Is there any point????

[AShannon04]

Hey folks, I'm a college student at the moment and am attempting to build a somewhat decent stereo system based around my 4,000+ digital music collection (probably about 90% of the tracks have been imported into iTunes from CDs) coming from my Apple iBook G4, and I'm wondering if it's even worth buying decent $300-$400 bookshelf speakers to play my music.

Right now, I just have the $4 RCA cable from any electronics store coming out of my headphone jack into my Technics SA-EX140 AV receiver, then into some 20 year old speakers that got passed down to me. The speakers aren't that bad, but don't really go well with my current situation (they're floor speakers in a fairly small dorm room-type setting).

Granted, I'm not looking for perfect quality, as the speakers will mainly be used for hanging out my room, small parties, etc., but I'm basically wondering if there will be any sound difference between speakers if my mode of transfering songs from my computer to my speakers isn't great to begin with.

BASICALLY, I'm asking which is the bigger difference in sound quality: changing the methods of transferring my digital music to my speakers (RCA cable vs. upgraded sound card, DAC, etc.) or an upgrade in speakers. I'm thinking that upgrading speakers would be a more noticeable difference...

Haha, sorry for the longwinded and perhaps unclear post.

[noddin0ff]

In my opinion the first critical aspect for quality from digital files is making sure the files are imported at high bit rates. 128kbps is not that good, but fine for noisy environments. I consider 192kbps to be the minimum and it still is not great when compared to lossless.

Second most critical factor is probably the speakers. Big speakers, on the floor in a small room can be muddied. You might get a cleaner sound with some nice bookshelfs that can be positioned up near ear level.

Your options for upgrading the soundcard on an iBook are limited. You'd need to go external. I use a Griffin iMic (~$35-40) for a slight-to-modest improvement. It connects via USB.

Cable won't do much. You might feel better.

[ericl]

Definitely worth it to uprgrade your speakers. That should be your first priority. iBook is a great music source. I love mine. Sounds noticeably better than my windows PC, even when they're using the same soundcard!

Next focus on making sure your music is at a good bit rate. Like Noddinoff said, 128k is not great, you should do 192k or better, with variable bit rate encoding. Lossless is ideal but uses up a lot of space.

Next consider a nice sound card. I have an M-Audio Audiophile USB and I think it's great. You might want to try an M-Audio Transit, or the Griffin iMic seems popular too.

replace those speakers and you have the makings of a great system. Computer audio can sound great!

Eric

[AShannon04]

thanks a lot for your help guys. I didn't realize how easy it was for me to change the bitrate using my iTunes (it was at 128, now it's at 256 with VBR), and I'm already starting to hear a bit of a difference, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting a new set of speakers within the next couple months (I'm currently looking at the Klipsch SB-3's), so yeah, I'm excited about the possibility of my system sounding somewhat decent, haha. Thanks again.

[abstracta]

I have a much better suggestion after being in this situation before.

After sampling virtually every PC speaker system on the market and being familiar with virtually every type of bookshelf, I took the advice of audio engineers and bought a pair of monitors for my computer listening, and have never been happier. In my case I got a pair of Alesis MKII's, which sound vastly better than any of the typical bookshelf offerings, which simply don't cut it in terms of sounding good at close range.

I've heard the Klipsch, and while they weren't bad, they aren't in the same zipcode as a pair of monitors in the same price range. The Klipsch I believe are also rear ported, which I detest being it makes small speakers difficult to place in small rooms and result in boomy sound if too close to rear walls.

I'll tell you want I'd do if it were my money, and it's a no brainer. I'd get a pair of powered monitors like KRK RP5's, or similiar, and ditch the old amplifier. There's no way those Klipsch can compete with an active monitor in a small room, and the KRK's for example are only about $50 more.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/602312/

A lot of overpaid iPod geeks I know are opting for the powered monitor route, and loving it.

[anamorphic96]

Keep in mind that you can't just change to 256kbs with files you have already compressed. If you have backup wav files you will need to re compress the old files from the original wav files to here the benefits.

Even though iTunes will let you convert a song from 128 to 256. You wont here any sonic benfits. Once its compressed there is no uncompressing an MP3. However any new material you add will be 256.

Also adding some inexpensive powered monitors as metioned earlier is the way to go.

[infamo]

yes, buying an external sound card to transfer a digital signal to your A/V receiver and letting your A/V receiver do all the DAC work will make a HUGE difference in your lisitening experience. I built a small HT setup for my pc using the satellites from my logitech z5300 system, Sony SA-WX700 sub, and an Onkyo TX-LR552 receiver and my highs and lows have never sounded better. A/V receivers will do DAC work better than any sound card out there on the market.