Connect laptop to Denon receiver with HDMI

I dug out an old MacBook that has a lot of music on it. I thought if I connected it to the receiver I could get the highest quality.files delivered to the 4500 for playback. The USB port on the front won’t support it. I was thinking about using an Ethernet cable to connect in the back of the receiver. Will the work? or is Network connection meant for a router or modem only? is my best bet an external hard drive connected to the USB port in the front?

thanks.

The USB port on the AVR is for a memory stick, and possibly an external USB hard drive. Note that Denon does not guarantee the USB port to have enough power for the hard drive, which means it may only work with a powered external USB drive. With today’s large capacity memory sticks on the market, using one may be your most convenient option, of course depending on how much music you have or plan to have on this. The other option would be to share the music on your computer and play it via the network, assuming that your AVR is connected to the same network. Connecting the computer directly to the AVR with a network cable might not work (even if it could, the network settings become more complicated just for an isolated network of the two).

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Not with the current programming- they have heard my comments on this many times over the last 7-8 years and I'm not going to sop until they resume it.

Personally I'd just start by using Airplay since it's built into the avr, altho you might have less issues hard wiring the network connection. Does your laptop have HDMI output?

One thing you haven't really made clear; is this laptop just a dedicated music player? Is it just going to sit on on your media shelf/nearby table just to play music? Or is it going to actually be used as a computer and moved around the house and used for browsing/etc?

If you just dug it out of your closet to use as a dedicated music station, I'd just grab an RCA to 3.5mm cable and you're done. If it's going to float around the house I'd use Airplay.

I don’t like the way AirPlay sounds. I want to use the laptop as a dedicated music station. I want a way to play the highest quality music files directly without streaming. I was leaning towards a hard drive, but as Viorelec pointed oot, Denon does not guarantee it will power The drive. I will just buy and format a 32 gig drive and see how it goes.

I don’t like the way AirPlay sounds. I want to use the laptop as a dedicated music station. I want a way to play the highest quality music files directly without streaming. I was leaning towards a hard drive, but as Viorelec pointed oot, Denon does not guarantee it will power The drive. I will just buy and format a 32 gig drive and see how it goes.

You can certainly insert a USB drive in the Denon 4500 or use a DAC designed to accept a USB connection from the computer and optimize it for output to the receiver or use a device like those at Bluesound. There are many options for connecting the computer directly to the Denon receiver.

Unless settings were different, don't know why the Airplay stream would be different....maybe basic level?

Unless settings were different, don't know why the Airplay stream would be different....maybe basic level?

I dug out an old MacBook that has a lot of music on it. I thought if I connected it to the receiver I could get the highest quality.files delivered to the 4500 for playback. The USB port on the front won’t support it. I was thinking about using an Ethernet cable to connect in the back of the receiver. Will the work? or is Network connection meant for a router or modem only? is my best bet an external hard drive connected to the USB port in the front?

thanks.

And if the Mac uses a mini-DisplayPort to connect to monitors, a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter could connect to an HDMI AVR input. Lastly a new affordable internal solid-state drive would replace a tottering hard drive, esp if it is <6 years old

If it’s a Mac laptop made after 2000, I’d be willing to bet the headphone out jack is a dual featured thing. It can send analog audio out, or receive audio rom a mic. Additionally, the mini-jack connector can also send optical (digital) signals out. Some toslink cables have a connector that passes digital optical audio— it looks like a hollow headphone plug, the laser light passes through it.

Apple has a lossless format as well but I still prefer AIFF so if I want to burn a CD no conversion is required.

I dug out an old MacBook that has a lot of music on it. I thought if I connected it to the receiver I could get the highest quality.files delivered to the 4500 for playback. The USB port on the front won’t support it. I was thinking about using an Ethernet cable to connect in the back of the receiver. Will the work? or is Network connection meant for a router or modem only? is my best bet an external hard drive connected to the USB port in the front?

thanks.

3.5mm jack to RCA

I want to use the laptop as a dedicated music station. I want a way to play the highest quality music files directly without streaming. I was leaning towards a hard drive, but as Viorelec pointed oot, Denon does not guarantee it will power The drive. I will just buy and format a 32 gig drive and see how it goes.

