(Infographic picture at bottom of post)
When I really need to focus on getting work done, I have to turn the music in my headphones up really loud. My headphones are Sennheiser HD600, which have an impedance of 300 ohms. This means they are a bit harder to drive than other ‘normal’ headphones.
When I listen straight out of the headphone jack from my MacBook Pro – even at max volume – they don’t get as loud as they are capable of getting. This is where my headphone amp comes in handy.
So now, I want a way to get digital audio out of my MacBook Pro, then send a fresh analog signal into the O2 headphone amp, to be amplified into my headphones. However, I also want to be able to easily switch between headphones and desk stereo speakers.
The downside with using optical out from my MacBook is that it’s a fixed level, so I can’t adjust the volume with my keyboard knob any more. So now I’ll have to use the knob on the desk speakers and the knob on my headphone amplifier – but that’s a small price to pay for high quality – very amplified sound.
Here’s an infographic to display how my setup will function when I get the remaining parts.
