Source setup for new Towers

[elan120]

My two cents - the server end shouldn't have any sound quality differences unless it is doing some sort of DSP.

This is a complex topic, and this may not be a good place for further or detailed discussion. I will just share my experience from the past few years building servers in different configurations, experiment with different components and operating systems, music players, the music server, in a revealing 2 channel stereo system, does effects the sound quality quite a bit, but since there are many factors involved, there is no easy way to clearly define what will or will not work in a different system. If there is interest, perhaps this can be a different topic in an another thread.

In my case, I am very much looking forward to have the speakers delivered some time in September, so I can start working on having everything setup and play both music and movies.

[racrawford65]

I have recently incorporated an external DAC into my system, and it did, to my surprise, made a noticeable difference to my 2-channel listening, especially considering my configuration.

That said, for movies, I will take the surround experience over stereo.

Plus 1 for movies in surround.

As to 2 channel, I added a dedicated preamp (Rogue RP5) a few months ago and it was a great upgrade - that said, my music listening is primarily vinyl so do try avoiding any digitization (I do have a SugarCube in my signal chain which is bypassed except for those few lp’s with still too many clicks/pops even after cleaning)

[chas]

This would be for two channel listening using an AV receiver. Going analog to the CD input may work in pure direct, but if I want room correction and bass management applied (as Curtis noted) I'm assuming the receiver takes the analog signal and digitizes and processes it.

I'll have to read up on R2R!

[elan120]

Plus 1 for movies in surround.

As to 2 channel, I added a dedicated preamp (Rogue RP5) a few months ago and it was a great upgrade - that said, my music listening is primarily vinyl so do try avoiding any digitization (I do have a SugarCube in my signal chain which is bypassed except for those few lp’s with still too many clicks/pops even after cleaning)

I will also be setting up 5.1 for movies, but only use the Towers for 2 channel.

Vinyl is cool! Always like to get back to play vinyl again, but I will have to wait until later when more time is available. Could you share how you setup the dedicated preamp? I am planning to do something like it, using an integrated amp to play 2 channel only, so the streamer, DAC, only connect to the integrated amp, and not the HT pre-pro.

[curtis]

This would be for two channel listening using an AV receiver. Going analog to the CD input may work in pure direct, but if I want room correction and bass management applied (as Curtis noted) I'm assuming the receiver takes the analog signal and digitizes and processes it.

Yup.

Another reason why I hesitated is I like keeping the use of my system simple and limit the number of components unless there is realized benefit vs ease of use/cost.

[curtis]

This is a complex topic, and this may not be a good place for further or detailed discussion. I will just share my experience from the past few years building servers in different configurations, experiment with different components and operating systems, music players, the music server, in a revealing 2 channel stereo system, does effects the sound quality quite a bit, but since there are many factors involved, there is no easy way to clearly define what will or will not work in a different system. If there is interest, perhaps this can be a different topic in an another thread.

In my experience it is all electrical noise related. You are right...another topic, another thread.

[chas]

Interesting discussion...if a new thread is started please post a link.

[choirbass]

The reason I said I’m all stereo now is because external DACs are limited to 2 channels and if you want more channels you won’t be using the external DAC. Your audio quality will only suffer then, opting for a sub par DAC instead.

[elan120]

The reason I said I’m all stereo now is because external DACs are limited to 2 channels and if you want more channels you won’t be using the external DAC. Your audio quality will only suffer then, opting for a sub par DAC instead.

I will be using an external DAC for 2 channel music only when my speakers are delivered, but will still use 5.1 setup for movies. First, I will be connecting the music source (streamer) digital signal to the external DAC, then take the DAC analog outputs to a different AV pre/pro input, ie., CD input, DVD player will have its digital output to AV pre/pro, and movie streaming will be done over ethernet cable, so when I am listening to 2 channels, I will change the AV pre/pro input to CD and play from there. I will also be testing another setup by using a separate integrated amp just for the 2 channel music, once I have the integrated amp here, I will move the DAC analog output from AV pre/pro to the integrated amp, and only use the integrated amp for 2 channel music, however, this method will require speaker cable change from HT amp to integrated amp, a minor extra work, but since I do much more music listening then watching movies, this won't be too bad.

[chas]

Thanks for the clear explanation of how you will be connecting. It will be interesting to hear how the sound compares (AV vs integrated) using these methods.