[watchnerd]

   
Link to audioquest massacre 

 
Thanks, although I'm not going to dissect the responses here as I think we already have a thread for this topic.

 

[shigzeo]

I should have said sorry for resurrecting the thread.

 

[watchnerd]

  I should have said sorry for resurrecting the thread.

 
why?

 

[shigzeo]

Because it was like 2,5 years old. I'm sorry for that. But yeah, I'm pretty impressed with the iMac's output. 1,4 VRMS is decent and it certainly holds load well. If it didn't hiss with sensitive earphones, it would be worthwhile on its own.

 

[watchnerd]

  Because it was like 2,5 years old. I'm sorry for that. But yeah, I'm pretty impressed with the iMac's output. 1,4 VRMS is decent and it certainly holds load well. If it didn't hiss with sensitive earphones, it would be worthwhile on its own.

 
right now I have mine running DAC-less into a Mjolnir 2 -- the amp costs  more than the computer LOL.

 

[Faizan Khan]

I am Listener not a professional Guide. I am not sure but People say I have a good ears, I think I have my own taste in listening.
 
I am 50 years old Live in Pakistan, and listening music since I was 10. Gone through through various hi fi from mono cassette player to high end equipments.
 
At present I have B&W Nautilus 801 speakers, Anthem and Conrad Johnson pre amp, Mcintosh and Anthem Power, A ARCAM cd player Oppo Blu Ray Player,  iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch) , All this equipment for Music and Movies. May be a good $50 to $60 thousand  insvement. I am not a rich man and took me 30 years to reach there. 
 
I experienced a lot equipment during this period few of them were including speakers and other equipment i.e. Wilson Audio, Akai, JBL, klipsch, Sansui, NAD, Nakamichi, Luxman, Pioneer, Bel Canto, Devialet, Dynaudio, Canton, Sony, Focal, JVC, Denon, Esoteric, Paradigm and many more I can even remember.
 
I also invested some time in room acoustic to get better results in a domestic and real living situation with family. not in a isolated studio type environment.
 
Listens variety of music but at present in to Electronic, like Ace Dana just one example out of hundreds, Artist and types of music. I am a Bass Head. To me High notes can be achieved relatively easily the secret is in midrange and Bass, The more nice Bass the lower the DBs the cost of speakers goes higher.
 
At the moment with my  iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch) I was interested in buying a DAC for my headphones (Beats Pro, Beats Mixr and V-MODA Crossfade M-100 ) 
 
I was doing my research for DACs for last 20 Day. I have made my opinion what is largely said on net. I have not listen any of them yet and listening choice is very subjective, They Cost from $35 to $999.
 
My final selection is OPPO HA2 $300, Mojo $600, and Micca OriGen+ High Resolution USB DAC and Preamplifier $100.
 
All Dragonfly dac type things are out they are cheap but u will spend $100 more on cables, external batteries, converters etc, to make them workable with other gadgets, In my case I use apple Stuff my wife is an Android person my children or mix (Iphone, samsung tab/phones, Apple ipad, Nanoo, niini bla bla bla. and top of that we have also have a Hifi, wifi, Media Player etc system.
 
And final decision is I DO NOT NEED A DAC with mac, I can not listen more louder what Mac offers on high volume all above mentioned devices can damage your ears. And a thing which nobody talks is, That quality depends on you actual music recording. For example I like ENIGMA I almost have all of their albums (original Cds), All albums are recorded nicely but 7 Lifes is a very bad recording on original Cd. What I am trying to explain if my original source file is of a good quality Mac does not  disappoint me with my set up Highend end and even headphones.
 
Plus You can always use Equalizer to make it suitable for your years. 
 
Hope It will help, apologize me for my bad english since I am not native english speaking person

 

[Wisenlucky]

...And final decision is I DO NOT NEED A DAC with mac, I can not listen more louder what Mac offers on high volume all above mentioned devices can damage your ears...

I second that! I own iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch). I've bought myself Sennheiser 6xx + O2 SDAC/AMP. https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-o2-sdac-dac-amp.

There was absolutely no difference in sound quality listening directly from iMac or O2. Even when I tried to invent any difference in my brain.

Yes O2 probably might drive my 6xx to a higher volume, but unless you want to damage your ears you don't want to do that.

I did feel that I might need extra few db of volume when listening from MBP 13 2019 though.

In that case O2 came handy. But iMac is great. I still have this itchy feeling that a tube amp would make an improvement in sound. But at this point I've decided to just sell the whole set, add a few hundred and get next level cans to listen directly from the iMac.