I was thinking about downloading tracks onto my new MacBook. I have a choice of MP3 or a higher quality. That got me wondering. There is likely a way to have the signal go from my Mac to my home stereo. I recall talk about DAC converters, but that was a number of years ago.

What’s the current state of the art tech-wise?

The state of the art DACs are tens of thousands of dollars.

However, there's great options in the 3-figure range. I'd suggest this:

<LINK_TEXT text="https://www.amazon.com/Audioquest-Drago ... dac&sr=8-5">https://www.amazon.com/Audioquest-Dragonfly-Stick-DragonTail-Android/dp/B01H5NRJJ4/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=dragonfly+dac&sr=8-5</LINK_TEXT>

I use one of those for my laptop and phone, either through my large stereo or through headphones.

For my desktop with headphones, I use one of these:

https://www.schiit.com/products/hel

And of course, to actually hook it up to an AUX or CD or TAPE or whatever input, you'll need this:

<LINK_TEXT text="https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-5 ... 230&sr=8-3">https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-5mm-2-Male-Adapter-Stereo/dp/B01D5H8JW0/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2IFN583H3V1AN&dchild=1&keywords=3.5mm+to+rca&sprefix=3.5mm+to+%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-3</LINK_TEXT>

I have one laptop connected to a stereo analog through the headphone jack, and another through an older model M-Audio USB interface digitally. I can't tell any difference, I think the speakers and the room acoustics make more difference. The MAudio of course gives me connections for microphone and MIDI.

I can't imagine listening to anything on laptop speakers.

I did buy a cute little dongle about the size of a thumb drive for a laptop that had a problem with the headphone jack. It plugged into a USB port and had microphone and speaker connections. It was inexpensive and worked, but I suspect wasn't audiophile quality. I think that laptop has since been retired.

[quote="Burgerbob"]8-5

For my desktop with headphones, I use one of these:

https://www.schiit.com/products/hel

[/quote]

The Shiit Hel :lol: what silly name

[quote="skeletal"]<QUOTE author="Burgerbob" post_id="129879" time="1604690557" user_id="3131">
8-5

For my desktop with headphones, I use one of these:

https://www.schiit.com/products/hel

[/quote]

The Shiit Hel :lol: what silly name
</QUOTE>

Silly name with great sound!