Its a pain (sometimes) and you need a little knowledge (you can muddle through using knowledge forums) but a PC is pretty awesome sounding, incredibly tweakable and still the most versatile solution. It streams, it rips, it downloads... all you need to do is get it to be dependable (ha, ha, ha) and sound good (a life long endeavor). But, totally doable and an interesting, educational and satisfying journey. And I already had the computer...
Advice for streaming setup only
Hello there, wanted to get into streaming audio so I signed up for the new Classics Online HD streaming service, which promises 16/44 to 24/196 resolution. Mike Lavorgna wrote a quick thing on audio stream about it.
The quick takeaway after 3 days is that it's wonderful and indeed good sound quality - the bad part is I'm getting lots of dropouts and glitches, so I want to get something dedicated to streaming.
I think that the service is not quite ready for prime time but I'm hoping they'll get it squared away.
So my question is - with a budget of $400-800, what laptop should I get to use as a dedicated streaming device ? I'm running it via usb into the DAC of my Marantz SA8004. Classical/opera mostly. Dedicated room.
My current PC laptop is old and on its last legs.
Actually I'd love to use a something other than a laptop but my understanding is that every network streamer still requires a computer in addition to the streamer itself - if I'm wrong and there's a one-box streamer that would be great.
My requirements are- 16/44 and above sound- compatible with Classics HD (which requires downloading Orastream from Classics HD) -
I won't do much downloading so no need for backups or large storage. I will not be ripping any of my current CD collection.
I'm not computer savvy at all, so any creative solution would have to be pretty easy to set up and maintain.
Thanks everyone
The quick takeaway after 3 days is that it's wonderful and indeed good sound quality - the bad part is I'm getting lots of dropouts and glitches, so I want to get something dedicated to streaming.
I think that the service is not quite ready for prime time but I'm hoping they'll get it squared away.
So my question is - with a budget of $400-800, what laptop should I get to use as a dedicated streaming device ? I'm running it via usb into the DAC of my Marantz SA8004. Classical/opera mostly. Dedicated room.
My current PC laptop is old and on its last legs.
Actually I'd love to use a something other than a laptop but my understanding is that every network streamer still requires a computer in addition to the streamer itself - if I'm wrong and there's a one-box streamer that would be great.
My requirements are- 16/44 and above sound- compatible with Classics HD (which requires downloading Orastream from Classics HD) -
I won't do much downloading so no need for backups or large storage. I will not be ripping any of my current CD collection.
I'm not computer savvy at all, so any creative solution would have to be pretty easy to set up and maintain.
Thanks everyone