Hello and welcome to whatishifi blog.
After our test regarding the CD quality Vs. Hi-Res computer audio, we felt it was time for a computer hardware audio comparison. We were wondering if different PC hardware would sound different when used for Hi-Fi computer audio with an external USB audio device. For a start, as we found out at this post, HDDs don't affect sound quality. However, as I have explained at this post, when a file is played back from an internal or USB HDD it is sounding better than when it is played back from a NAS through a Gigabit LAN.
There are some claims lately regarding PCs that are "specially prepared" for audio reproduction. These claims are referred to the PC hardware as a digital player and not to the DAC or the media player software used.
For our case we picked up two totally different laptops. The first laptop is my old and trustworthy Sony VAIO VGN-FE21M, a model coming from 2009 with Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, USB 2.0, HDD and Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit OS. I used to have this laptop for computer audio use before replacing it with a sexy VAIO Duo 13 that looks amazingly good in it's tablet mode near my Hi-Fi.
The second laptop is the one that Panos is currently using for computer audio: a Sony VAIO SVF152C29M with Pentium 2117U 1.80GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, USB 3.0, SSD and Windows 8.1 64-bit OS.
As you note, CPU is different, RAM is different, OS is different, bits of OS are different, type of disk drive is different, USB version is different. What the heck, if PC hardware affects sound quality for whatever dark reason, these laptops should reveal it!
Note that in both PCs we had the same latest stable Foobar2000 version, the latest updated components and in both PCs Foobar was set up the same way in order to feed with perfect bit output the moded EMU 0404USB that takes power from a battery PSU. Not that it makes any different, our audio file was stored at an external USB 3.0 3.5" Western Digital HDD.
We choose to use the Getz / Gilberto Girl from Ipanema track from the .iso file of SACD - a track of excellent sound quality that as we found out, it helps revealing even minor differences in sound quality. Unfortunately we could not do our instant A/B blind test comparison since we had to connect the EMU at the specific laptop we were using.
We started listening to each laptop sequentially. In the beginning we thought that we could spot some differences, but after repeated listening we couldn't pick up a winner; both laptops were doing an excellent job.
So conclusion is that there is not such a thing as an "audiophile" PC. A decent PC working properly will do the job just fine. What matters is the set up; the player you are using has to be set up in order to output a bit-perfect digital signal. It is the proper media player software and its set up that makes a PC "audiophile". OK, I suppose that if the PC is an old weak piece of junk, it can indeed have a negative effect in sound. But if the PC is good enough, meaning it is an average PC working properly, it won't play worse than a super PC. Of course, all these are valid in the case the PC is just doing the digital media playback and not he digital to analogue conversion.
One thing that could indirectly affect the sound quality is the PSU of the PC; if it creates noise and if your Hi-Fi is happily affected by this noise then you could be in trouble. In my case the Hi-Fi is feed through an Audio Agile power grid and my laptop is connected to a different power socket. Also, I have the PSU of the laptop ground lifted - I am not telling you to do it, just saying that in my case it helps ;-)
As always, happy listening!
Christos
P.S. If you liked this post, you will probably like most of this blog. Why not having a look at all the things we have wrote about here.
After our test regarding the CD quality Vs. Hi-Res computer audio, we felt it was time for a computer hardware audio comparison. We were wondering if different PC hardware would sound different when used for Hi-Fi computer audio with an external USB audio device. For a start, as we found out at this post, HDDs don't affect sound quality. However, as I have explained at this post, when a file is played back from an internal or USB HDD it is sounding better than when it is played back from a NAS through a Gigabit LAN.
There are some claims lately regarding PCs that are "specially prepared" for audio reproduction. These claims are referred to the PC hardware as a digital player and not to the DAC or the media player software used.
 |
| Is one laptop more audiophile than the other? |
For our case we picked up two totally different laptops. The first laptop is my old and trustworthy Sony VAIO VGN-FE21M, a model coming from 2009 with Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, USB 2.0, HDD and Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit OS. I used to have this laptop for computer audio use before replacing it with a sexy VAIO Duo 13 that looks amazingly good in it's tablet mode near my Hi-Fi.
The second laptop is the one that Panos is currently using for computer audio: a Sony VAIO SVF152C29M with Pentium 2117U 1.80GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, USB 3.0, SSD and Windows 8.1 64-bit OS.
As you note, CPU is different, RAM is different, OS is different, bits of OS are different, type of disk drive is different, USB version is different. What the heck, if PC hardware affects sound quality for whatever dark reason, these laptops should reveal it!
 |
| These are the details of the older VAIO... |
 |
| ...and these are the details of the newer VAIO. |
Note that in both PCs we had the same latest stable Foobar2000 version, the latest updated components and in both PCs Foobar was set up the same way in order to feed with perfect bit output the moded EMU 0404USB that takes power from a battery PSU. Not that it makes any different, our audio file was stored at an external USB 3.0 3.5" Western Digital HDD.
 |
| A screenshot from the Foobar set up. |
We started listening to each laptop sequentially. In the beginning we thought that we could spot some differences, but after repeated listening we couldn't pick up a winner; both laptops were doing an excellent job.
So conclusion is that there is not such a thing as an "audiophile" PC. A decent PC working properly will do the job just fine. What matters is the set up; the player you are using has to be set up in order to output a bit-perfect digital signal. It is the proper media player software and its set up that makes a PC "audiophile". OK, I suppose that if the PC is an old weak piece of junk, it can indeed have a negative effect in sound. But if the PC is good enough, meaning it is an average PC working properly, it won't play worse than a super PC. Of course, all these are valid in the case the PC is just doing the digital media playback and not he digital to analogue conversion.
One thing that could indirectly affect the sound quality is the PSU of the PC; if it creates noise and if your Hi-Fi is happily affected by this noise then you could be in trouble. In my case the Hi-Fi is feed through an Audio Agile power grid and my laptop is connected to a different power socket. Also, I have the PSU of the laptop ground lifted - I am not telling you to do it, just saying that in my case it helps ;-)
As always, happy listening!
Christos
P.S. If you liked this post, you will probably like most of this blog. Why not having a look at all the things we have wrote about here.
In my opinion linux or macos are better for sound reproduction than windows. Personally i find difference in sound from my windows laptop and my macos laptop
ReplyDeleteInteresting, unfortunately up to now we didn't have the chance to test Linux or OS.
Delete