[Prad3nas]

Hi
i just spend some time reading about DACs for MacBooks here in Head-fi and others sites , and still I'm confused if there is some real audible improvement compare to use the integrated  audio jack 3.5mm of my macbook air and if there is a difference, which DAC should i get ( $150 max) ?, but well the other thing is , if i use  a external HDD (usb) ,  or an SDXC or SDHC card , for my audio files  and a usb DAC , is there some loss of quality? really worth it use a usb DAC in my mac for my headphones ( ath-m50), and play the  flac and alac files from an external storage unit ? or just use the DAC for the files in the internal ssd of my laptop ?  sorry my english and the questions , thanks in advance
best regards

 

[Trogdor]

Hi
i just spend some time reading about DACs for MacBooks here in Head-fi and others sites , and still I'm confused if there is some real audible improvement compare to use the integrated  audio jack 3.5mm of my macbook air and if there is a difference, which DAC should i get ( $150 max) ?, but well the other thing is , if i use  a external HDD (usb) ,  or an SDXC or SDHC card , for my audio files  and a usb DAC , is there some loss of quality? really worth it use a usb DAC in my mac for my headphones ( ath-m50), and play the  flac and alac files from an external storage unit ? or just use the DAC for the files in the internal ssd of my laptop ?  sorry my english and the questions , thanks in advance
best regards

The external storage drive you choose will not incur any loss of quality. It makes no matter what type of drive you use (flash or otherwise).

The 3.5mm out of your MBA is not that great. A USB DAC will most certainly improve the sound.

For $150, I would look at the m2Tech hiFace 2 stick.