Hello, My question covers several areas but I think this is the right place to start.
I'm using Westone 3 IEM with custom ear molds. I use them with my MacBook Pro. Setup does great for the most part.
The problem I have is that I can hear this background noise which must be coming from the Mac's amp. When no music is playing I can hear this background hiss clearly and I can detect it when I am listening to music.
I want to achieve:
1) no background hiss
2) use the earphone jack on the MacBook so that when I don't want to use my earphones I can just pull the plug and have the sound play though my attached thunderbolt monitor.
3) Something that takes up little space on my desk but looks good.
4) A DAC/Amp setup that does not require another power brick, plug. Running off of USB power is fine. Not a deal breaker though.
What I was thinking of doing was getting the FiiO E17 and run an optical cable from the Mac to the E17. Seems like there are a lot of good reviews on the E17 and I can use it as a portable if I want. Most of the time it would just sit on my desk though.
Instead of laying the E17 on my desk I was thinking about the FiiO E9 as basically an expensive dock but a voice in my head says that is silly.
Anyone out there run into a similar situation that can share their advice?
Thanks
