Then:
* Bypass your notebook's on-board sound system with either a USB or Firewire DAC. I use an M-Audio Audiophile outboard DAC operating with my PC and I generally stream at 48K from www.KPLU.org with excellent results. At that bit rate, I can get a decent audio level, quiet and with no dropouts as long as your PC is set up correctly.
* When I say decent audio, I mean that the 48K bit-rate 'signal' from KPLU contains sufficient artifacts that I get 'bloom' and a nice soundstage when its in the broadcast material. Many of the stations I've checked into on the internet have had miserable compression and generally poor audio quality so be prepared for that.
* If you're planning to do your regular work on the notebook *while* streaming to the DAC, you may get some dropouts. This is due to the way that interrupts are assigned on the notebook and you may not have full control over that, depending on the way the hardware abstraction layer was implemented (sometimes refered to as firmware - without getting into too much details). See below for how I've dealt with that.
* Use a USB DAC that has its own outboard power supply. For instance, the M-Audio Transit uses the USB port to power it while the M-Audio Audiophile uses a wall-wart to supply it (actually, the wall-wart is only the AC transformer. The regulators are on-board).
* I am using an older Dell desk-side system that I pretty much use only for CD playback and for internet streaming. I've had a couple of problems even with this setup that merit mentions:
- Use Win2K or WinXP. WinXP appears to be more willing to allow integration of the DAC.
- Use USB 2.0 hubs and operate a separate one for the DAC. My Dell has been upgraded with a USB 2.0 board that operates exclusively for the DAC. I used to use the USB ports on the motherboard but they seemed to hang for no reason under Win2K for no reason.
BTW, this setup also allows me to run *excellent* CD playback into my system. Perhaps this Asylum needs a FAQ.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Cheers,
David
