What is the preferred 2CH audio out selection from an iMac (or PC) to my preamp, USB or the 3.5mm headphone jack? Either output will run through a separate DAC before the preamp. Mainly listening to iTunes or Pandora.
I am currently using the USB port out of my MacBook Pro (latest edition) to connect with a Grace m902 using Grado PS2000 cans. I realize there are limitations with this set-up but I am more than pleased with the sound playing FLAC files using VOX (a free app). This is the best I can do for the moment as I am currently in Kabul, Afghanistan...
HDMI has higher bandwidth than USB and transmits video. Firewire is on it's way out. You will not find a new processor with it. You may find it on a few DACs.
Hdmi is great for ht and multichannel applications, but I wouldn't use it for a 2 channel music setup. Some dacs use an hdmi connection for i2s, but that is different than your standard hdmi on a processor/receiver.
On The Mac, I would look into a USB to spdif converter which sounds better than the optical output in my experience. Even the inexpensive hiface sounds better than a glass mini toslink from my Mac mini.
I know most DACs that use HDMI for I2s only but they should use regular HDMI. HDMI will transmit SACD, DSD, DVDA, FLAC and every other HI REZ format I know of. USB is good but limited to what HI REZ formats it can transmit and so is SPDIF. Plus if you want to be able to use Bluray audio with your fancy DAC, SPIDF will not pass the uncompressed audio. This is the same for computers with Bluray drives.
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