96k Headphone Adapter MacBook Pro

[J-Hi]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Why not lose the 'tude and post the exact piece of hardware you are using along with a link to the product? Perhaps you do need to spend a little extra to get things to work.


edit for additional:
Why don't you use the MBP's headphone jack? It's still there you know.

1. I listed the name of the device in a previous comment.

2. In 2016, Apple removed the TOSLINK component of the headphone output, which ended optical and high sample rate support.

[JFreak]

Sure, removing headphone output was totally unnecessary and a big bummer. Though I can understand that they want to make their laptops as thin as their wireless keyboards, but the optical output was a nice extra feature at its time.

But if you carry headphones bigger than AirPods (which use BT) then maybe it is not so bad to also carry a small interface too? Sorry if I sound like defending them, but I really am not. I also am in a middle of a transition, going from a 64GB 10-core trashcan to 16GB 4-core minimac. This is a good time for testing this new stuff, maybe later they release something else than "air" products...

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by J-Hi

1. I listed the name of the device in a previous comment.

2. In 2016, Apple removed the TOSLINK component of the headphone output, which ended optical and high sample rate support.

You just gave a generic name - a link to a product page would be helpful so people don't have to play Sherlock Holmes trying to get the specs of what you're using.

[JFreak]

Dru dat. For a total newbie us mods have a copypaste of "please take a look at the Help Us Help You page linked to the forum header". You have no idea how many of my posts only tell that

[zoff]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Why don't you use the MBP's headphone jack? It's still there you know.

…And works at 96k

[Eric Seaberg]

Originally Posted by J-Hi

Yes, I am, to no avail.

Please, may I have the make and model of the USB C to 1/8" headphone adapters that you are successfully running 96k pro tools sessions on?

TIA.

Well that's the problem if you're just using a USB C adapter. What I have are D/A convertors.

One is an Oppo HA-2SE https://www.oppodigital.com/headphone-amplifier-ha-2SE/ originally purchased to use with my iPhone as it also has battery power to charge the phone while using. It will handle anything to 384k DSD.

I recently bought a FiiO BTR5 https://www.fiio.com/btr5 which is a Bluetooth adapter but also works as a USB-C D/A inline device, capable of playing up to 384k DSD.

The Oppo is no longer made and did sell for over $250, but the FiiO is new yet still sells for $125 or so. You get what you pay for, and the unit does sound amazing... also works GREAT streaming my OLED TV via bluetooth so I can watch in peace.

FiiO makes several units, but you should also do a search for portable D/A as that's really what you want. There are many good ones out there.

[J-Hi]

SOLVED!

After much finagling, I got it to work using Aggregate. As you can see below, the headphone output by itself does not allow for 96k clock, but aggregating it with the built-in microphone (which does do 96k, weirdly), and then forcing the output to resample, and I was able to use the built-in headphone adapter for 96k session playback in PT.

At first PT would not open (spinning kaleidoscope beachball of death), but after messing around with the order of booting, after changing it to Aggregate, AND removing the system alerts and sound effects from it, it worked. Apparently, system alerts and SFX cannot be routed to the Aggregate at 96k. No biggie.

Thanks to Rich Breen, JFreak, et al for the help!

jHi
jhimusic.com

PS – This is with the built-in headphone output. I returned the 3rd party USB-C adapter.

[Eric Seaberg]

GREAT!! Unless you're using HD Native/HDX there is no reason to go that direction. Glad you figured out how to make it work!! Aggregate is a PERFECT way to work, especially for me at home. If it sees my RME interface, it will connect, if not, it will connect to my iMac internal speakers. In most cases, when I just want to do a quick listen, the internal speakers are fine... but if not, I connect to my RME interface.

Almost flawless in how it works, giving you the option based on what's connected.. your mileage may vary,

I have setup Aggregate as my default device, allowing my the most flexibility... even as it boots and things change.