This follows on from topics about "What laptop to buy" and "Audio from different computers"
Neither provided an answer to specifically using a dedicated laptop to play your music
The benefits are obvious - a small footprint device that can be placed in a convenient space, plenty of connectivity from today's laptops, usually quite good wi-fi performance
But then I read about noise, fast processor interference, and other aspects that tell me a dedicated desktop PC with a linear power supply will always trump a laptop
Then there is an in-between device, the Mac Mini. Today not such a mini price (you can easily spend R28k). But does this really offer an improvement?
Then it is said that switched-mode power supplies, all of which are supplied today to power laptops and charge the battery, are not "clean" devices. A linear power supply, it is said, won't effect any meaningful improvement.
What about running the laptop from its internal battery? If you turn off the screen, the battery life jumps to over 2 times the quoted figure
But are there ways that might improve a laptops capability to provide a good signal to feed to an external DAC?
If you look at more expensive laptops, it seems these are packed to the brim with add-on gadgets and large memory (I saw a Dell advertised with 128Gb RAM, a 2Tb SSD and 3 cameras and 3 microphones)
(I'm using an 8-year old Dell with an SSD and 16Gb RAM, the music is stored on a NAS, linked via a LAN cable)
Neither provided an answer to specifically using a dedicated laptop to play your music
The benefits are obvious - a small footprint device that can be placed in a convenient space, plenty of connectivity from today's laptops, usually quite good wi-fi performance
But then I read about noise, fast processor interference, and other aspects that tell me a dedicated desktop PC with a linear power supply will always trump a laptop
Then there is an in-between device, the Mac Mini. Today not such a mini price (you can easily spend R28k). But does this really offer an improvement?
Then it is said that switched-mode power supplies, all of which are supplied today to power laptops and charge the battery, are not "clean" devices. A linear power supply, it is said, won't effect any meaningful improvement.
What about running the laptop from its internal battery? If you turn off the screen, the battery life jumps to over 2 times the quoted figure
But are there ways that might improve a laptops capability to provide a good signal to feed to an external DAC?
If you look at more expensive laptops, it seems these are packed to the brim with add-on gadgets and large memory (I saw a Dell advertised with 128Gb RAM, a 2Tb SSD and 3 cameras and 3 microphones)
(I'm using an 8-year old Dell with an SSD and 16Gb RAM, the music is stored on a NAS, linked via a LAN cable)
