Kodi Community Forum

Hi all,

I'm finally looking into upgrading the audio situation of my htpc. I run Arch linux with eden-pre. My current setup has just been this for both audio/video:

ASUS M3N78-EM MOBO (hdmi) --> tv

I've been eyeing these speakers for a while now and I've never had a 'sound system' of any kind so I feel a slight bit overwhelmed.

I've talked to an audio friend of mine for help but he comes from a recording studio background with very high expectations and has no experience with linux or xbmc so I'm not sure how accurate his info is for my situation.

My main use of the htpc is for playing FLAC audio with the occasional movies or tv shows, all played directly from the internal hdd. I'm not concerned with surround sound or 5.1+ so much as GOOD quality stereo with a focus on the music.

So here is my question - given my requirements and the capabilities of XBMC would it be better* to buy a receiver and lay it out like this:

(audio) mobo optical → receiver → speakers
(video) mobo hdmi → tv

or to buy an amp and a DAC and lay it out like this:

(audio) mobo → dac → amp → speakers
(video) mobo hdmi → tv

*'Better' meaning a balance of cost/performance.

Thanks all!

I just bought the Polk Monitor 60s a couple of weeks ago, and I did some research before I did my 5.1 system. From what I heard the 70's are better for Music because they have a larger driver in them for better bass than the 60's that need a sub.


I wired mine HTPC(openelec) - HDMI - Receiver - HDMI - HDTV

The quality should be the same if you use Optical or HDMI for music but for the movies the HDMI is better because it supports multichannel audio in case you want to upgrade to a 5.1 in the future and it makes wiring a lot simplier.

Now the difference between the DAC+Amp vs Receiver I don't know what would be better in terms of sound quality. But your friend might know more.

Either way you go the sound difference from your TV to the Polks will be night and day difference.

Also check slickdeals on those polks they find deals on them all the time.

The Monitor 70's are on sale for $150 at Newegg with the promo code EMCJJJJ25. But hurry, the deal ends soon.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm most likely going to order the 70s tonight but now I'm looking around for a decent receiver without more crapola than I need (5.1 etc)

I think this question is more suited for audio forum, not this one. Also, you should provide us with the info about the budget you want to spend. The only US audio forum I know is Head-FI (sorry for your wallet). Apart from headphones and headphone amps, they cover DACs and how to get the best sound out of your PC. There are also sections about amplifiers and speakers, though this isn't the Head-Fi's main focus...

Just to give some advice: I'm glad you're OK with stereo. It will give you much better sound than surround system of the same price. There are several options for you: You can buy either an integrated amplifier with a built-in DAC, or a DAC+integrated amplifier, or a DAC with a built-in preamplifier+power amplifier, or a DAC+preamp+power amp. The solutions are ordered from the worst to the best in terms of quality. But this is just generally speaking, since you didn't give us much info.
As far as connecting your audio system to your HTPC goes, the best option out there is to get a DAC with asynchronous USB input. Therefore the DAC has it's own precise clock for clocking the audio signal (one clock for 44,1kHz, 88,2kHz, 176,4kHz and one for 48kHz, 96kHz and 192kHz sampling rates), and USB is there just for receiving data and buffering them for the DAC chip. But these are often quite expensive. Another option is to get a high-quality USB->S/PDIF converter with it's own precision clock, that would feed the digital signals to the DAC. But this is already a compromise. Or, you could hook the DAC to you motherboard's S/PDIF output, which is the worst option of all since the jitter will be just too high. Also, you should look for products that are USB Audio Class 1 or Class 2 compilant, since theese should work flawlessly in linux. (Class 2 supports upto 192/24 resolution, whereas Class 1 supports only 96/24)

The whole audio chain should be as neutral as possible. The sound that suits your ears and fits your room lies in selecting the speakers. (just FYI, room acoustics make about 50% of the sound. Properly treated room can improve the sound a lot, provided your have a decent HiFi system) Also, you should have a good listen to the speakers you want to buy before you buy them, or be prepared to return a few while looking for the sound that is best for you...

I think you should visit some decent HiFi studio. There you should find out the kind of sound you're looking for and the budget you want to spend. Just keep in mind that lot of gear can be bought from craigslist or eBay (HiFi equipment doesn't age as fast as other electronics, so older but high quality gear might be much better for you than new but cheap equipment) or you can DIY or buy from skilled people who make products better than those you can find in the finest HiFi studio, but for just a fraction of the price... If any of your frineds have a good audio gear, get in touch with them, ask them for help with choosing a system that's best for you, and most importantly - take the chance and listen to the systems they have so you can compare the sound and find the one that suits you the most. Anyway, good luck with your audio setup. :-)

The Cambridge DACMagic seems to be very well reviewed.

@thethirdnut - damn, that does look nice...

but I already bought a receiver. I ended up going with this since it seems to balance affordability and performance fairly well.

http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/har...70775.html

Thanks for all the input guys.

I think you made a mistake. In an A/V receiver, you've got 7 power amplifiers, 8 channel preamplifying section, 8 channel DAC, circuits for switching and processing video, etc. You could have bought an integrated amplifier with a build-in DAC. So there would be just a two channel DAC, a two channel preamplifier section and two power amplifiers. Which one would give you more quality? The one that's packed with hardware and functions you'll never use, or the one that perfectly suits your needs? But if you're satisfied with just an AVR, then that's fine for you I guess. You can use the extra channels for bi-amping the speakers, if you speakers that support bi-amping.

BTW Cambridge Audio DAC Magic is nothing much when compared to decent devices. But the new version seems promising...