analog input. I've gotten surprisingly good results this way using very basic but decent quality laptops as the source.

The USB approach may work fine as well, but there can be a lot of variability in sound quality either way depending on many things. USB also may not be as reliable overall in some cases, depending on computer state. Its a case by case thing which works best. Maybe try out both and see. Neither should cost very much to try.
pmotz
412 posts
 
USB should work good, just keep the length as short as you can and no more than 5m. If you don't have a USB cable to try get a Belkin Gold in the appropriate length. It's a good low priced starter. Your call if you want to spend more (probably a lot more) for better sound.
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
Using the RCA output from a PC puts you at the mercy of the quality of its DAC and analog output stage. Your best bet is to use some type of digital connection: USB, TOSLINK, Coax, etc. This will allow you to pass a digital signal into your DAC to make use of its superior conversion capabilities...

-RW-
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