AV Reciever as DAC?

[LlamaDom]

Hi  all,

 

My question is quite simple really, here is my situation:

 

Use a laptop at University and have a set of cheap (£50) speakers with a sub.  The audio quality is OK, but I would like to step it up.  So I was wondering if I could use a home theatre AV receiver as a DAC or whether they offer the same listening experience as a DAC.  Mainly want to go the receiver rout so I can have multiple audio sources go out to the speakers without having to unplug and plug in the AUX cable to switch between audio sources.  Will digital audio output via HDMI through an AV Receiver offer improved listening experience at all?

 

Look forward to hearing from you all.

 

Regards,

 

Llama

[ShearMe]

If the speakers have their own amplifier, then the AV receiver will not help.

[Stagea]

Hi  all,

 

My question is quite simple really, here is my situation:

 

Use a laptop at University and have a set of cheap (£50) speakers with a sub.  The audio quality is OK, but I would like to step it up.  So I was wondering if I could use a home theatre AV receiver as a DAC or whether they offer the same listening experience as a DAC.  Mainly want to go the receiver rout so I can have multiple audio sources go out to the speakers without having to unplug and plug in the AUX cable to switch between audio sources.  Will digital audio output via HDMI through an AV Receiver offer improved listening experience at all?

 

Look forward to hearing from you all.

 

Regards,

 

Llama

An AV Receiver will typically give you multiple inputs, and most current ones would have digital inputs. The digital inputs go to a DAC of some form, so yes an AV Receiver will act as an external DAC when hooked up to your PC digitally.

 

Your plan can work as an interim solution, but you'd likely want to get better speakers and a nicer sub soon to maximize your investment.

[Krishtrinity]

It depends on powered or passive speakers.If it is active then buy a Schiit modi DAC for 100 dollars,otherwise if you have space an av receiver is a good option if you already one.Just make sure it doesn't get stolen

[LlamaDom]

These are the speakers I have

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006812VRA?ie=UTF8&at=&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links

They run from an amplifier, but the amplifier gets it's signal from the3.5mm Jack from my laptop which is a cheap Acer netbook I got as an emergency replacement. So would outputting the sound digitally via HDMI to a receiver give a similar soundquality as a DAC?