InEars connected to RCA out of my DAC, damage?

[finubi]

Have I possibly damaged my DAC?
I used an RCA to jack adapter to connect my in Ears Sennheiser CX300 to the RCA output of my SMSL SU1 DAC.
This worked fine for about 20 minutes and then I heard clicking noises.

I didn't think about it at all, was this a mistake?
I only did this because I had a cable break and no other sound source was available

When I now connect the DAC via USB, the PC restarts but then it seems to work normally.
even if it still works, could this have somehow ruined the sound?

 

[dunring]

Yes don't connect a DAC that way, I've seen a few people selling a DAC for parts saying they did that and now it's got no sound. If you ask AI it'll give a technical explanation why that damages a DAC.