Hi!
I'm an old hand at analog, but a bit of a newb when it comes to digital. What I often do when people are over, (or I'm feeling lazy), is plug my Mac, or iPod, into my preamp and let iTunes do the work. I'm not expecting hi-fi from this arrangement - it just frees me to attend to the grill, or just hang out.
But I thought, what if I added a DAC? The Macbook has an optical out, why not put it to use?
So here's my question:
I understand the benefits of a good DAC to a CD player, but are there any benefits for MP3s?
Most of my files are MP3s of varying bit rate and RIP quality. Should I expect any improvement over the analog output with a DAC?