I am not saying high resolution files are all good, in fact I believe CD resolution, i.e. 16/44.1 is all you need, but I believe chances are better that the recordings would be of high quality in high resolution digital files available for purchase from places such as hdtracks.

I am not saying high resolution files are all good, in fact I believe CD resolution, i.e. 16/44.1 is all you need, but I believe chances are better that the recordings would be of high quality in high resolution digital files available for purchase from places such as hdtracks.

They say, "You can HEAR the difference", but I'm not there yet.

I downloaded the "Hdtracks 2020 Hi-Res Sampler". It has quite a few nice tunes in it. I download it 1st in FLAC format. 16 songs came in at 1.65GB about 3x the size of a normal CD. Next, I downloaded it as AIFF which is 2.62GB or the size of 4+ CDs. 100 albums would require 262 GB on a hard disk.

Hdtracks is a drive PIG. I still can't tell a difference between Tidal vs Airplay2 while comparing these files. If you can... expect to invest in storage and hundreds to thousands in downloads. Another rabbit hole to explore. lol

I downloaded the "Hdtracks 2020 Hi-Res Sampler". It has quite a few nice tunes in it. I download it 1st in FLAC format. 16 songs came in at 1.65GB about 3x the size of a normal CD. Next, I downloaded it as AIFF which is 2.62GB or the size of 4+ CDs. 100 albums would require 262 GB on a hard disk.

Hdtracks is a drive PIG. I still can't tell a difference between Tidal vs Airplay2 while comparing these files. If you can... expect to invest in storage and hundreds to thousands in downloads. Another rabbit hole to explore. lol

I hope I clear things up a little this time.

I downloaded the "Hdtracks 2020 Hi-Res Sampler". It has quite a few nice tunes in it. I download it 1st in FLAC format. 16 songs came in at 1.65GB about 3x the size of a normal CD. Next, I downloaded it as AIFF which is 2.62GB or the size of 4+ CDs. 100 albums would require 262 GB on a hard disk.

Hdtracks is a drive PIG. I still can't tell a difference between Tidal vs Airplay2 while comparing these files. If you can... expect to invest in storage and hundreds to thousands in downloads. Another rabbit hole to explore. lol

Just ordered the Topping E30 DAC. I'll retest the HD Track samples when the E30 arrives and compare with Tidal. If it's not substantially better it goes back to Amazon.

While I was playing, I connected the MBP to the Hegel H90 via USB and it turns the Hegel into a sound card labeled “TE7022 Audio w/ SPDIF" in the MBP output device list. It supports 96kHz · 24bit. Turning the Hegel H90 into a Mac sound card.

You setup the stream format in Audio Midi Setup or you can buy "Bitstream" at the Apple Store for $10 that automatically changes the output configuration based on the music you select in iTunes.

Yes, the headphone out is the key even on older Mac's. Use a Toslink miniplug adapter or a fiber-optic cable with a 3.5 mm plastic or nylon optical plug.

Apple has a lossless format as well but I still prefer AIFF so if I want to burn a CD no conversion is required.

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I've noticed the Hi Res music sites, like HDTracks — offer files in FLAC, and in Apple Lossless formats. I can't tell between them on a great system... But the hard drives the music is stored on? FLAC files can take twice the drive space as Apple's. My NAS already glares at me as I walk by it, with my backups of backups on additional backup drives. —Thumprchgo a.k.a., Mark, Prairiedawg, OldCrankInTheBack Setup: Mostly plebeian, but carefully curated. Denon AVR-X4400H, 9.2; Audyssey MultiEQ-XT32 Polk Audio RTiA series for L/C/R, FXi series for Side Surrounds, OMW5 for on-ceiling Atmos, at 5.2.4 Polk DSW-550 subs, two. AppleTV 4K, Fire Stick 4K, QNAP NAS, nanoAVR-DL (useless, don’t get me started) MiniDSP 4x2HD for sub EQ and time-alignment LG 55” 4K Dolby Vision Innumerable beads of sweat Thousands of frustrated, misspent hours And one radiant smile just up ahead, off in the gloaming...

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ALAC and FLAC files shouldn't be very different in size....

This is what I use for the same purpose:

LATER EDIT: Sorry, I see PENG already gave this advice.