RE: laptop/DAC question

Posted by George Wes (A) on October 21, 2014 at 13:29:40

In Reply to: laptop/DAC question posted by wayfarer on October 13, 2014 at 15:25:05:

My $400 PC system:

used Dell laptop freshly loaded with Vista ($150)
3 TB external HD ($99)
a bunch of wav files ripped using EAC (lots of time)
VLC Player and VLC Remote (free)
Chrome for Spotify and such
ODAC usb dac ($109)

First thing is to update all of the drivers especially if you are using an older computer.

Next get a usb port tester. I checked 4 different laptops and usb power is all over the place. Best $15 (PortaPow on Amazon) you will spend if you are going to power your dac from usb and I bet that's where most of the complaints come with regards to sound quality.

I found the biggest source of noise in the Dell was the wifi card. I use it for connection to my lan so I need to run it, but a little digging on the web and I found the solution was to turn off the unused channels in the driver.

I do have a latency issue with the lcd screen when it sleeps but I just live with that.

Could I do better? I welcome any suggestions. I know I could spend more money!

George (long time lurker and first post)

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 15:25:05 10/13/14 (25)

RE: laptop/DAC question - George Wes 13:29:40 10/21/14 (3)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 17:36:59 10/23/14 (2)

RE: laptop/DAC question - George Wes 07:48:04 10/27/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 21:00:55 10/27/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - veritas1 10:14:44 10/14/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:13:57 10/14/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Dman 06:21:11 10/14/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:12:07 10/14/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Thorsten 00:03:35 10/14/14 (6)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:09:04 10/14/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Thorsten 21:54:09 10/14/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Mike B. 12:59:36 10/14/14 (3)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Thorsten 22:20:22 10/14/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:29:09 10/14/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Mike B. 09:08:49 10/15/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - John Elison 23:02:43 10/13/14 (5)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:06:02 10/14/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - John Elison 21:27:57 10/14/14 (0)

agree with Mr. Elison - G Squared 17:27:15 10/14/14 (2)

RE: agree with Mr. Elison - wayfarer 19:20:16 10/14/14 (1)

RE: agree with Mr. Elison - John Elison 21:34:54 10/14/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - rbolaw 19:38:29 10/13/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:04:07 10/14/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question - Goober58 19:04:36 10/13/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 19:02:08 10/14/14 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: laptop/DAC question - George Wes 13:29:40 10/21/14 (3)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 17:36:59 10/23/14 (2)

RE: laptop/DAC question - George Wes 07:48:04 10/27/14 (1)

RE: laptop/DAC question - wayfarer 21:00:55 10/27/14 (0)

RE: laptop/DAC question

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