Mini-Me monitoring?

[stray411]

I’ve searched the forum, read the manual and a bunch of reviews, but I'm still unclear on this.

Can the 1/8” headphone jack be split and connected to powered monitors? I found out that the headphone amp puts out 300 mW per channel (RMS), but I’m not sure exactly what that means.

If not, is there a quality DA with PC connectivity (USB or FireWire) under $500? I couldn’t find anything besides the Mini DAC that does it, but that’s too pricey.

Alternatively, is there a high quality unit with 2 channels of pres, AD, DA and PC connectivity under $2000?

Any insight appreciated.

[AlexW]

I have one but have never tried the headphone out. I'd imagine you could use it. But a more basic question--what is the Mini-me connected to? Why can't you monitor off of it?

[stray411]

Thanks for the response. Sorry for being unclear, I’m looking at the USB model, haven’t got it yet. I plan to use it as the front end of my DAW and I’m hoping to be able to monitor audio coming from the DAW through it. Basically eliminating the need for a separate DA.

I know that it’s physically possible to connect the headphone out to my monitors, but will I be sacrificing anything by doing so?

Thanks again.

[AlexW]

My understanding of the Minime is that it's a AD converter only. Not sure what the USB card does and if it can then transmit audio back through. I always figured that the headphone jack was just used for monitoring what's going through the unit, on the way into the DAW.

[gullfo]

there are a couple of things to be concerned about: voltage levels and impedance. it may be suitable to drive powered monitors or you may need some impedance matching transformer or DI type box to match things (although a low output volume to a low imp (~100ohm) output may be workable)...

[stray411]

Originally Posted by gullfo

there are a couple of things to be concerned about: voltage levels and impedance. it may be suitable to drive powered monitors or you may need some impedance matching transformer or DI type box to match things...

What’s the determining factor? And if a transformer of some sort was needed, would something like the Ebtech Line Level Shifter work? If not, anything specific you could recommend?

My monitors have input impedance of 40 kilo ohms balanced and 20 kilo ohms unbalanced. Can’t find any specs besides the 0.3 mW a channel for the headphone output on the Mini Me.