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-igor

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 25, 2007
87
0
So I still like playing records because after all, it is better than anything digital, but I am putting the signal out of the receiver into my Firewire 410. It just came to me that it's an ADC anyway, so is quality technically lost (I guess quality is the wrong word...non-discreetness) and I should just not bother playing records like this and get a non-digital system? Would it be better to just plug right into my monitors or something?
 
You certainly are converting the analog signal to samples, then it's being reconverted to analog at the other end. And yeah, that's a lot of pointless work going on in there if you're worried more about the best sound than the convenience of using the computer that's already in the room.

Does quality suffer in an appreciable way? Just like with analog equipment, there is good stuff and not-so-good stuff, and every piece of equipment in the chain matters.

Same question: does quality suffer in an appreciable way? You're asking on a forum if you can hear a difference. Don't ask here, consult your ears instead. Only they know what really makes them happy, and many ears are happier with far less elaborate equipment than the people who make and sell it would like us to believe. Only spend the big bucks on specialty hardware if you need to impress your friends, or truly can hear things that are beyond the average human capability (about half of us can't).
 
Is going from the receiver straight to powered monitors with RCA a good idea?
 
You mean, plug the powered speakers into the receiver's line out? Yeah, you could do that if you like. You're on your own to decide if the amp built into those speakers will give you better or worse results than conventional speakers hung off the receiver's own amp (if it has one), of course.
 
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