Playing digital audio through a 1990s amplifier

You sound like the target market for that device (Brennan?) that used to appear in Private Eye small ads? I think it's an rPi in a box ...

It is (and I have one), but it's designed to help someoene with a CD collection. If the music is already digitised, then all you need is an D to A converter.

An old laptop, headphone output connected to Aux. If the sound quality is bad, use an external USB DAC.

You can install software on it that can be controlled remotely, or just use YouTube, Spotify, Deezer etc....

I don't think something with a headphone output would provide an acceptable audio quality. I think something with line level output would be better.

I've got all my audio on a NAS ripped from my CD collection plus downloads of albums I used to own on vinyl. I don't use streaming services like spotify etc.

Is it this device?

That's right - I already have all my music digitised. What I think I need is something that combines a D to A converter, a pre-amp to provide the correct level and output impedence for an aux input, inputs from USB or maybe Bluetooth/wifi, and a decent UI (maybe on my phone) to control it.

Hence a USB external DAC. They have line level outputs.

You can get them on eBay for around £30.

Plenty of "media player" applications, some that have remote control ability via web browsers and smartphones.

VLC isn't a bad choice as well.

I connect my 'puter to the HiFi with this:-

It has no display or controls, it's just a connection; all music selection or manipulation of the signal is done on the 'puter.

To get phone access to the HiFi I run AirServer on my 'puter and point my phone at that:-

- currently priced at £14.99 with a 30 day free trial.

It works very well for me, I use it every day.

If the music is already digitised, then all you need is an D

But that doesn't have a user interface to act as a standalone "box"

In what form is your digitised music? I built a simple Pi thing to take my 'on disc' music and push it out to a pair of phono plugs. Does internet radio as well.

Raspberry Pi Zero W with a hifi Berry DAC 'hat' on it, and some code...control it via a web browser.

Its a bit more complex than a non computer person could manage unaided tho

Happy to share the code tho

a computer with a sound card or interface will do the job

I use the HiFi tape recorder in/out to connect the Behringer DAC I mentioned in Message-ID: <1pl5lrc.jvy4jc523q6N% snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com in this thread. The Behringer uses line level, just like a tape recorder.

Can you hack a bit of code?

In 2015, Techmoan wittered about something expensive by Sony

Sony HAP S1 REVIEW - Using A Hi-Res Audio player to resurrect my ripped CDs (Part 2)

Or a Raspberry Pi plus some screen attachment,

Or Apple / Amazon / Google streaming devices & their apps,

I used to be keen on the Slimdevices Squeezebox, until Logitech bought the company and lost interest and gave away the lucrative high end market to Sonos.

Yeah, Sonos, Deep pockets stuff to play tatty MP3s, and better ...

Thanks. A search for "USB external DAC" gives some useful hits which are getting close to the sort of thing I'm looking for. I use an audioquest dragonfly for my headphones and would be happy if I could get a similar quality level for amp input.

I'd be really happy if I could get something with decent quality for £30. I'd expected £100 - £200 range to get anything decent.

What is your digital music collection stored on? Surely that has the ability to play them, so all you need is a digital to analogue converter?

Most is FLAC but I convert to MP3 or AAC for listening.

This is why I post to this group. I didn't even know these things existed. HiFiBerry DAC2 Pro + one of my spare Raspberry PIs looks like a possible solution.

I'm fine with that side of things thanks. If possible I'd like to integrate it into my home assistant setup.

Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on it if I struggle.

Some internet radios can do what you want as a side effect as can docking stations for iPhones etc. It really depends on how high a quality audio signal you want to get out. You can easily spend silly amount of money to get a tiny (or even no) perceptible improvement.

This might do what you want:

TVs these days usually only have a digital (toslink) audio output - to feed an external sound system. Converters to provide phono outputs start at under 10 quid including power supply.