xps8930 to denon avr

[MickyNumbnuts]

hi

looking for sound improvements from my dell xps8930, my previous pc seemed to be have much better sound or more punch

with the 8930 i'm having to turn the master volume on the amp up more, all other volumes are 100%

 

im using a Denon AVR-X2700H with tannoy surround speaker 5.1 using hdmi from the graphics card on the 8930 which uses nvidia high def audio 

i was using optical out on my old pc into a DAT in on the technics amp and hdmi into the Denon as the denon amp doesnt have optical out

the technics i used for 2ch sound denon

 

the 8930 doesnt have optical out, so tried using coaxial from the preout on the denon into video in on the technics (the only option available) this didnt work atall

i had to turn the volume up on both units right up get anything half decent

 

i could use the zone 2 on the denon to attach speakers or get another amp with aux and attach to the preout on the denon giving me a separate 2ch amp

but is this going to improve anything coming out of the xps8930

 

 

hope this makes sense

any suggestions  

 

any other info you need let me know

 

 

[da na]

What you could do is get a digital soundcard to add optical out. Or even a USB Sound Blaster if you don't want a PCIe card.

[MickyNumbnuts]

something like Creative Sound Blaster X4 Hi-Res 24bit/192kHz External USB DAC and Amp Sound

or

SMSL PO100 PRO USB Digital Interface MQA Decoding

TOPPING D10S is a USB DAC with Line out, Optical and Coaxial output.

 

 

they both have op out  i assume they would boost the signal and improve sound as well

[da na]

22 minutes ago, MickyNumbnuts said:

something like Creative Sound Blaster X4 Hi-Res 24bit/192kHz External USB DAC and Amp Sound

or

SMSL PO100 PRO USB Digital Interface MQA Decoding

TOPPING D10S is a USB DAC with Line out, Optical and Coaxial output.

 

 

they both have op out  i assume they would boost the signal and improve sound as well

Those would do what you need.

I will say though, I've had bad experiences with Topping amplifiers. Had two different models, both on the higher end, both failed after a few months of light use. One started clicking and producing no audio output, the other (different model) just stopped working on the left channel and Topping wouldn't repair it. 
I'd personally advise you to go with the Creative Sound Blaster as I have had good luck with their hardware. 

[Omon_Ra]

Simple no frills USB to Toslink if you want to add optical to your new computer and have it setup like your old PC.

On 3/17/2024 at 7:04 PM, MickyNumbnuts said:

the 8930 doesnt have optical out, so tried using coaxial from the preout on the denon into video in on the technics (the only option available) this didnt work atall

i had to turn the volume up on both units right up get anything half decent

You should be using RCA from the pre-out/zone 2 on the Denon to the 'VCR audio in,' not video in.

 

RCA (red/white) from here: 

 

to here:

 

Which I'm assuming is what you meant, but just making sure. The pre-amp/zone 2 might have independent volume control settings that you can turn off to make it work as an actual pre-amp output; and then the Technics should handle all of the amplification without having to turn up the volume all the way. I'd start with getting it hooked up that way first, and if you still have to crank the volume, get the USB to Toslink I linked to connect to your Technics amp via optical. If that still doesn't fix the volume issue, it's likely software/Windows settings.

[cmndr]

any reason you can't just use HDMI? The only real downside is that windows wants to assign a monitor to the AVR but that doesn't seem to cause too much harm.