How good is the iMac's internal DAC?

Question

Assuming it has one of course Currently i have my iMac connected straight to an amp and then speakers using phono leads but  was wondering whether I would get much better sound quality if I connected a USB DAC between the iMac and amplifier ,The sound I get is reasonable but could it be bettered with such an addition? Thanks

Answer 1

angloargie wrote:
Yes I set my upper limit with the Fubar II  but may well opt for the cheaper Epiphany.
A few more things to consider:
You won't get much benefit from all the "audiophile" grade parts in the more expensive DAC's unless your amp uses comparable parts; & frankly, the differences are so small to begin with that it is debatable if they can be heard when playing back compressed formats like MP3 or AAC. If you have a lot of 24 bit/96 kHz tracks (substantially better than so-called CD quality) you are more likely to hear a difference than if your stuff is all ripped from CD's using lossy codecs.
iMacs include relatively high quality DAC chips, roughly the same quality as in 'non-audiophile grade' external converters. However, the inside of a computer is not a very friendly environment for a high quality audio DAC. High speed digital signals throughout the computer produce noise that is all but impossible to filter completely out of analog audio outputs, so there is some benefit gained just by locating the converter outside the case, be it in an external USB-connected box or in an amp with an optical or coax digital input.
That may or may not be important to you. If you hear annoying low level whirring type noises in your external speakers when your Mac runs CPU-intensive processes, an external converter should eliminate them. Likewise, an external converter, particularly one with an optical connection, will eliminate any annoying humming noises you might hear.