Audiophile Hardware

    Just one last question, is there any hardware that LE works well on, I’m looking for something audiophile in nature with a good quality 2-channel dac built in, and good picture quality as well. Maybe a streamer? I am using a laptop at the moment, the picture and sound quality is okay, I can see room for improvement, but I have no idea in which direction to go.

    Using HDMI, you're working with a digital source for both audio and video. A good Receiver (AVR) or Preamp would contain a DAC.

    Good Picture quality should be determined by a Monitor or TV.

    For the best 2-channel Ultra HD music, I highly recommend the Amazon Fire TV Cube (built-in Alexa). Sign up for an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. If you're an Amazon Prime Member, a 1-year subscription starts at $89. Their music catalog has over 100-Million songs to choose from. You can make multiple playlists. This has nothing to do with Libreelec though.

    LE/Kodi can play multi-channel SACD files, which is something the Fire TV Cube can't do.

    Quote from blueribb

    Using HDMI, you're working with a digital source for both audio and video. A good Receiver (AVR) or Preamp would contain a DAC.

    Good Picture quality should be determined by a Monitor or TV.

    For the best 2-channel Ultra HD music, I highly recommend the Amazon Fire TV Cube (built-in Alexa). Sign up for an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. If you're an Amazon Prime Member, a 1-year subscription starts at $89. Their music catalog has over 100-Million songs to choose from. You can make multiple playlists. This has nothing to do with Libreelec though.

    LE/Kodi can play multi-channel SACD files, which is something the Fire TV Cube can't do.

    Thanks! I haven't got a reciever. I have had a few in my time but have never liked them. I much prefer a preamp / dac used in conjuction with a good power amp, much better sound quality.

    The thing that is bothering me with using a laptop as hardware to run LE, is that i'm noticing the sound and picture quality is okay, but lacking in detail, seems to be quite some room for improvement.

    I'm running hdmi out from the laptop to a screen, then for the audio i have the hidizs s8 2-channel dac, this dac got a very good review on the audio science website, amongst others.

    Everything in the chain is good, so i have narrowed it down to the source laptop as a possible problem, which is the avenue i would like to explore

    Thank you

    I already gave you detailed instructions here.

    If it still sounds bad with a good DAC, buy active speakers (aka studio monitors, see link). They will bring you to the next level. :)

    Thanks! It's just that i have a good bryston amp and good speakers, so am thinking that amp and speakers are not the problem.

    For the audio dac i am using the hidisz s8 which has done well in the reviews and internet posts

    I am going through the a/v chain and it looks good, the thing i can think of that may be a little dubious is the laptop as a source, so am wondering if there are any sources out there that work well with LE, preferably if the source has got a good audio dac and good hdmi output for the picture

    Thanks

    I think you're right: Your audio source is the issue. If the source doesn't offers quality codecs to the DAC, then it doesn't matter how good the DAC is.

    As mentioned in the above link, I've tested RPi3B+ with Behringer UMC22, and it sounds good. So if you want to find a good audio source for your DAC, you should compare the provided audio codecs of your audiophile hardware and the DAC.

    Normally I would suggest to buy a better graphics card to get better audio codecs, which is impossible for a laptop. However, a modern Intel NUC should also provide good audio codecs.

    You should try LE Generic AND Generic-legacy on your laptop, before you buy new hardware. Maybe one of those supports a better audio driver with better audio codecs.