[watchnerd]

Has anybody with a Mac tried skipping an external DAC and just tried going straight to an external headphone amp by using a mini-jack to RCA cable?
 
How did it work out?
 
Or even experimented with the idea?

 

[jthew]

Anyone?

 

[bixby]

yes, it may not suck. Even a simple $100-$200 dac will give better sound IF the downstream components are worthy, but only you can determine that by listening. FYI, I owned minis for years and would not dream of using the audio out by itself.

 

[buke9]

Don’t have a Mini but a MacBookPro and MacBook Air and a iPhone 6sPlus and iPad and not horrible but a external dac is a good option Chord Mojo comes to mind as one that I like for the price or a Dragonfly Red is also good.

 

[ZMG885]

Has anybody with a Mac tried skipping an external DAC and just tried going straight to an external headphone amp by using a mini-jack to RCA cable?

How did it work out?

Or even experimented with the idea?

Yes, I drove a pair of powered monitors direct from the HP out on the mini. Then I got an Audioengine D1 dac and the sound improvement was dramatically better.