My headphones for serious listening are ancient AKG K240DF which are 600 ohms. As such, it is a bit tough to get enough volume, especially out of say quiet classical or jazz recordings.
A friend gifted me the Monolith USB DAC which sounds a bit cleaner than my 2015 MacBook Air, and definitely cleaner than a series of iMacs I've had. However the maximum volume is still not enough, so I'm still looking:
- General use case is carrying this stuff around the house or into the back yard or front porch. (Airplanes I take noise cancelers)
- So no AC cord and must be quite small.
- Need more output than the 2 volts of the Monolith, probably like 4 volts
- Ideally the Mac volume control would control volume, though I guess buttons on the unit would be OK (not tiny ones!)
P.S. I was spurred by the Apogee Groove review here due to high output, but even at 600 ohms their 20 ohms output impedance and "current drive" give me pause. Might try $149 refurbished, if they are easily returnable.
A friend gifted me the Monolith USB DAC which sounds a bit cleaner than my 2015 MacBook Air, and definitely cleaner than a series of iMacs I've had. However the maximum volume is still not enough, so I'm still looking:
- General use case is carrying this stuff around the house or into the back yard or front porch. (Airplanes I take noise cancelers)
- So no AC cord and must be quite small.
- Need more output than the 2 volts of the Monolith, probably like 4 volts
- Ideally the Mac volume control would control volume, though I guess buttons on the unit would be OK (not tiny ones!)
P.S. I was spurred by the Apogee Groove review here due to high output, but even at 600 ohms their 20 ohms output impedance and "current drive" give me pause. Might try $149 refurbished, if they are easily returnable.
