Improvements in sound quality from my computer-stored cds?

Question

Ok.. I have a very good home theater system.. Definitive speakers, a good yamaha receiver. Plenty of power, clarity, etc.

I store CDs on my hard drives, and do use Itunes and other such services to puchase music.

I am currently connecting my pc to the yamaha via an old Creative Labs extigy usb device.

What are the new products, and why should I upgrade? Can I improve on the fidelity of the digital signal entering my receiver?

Answer 1

there are many variables here  you don't really say what type of device you are using other than that it was made by creative.  wired, wireless?  what type of wireless?

also what is your music encoded at? 128 bps?  200?  all if these play a factor in music quality

wired systems are the best because there is less of a chance that there will be interference

of the wireless systems, 2.4ghz is the best

generally speaking, a bit rate at or above 128 is good, but the higher is better, exept for the windows lostless format, which uses about 400 bps, i believe

most of itunes music is 128 m4a or m4p  (the p stands for protected- you can't transfer these files over to another computer w/o the original purchasers password)

if you use shareware type programs like limewire, it is impossible to know what bit rate you are getting---i have heard 204bps encoded songs that sound like they were upconverted from a very low bitrate-- like 64,    once you have a song that is encoded at a very low bit rate, you cannot just upconvert it back to a decent audio file, once those bits are lost, you can't just get them back.

you might be able to improve the signal slightly, but usually not enough to warrant the cost of doing so

one thing you can try is to use a soundcard with a digital output to connect to the reciever.

but that is about it.

Answer 2

Most important factor is the quality of your files.  If you want it to sound really good - use any one of the lossless compressions - AIFF, WAV, Apple Lossless.