Digidesign Mbox 3 as a DAC and headphone amp
Oct 30, 2010 at 5:13 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7

shlomok

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Hi,Would any of you consider using an audio interface such as the Digidesign Mbox 3 as a DAC and headphone amp? It seems that it does the regular job of a DAC with the extra benefits of being able to use microphone inputs (which i am planning to use sometime in the future). I plan on using the Beyerdynamic DT-880 (2005 version) with it and use foobar2000 as the source. Any information would be appreciated,
 
 
Feb 25, 2011 at 6:06 AM Post #4 of 7
oh hell yes. I've used its predecessor as my first 'proper' music rig, and currently use an maudio fastrack - I believe the new models come with complete drivers (with the mbox2, you had to dig up drivers, and it was somewhat crippled - one track only).  I believe i did a writeup somewhere here, else gimme a poke and i'll link you to another copy of the writeup.
 
I'd suggest using ASIO output even if the mbox3 supports usb audio - i found with my fastrack that (subjectively) ASIO sounded significantly better - you will need a plugin for this, but i believe its one of the official ones.
 
The last thing i'd doublecheck is the impedeance of your headphones - they support only up to 30 ohm - it works gloriously with my M50s, but if your headphones of choice have lower impedance, you're better off with something else.
 
Finally, if running it off a laptop, you MAY need to be picky about USB ports - the ones with a little extra power may be needed in some cases - on my thinkpad, i can't use the pair on the left side of my laptop, but the one on the right side works.
 
Sep 30, 2015 at 1:53 PM Post #5 of 7

There's really NO information online about the power output of the Mbox 3 Pro's headphone jack. I'm gonna have to look through my manual or  see if there's any information on the box and post what I can find. 
 
Jan 17, 2016 at 12:42 PM Post #7 of 7
Do you think there is a big difference from the Mbox 2 to the 3?  Still I perceive an improvement over using an iphone or receiver.  Its a shame they do not provide with information regarding output impedance and such.
 

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