Originally Posted by BluePeter

Hello,
I am curious about how to realize the best sound from my Laptop.
I have a top range HIFi system... Rotel RA06 (100 watt amp) driving IMF TLS Speakers and a quality CD player...... it is magnificent in sound.
However, connecting my Laptop via its 3.5mm socket to the Amp gives a plummy,undetailed sound which is also bass heavy. Would improving the existing Sound Card improve this OR adding a DAC converter be better. Even though I do listen to the setup with its own hi quality CD player (Technics) I am lately tending to listen more to youTube and other music from the laptop. I believe there is an external USB Soundblaster sound card and I was wondering whether this would be the answer. I am fairly technical regarding the Hi Fi itself (better cables/interconnects etc.) but in the matter of linking it properly to the Laptop I must say I am in the dark.

the 3.5mm jack is sufficient to get the best audio from your laptop computer, however the audio quality maybe down to incorrect equalizer settings either on the hifi or on the laptop itself, there is free equalizer software that you can have a tinker with but how successful these are would be questionable depending on the setup you have.

hope this helps

MrNeeds