I never saw my audio hardware work this way! That's a nice explanation you gave me.
One last last question (because I know I'm probably wasting your time): You told me that you would connect the DAC to the MP3 player, then the Amp to the DAC, then the headphones to the AMP, so this way...
Headphones > AMP > DAC > MP3
Why would this work? Since it's digital audio?
Headphones > MP3
So MP3 players already have a DAC integrated? then it would be Analog audio to Analog audio?
Hi again. I know some other people gave some nice explanations, but I figured I'd try to clarify things a bit.
For this example, I'll use an iPod to make things simpler. Now an iPod has a built in DAC which converts the MP3 files you play to analog audio. Some devices, such as those mentioned above, can bypass this DAC and do their own conversion. These devices in conjunction with the iPod are known as a
digital transport. A digital transport is the first step in the audio chain.
The next step in the iPod's audio reproduction cycle is the amplification. This is what allows your headphones to be driven by the newly created analog audio, and also what allows volume control to work. This new amplified signal is what drives your headphones directly.
Now it is possible to bypass this internal amplifier using something called a
Line-Out Dock or "LOD". This puts out what we audio people call a "line-level" analog signal, which is a constant level ready for amplification. It is this level that comes out of the DAC and goes into the amplifier in your iPod, or whatever amplifier you choose with a line out dock.
Now it may be confusing that digital sources all seem to output analog audio, so here's a brief description of the outputs of players.
Digital formats include Optical TOSLINK, Coaxial, and USB. (Optical TOSLINK and coaxial are, in fact, the same format, known as SPDIF, but that is unimportant at this point.) A device that plugs into any of these ports (which may look like a standard phono plug, but generally colored orange, or else have a red "glow" from the optical LED) is going to have to convert the digital audio to analog.
Anything that uses standard Red/Black/White RCA outputs, 3.5mm and 1/4" headphone jacks, XLR connectors (barring some professional DACs) is using analog audio. These are used for the inputs for amplifiers and the outputs for amps.
The confusion comes in that most people use DACs/amps in the same box, and that we tend to separate them here at Head-Fi.
Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, shoot me a PM so we don't take this thread further off topic.
