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Mac mini m4 audio out - is onboard good enough?

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pax-eterna

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Just bought the Mac mini M4 and I was thinking I might use it on stage with. a controller keyboard and small touchscreen.

Is the audio out jack (and indeed the audio interface side_ suitable for a task, or IE is it good enough without needing and external Audi I/F?
 
I'm thinking a USB device would provide lower audio latency…but I haven't even tested my own M1 Mac Studio in that regard. I use an Audient device.
 
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BrianBaughn said:
I'm thinking a USB device would provide lower audio latency…but I haven't even tested my own M1 Mac Studio in that regard. I use an Audient device.
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I have also not tested, but most reports are that Core Audio provides good low latency performance on the headphones out. If using a DAW or an app that has a 'playback buffer' setting, you should be able to set the buffer to, like 64 or 32 samples with that M4. 128 might also work. They also say that the sound quality is not bad.

Just fire up Logic or Garageband and try it out.
 
Ben J. said:
I have also not tested, but most reports are that Core Audio provides good low latency performance on the headphones out. If using a DAW or an app that has a 'playback buffer' setting, you should be able to set the buffer to, like 64 or 32 samples with that M4. 128 might also work. They also say that the sound quality is not bad.

Just fire up Logic or Garageband and try it out.
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Thanks. Yeah trying some things now. The audio from the jack seems ok, but using mini jacks on stage is probs not recommended haha. Having some success with the IK Pro Duo I already have. Small and needs no external psu
 
Mac audio outputs have always been good compared to PC internal soundcards, and quality-wise, would be very sufficient for you. Not sure why someone might think the actual built in audio device would suffer more latency than something external, but I can assure you it's not true.

Yes the mini jack is not meant for the rigours of use on stage. That's basically the only downside of it for your use case.
 
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The only reason it wouldn't be sufficient in a pro environment is if you are driving a FOH board or something that wants to see a nominal +4dBu balanced input.
 
pax-eterna said:
Just bought the Mac mini M4 and I was thinking I might use it on stage with. a controller keyboard and small touchscreen.

Is the audio out jack (and indeed the audio interface side_ suitable for a task, or IE is it good enough without needing and external Audi I/F?
Click to expand...
No, it's not for that. the onboard sound is for internet telephone like skype was. Stage equipment (PA) wants a slightly different signal (balanced) and signal level.
 
olavsu1 said:
No, it's not for that. the onboard sound is for internet telephone like skype was. Stage equipment (PA) wants a slightly different signal (balanced) and signal level.
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Nope. Simply not true. Feeding a -10db signal to the FOH for amplification is totally fine. Being unbalanced just means it's more sensistive to interference, which means you should avoid very long cables, and -10 vs +4 means a slight theoretical reduction of the signal-to-noise ratio. What really counts is the quality of the built-in DAC on the mac output, and all indications are that those are quite good.
 
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FWIW

IMG_0323.jpeg
 
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Genelec8341 said:
Home HiFi is -10dBv and pro reference level is +4dBu and if that's not important to you carry on. 🙂
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I acknowledged the same point you raised, in post #8. I was talking qualitatively, as was the person who said it was only fit for skype, which is what I was disagreeing with.
 
MajorFubar said:
Tell me you've never plugged a Mac's line out aka H/P into a really good hifi and listened to it.
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Yes, Since moving from creative X-Fi XtremeMusic to used m-audio 410 firewire box, I have never used consumer audio equipment. The quality difference is strongly skewed towards studio audio equipment.

If I wanted to find consumer audio equipment that was the same quality as the studio audio equipment I currently use, it would cost dozens of times more.
 
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Genelec8341 said:
FWIW

<chart>
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This assumes that the systems are actually cross-calibrated to Dolby A/85 (0VU @ -20dBFS @ 24 bit). This is not going to be relevant to almost anyone asking about the Mac's audio out jack who doesn't already know about Core Audio, Audio MIDI Setup and routing.

The guy is also doing a small live performance. Asking the questions he's asking, he's probably not bringing calibrated VU meters with him.
 
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