simple digital stereo

don9999 · 2014-10-19 16:01:08

The more I read on digital stereo the further down a rat hole I seem to go. What's a recommendation for doing simple digital audio output, how to output the digital flac, mp3 to some hardware that will attach to speakers? Either my home stereo or some hopefully cheap hardware. I've got a Zotac that I'd like to start out with to do proof of concept. It has spdif out.

Don

scryan · 2014-10-19 17:11:56

Uhhhh.... what are you looking to do here?
I don't know what a Zotac is, but have you read the wiki on sounds system?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sound

Beyond that... Really gonna depend on how you are planning to interact with it, is it headless? What kind of display are you expecting?
Sounds like you probably want to find an audio forum too, since you going to need to know about stuff to drive those speakers...

But so far we basically know that you want to play audio over hardware... What kind of answer are you expecting?

karol · 2014-10-19 17:34:17

Zotac is a computer hardware company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zotac

don9999 · 2014-10-19 17:39:35

> I don't know what a Zotac is,

Sorry the Zotac mention was a last minute thing, it's a little micro PC.

> ... but have you read the wiki on sounds system? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sound

I'll read through that. I've been through so many linux audio pages on and off over 6 months I'm not sure where I am. I figured I'd devote time this winter to getting something set up.

> Beyond that... Really gonna depend on how you are planning to interact with it, is it headless? What kind of display are you expecting? But so far we basically know that you want to play audio over hardware... What kind of answer are you expecting?

I was thinking I'd put as small a monitor as I can find in my stereo cabinet to run either a linux audio app like banshee or something web/perl home grown. What I'm looking for is the middle hardware/software, what do I need to run on the linux box to output the digital stream and what do I need to either hook it directly to something that will drive speakers or to my home stereo. It's that middle ground that I can't seem to figure out.

karol · 2014-10-19 17:43:45

What happens when you attach the speakers to the computer and play audio?
You can stream audio from one device to another, e.g. from your home server to your multimedia box e.g. via local network.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2014-10-19 17:52:04

don9999 wrote:

how to output the digital flac, mp3 to some hardware that will attach to speakers?

I have yet to try this myself, but the optimal setup would be a digital output to a USB DAC with an asynchronous connection type, this then feeding active speakers (or headphones).
Most available USB DACs use the XMOS-based Thesycon interface & as such should be supported as an output device.
Hope this helps!

don9999 · 2014-10-21 17:28:20

> What happens when you attach the speakers to the computer and play audio?

That would of work but wouldn't be stereo quality.

karol · 2014-10-21 17:29:46

I think that depends on your hardware and whether the source is mono or stereo.

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#1 2014-10-19 16:01:08

simple digital stereo

#2 2014-10-19 17:11:56

Re: simple digital stereo

#3 2014-10-19 17:34:17

Re: simple digital stereo

#4 2014-10-19 17:39:35

Re: simple digital stereo

#5 2014-10-19 17:43:45

Re: simple digital stereo

#6 2014-10-19 17:52:04

Re: simple digital stereo

#7 2014-10-21 17:28:20

Re: simple digital stereo

#8 2014-10-21 17:29:46

Re: simple digital stereo

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