Want to upgrade to a better simple system - any suggestions?

[hippojam]

I'm a relative beginner audiophile, so please bear with me. (But I do have an engineering degree, so I'll learn quickly.)

Right now this is my current PC system:
Shuttle XPC Zen ST62K P4 3.2Ghz
Onboard realtek ALC650 (AC'97 Codec) (supports 6 ch DAC)
5.1 Channel Audio Output
Optical S/PDIF Out

Stereo:
Right now I have a cord going from the headphone jack to the line in of my Bose Wave Radio/CD. The sound quality is acceptable, but about 30% of the MP3s (Mostly 192-320 bit rate quality) get distorted, especially at louder levels.

I want to remove this distortion and get better sound quality while keeping my set-up simple...I don't want a billion wires and components everywhere since I have a small place.

I was thinking that using the S/PDIF optical out on my computer and getting a new Bose-similar little stereo with a DAC would be an upgrade, but now I'm reading that digital isn't necessarily better than analog.

Can anyone tell me what my main limitations in sound quality are right now? (I'm assuming it's the analog cable and Bose stereo and not the PC configuration, but I could be wrong.)

Does anyone have any suggestions of a good simple upgrade to this system? What cable should I use? What's a good alternative to a Bose Wave stereo for a studio apartment? Are there any computer enhancements I could do without getting a new sound card?

Thanks in advance!

Jeremy

[bacchanal]

I've tried similar things, and messing with the volume levels can help. Try maxing you computer volume and then adusting the radio volume. If that doesn't work try it the other way around. I think you would want the source (the computer) volume to be maxed. I'm pretty sure the distoring you're experiencing has something to do with the radio trying to amplify the output from the computer.

Then again if you're not on a real tight budget, (and I assume you're not if you have a wave radio), and if you do a lot of listening to audio on your computer, a couple upgrades will make you forget about using that bose.

At the very least I would get some dedicated powered computer speakers. In my experience I've found that it is most convenient to keep my computer audio separate from my home audio, and that means using powered speakers for the computer. Swans speakers are some of the best you can get for computer audio. They make 2.0 systems (no sub!) that sound about as good as you're going to get without hooking up a stereo or buying powered studio monitors. The problem is that most computer/studio speakers are made for near field listening. I'm not sure how big your apartment is, but the amount of space you need to fill with sound is something to think about.
Cost<$100-$200 for a quality 2.0 multimedia speaker system, or $300 for a pair of nice small powered monitors.

Are you using onboard (built into the motherboard) sound? If so, you can buy a pci soundcard, like a creative soundblaster audigy2. That will be an improvement over pretty much any onboard audio solution. The M-audio 9900 is also supposed to be really good.
Cost<$100 unless you want a ton of extra features. I don't think the soundcard is a huge issue here, but if you're really that concered about audio, it's probably worth it.

check out newegg for swans stuff, and for M-audio and creative for that matter.

Then again you could probably do pretty well with some higher end logitech, klipsh, or creative speakers multimedia speakers. Be prepared to deal with a sub though, because most systems are at least 2.1. you'd be looking at $50-$200 for some nice sounding computer speakers. Again, check newegg.

Sorry to ramble...I'm in the process of replacing my Cambridge Soundworks 510Ds, and I'm probably going to get some powered monitors, so yeah, computer audio has been on my mind lately.