Lately, I find myself considering the use of a laptop as a digital source instead of my initial plan to build a media PC. With that in mind...
To the best of my current knowledge, my options for sending a digital audio signal wirelessly from laptop to digital receiver are:
USB to S/PDIF conversion option Wireless Ethernet output from laptop
-> Typcial 802.11x base station with USB output
-> USB to S/PDIF converter
-> Toslink or Digital Coax cable (depending on converter output options)
-> Toslink or Digital Coax input on receiver (depending on converter output options)
Examples:
-
M-Audio Transit -
Modded M-Audio Transit -
MindPrint DI-MOD USB -
Edirol UA-1D2)
Firewire to S/PDIF option Wireless Ethernet output from laptop
-> 802.11x base station with Firewire output (don't know of any offhand)
-> Firewire to S/PDIF converter
-> Toslink or Digital Coax cable (depending on converter output options)
-> Toslink or Digital Coax input on receiver (depending on converter output options)
Examples:
-
M-Audio FireWire Audiophile3)
Straight Ethernet to S/PDIF option Wireless Ethernet output from laptop
-> Wireless "media router" type device with digital output (Toslink or Coax)
-> Toslink or Digital Coax input on receiver (depending on media player output options)
Examples:
-
Apple Airport Express (Barest bones option that isn't really a server. Would also need a good mini-optical to Toslink cable)
-
Modded Apple Airport Express -
Slim Devices Squeeze Box (has PCM passthrough, and seems like a contender for modification)
-
Roku SoundBridge Network Music Player (also looks impressive and seems to have PCM pass-through)
-
D-Link DSM-320 (more extensive device)
4)
USB/Firewire/Ethernet to digital-but-non-S/PDIF-signal option (DVI, HDMI, etc.) ???[/list:u]
Questions:
1) Does anyone have comments on why they might prefer one of the above methods over the others?
2) Does anyone have a particular hardware recommendation for any of the listed options?
3) Has anyone compared one of these options against the use of a good audio card (Linx, etc.) in a dedicated media PC?
I realize that these questions cover a lot of ground, but hopefully my post approximates a useful distillation of the available wireless driven "complete digital chain" options.
Thanks!
Edit 1: Added Roku SoundBridge Network Music Player