Connecting laptop to stereo receiver

I presume I can simply plug one end of this cable into the laptop headphone output and the other end into the L/R channels of my stereo receiver to get stereo sound?
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...ngid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS80730201&catid=11349#

 

Yes, that is exactly what you need to connect your computer to the stereo audio input.

 

Indeed, thats what you need. I've done this with my current laptop, its awesome to play games and hear the bullets through your stereo. Makes you shiver

 

Your audio quality will be crap though. All the internal components of a laptop are crammed together, so you end up with a lot of line noise in the audio outs. The USB ports are similarly noisy. Dell's are notorious for being the noisiest of all. You also run the risk of having a ground-loop, which will generate an audible 'hum' from the speakers.

The best solution would be to run a toslink optical cable from your SPDIF out to your stereo DAC/Amp. Let the Stereo system perform the D->A conversion and you'll get not only better quality (vs. the internal laptop DAC) but also much cleaner sound with less noise.

 

Yeah, I noticed it wasn't exactly audiophile quality, but after a few tweaks with the settings it wasn't too bad.

I have a Dell M1330 - and I don't have SPDIF output - just HDMI, so I ordered a Sondigo Callisto USB to Optical Out Adapter External Sound Card which I am hoping will give me better sound quality, but as you noted - the USB output could also be quite noisy - so perhaps this is the push I need to get an HDMI receiver.... damn... just droppped $2K on the Dell!

 

I have a ground loop with a loud hum/buzz. how do i fix it? it only happens on a/c power from the laptop, not battery.

 

Most of the newer Dells should include S/PDIF output on pin 7 of the multimedia connector.