this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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How does macOS handle external DAC/AMPs? (alien.top)
submitted 10 months ago by lgutierrezr7@alien.top to c/headphones@hi-fi.community
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Hi! I own a Fiio K7 AMP/DAC combo, which works great with my Windows laptop, either using Fiio's ASIO driver or WASAPI on Foobar2000. The unit has an indicator light that glows blue when playing anything up to 48kHz, yellow for anything over 48 kHz, and green for DSD files. This happens automatically depending on the file Foobar2000 is currently playing.

Now, I will be buying a new laptop soon and an M3 Macbook Pro is one of my main options. Does anybody know how macOS handles the external DAC situation? Is it true that one has to manually switch the MIDI app settings to match track bitrates instead of it changing dynamically?

Thanks for your help. This will ultimately help me with my purchase decision.

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[–] v1ncentvegan@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

You sell it because the MacBook comes with a high impedance headphone jack, and you won’t need an external AMP.

[–] WetSneksss@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I use a K7 on an M1 MBP via USB. Once connected, FiiO K7 appears as an audio output. The Max volume becomes disabled and I use the amp volume knob.

No idea about bitrates.

[–] AnthonyUK@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

My Shanling UA2 switches bitrates automatially. I use Pine Player with 'DAC Control Mode' enabled which is fine as long as you set the max bit/sample rate in midi settings to at least your highest rate tracks.