I have read that MAC native audio is pretty solid, as compared to windows, and in view of that I want to ask users here, if they think for standard single stereo output if the headphone jack (on the new Mac mini m1) would be sufficient for a F.O.H. feed to a mixer?
For on stage I am trying to not have to include a specific audio interface unit as well.
I would never go with inbuilt audio, use a decent audio interface.
Thanks, and I hear ya!! But I have had no issues with using an iPad audio as the main out…so I sorta thought it would be a similar result for Mac mini.
I would never use Windows system audio, but so far I have had no issues with Apple.
It think the issue is less about driver stability (Windows core audio is indeed a bit of a mess compared to Mac and Linux) and more about the quality of the op-amps driving the output and the fact that a 1/8" jack socket is not the most reliable format for sound that is going to be amplified. I personally wouldn’t want to rely on one.
I tested windows and Mac audio. From headphone input on notebooks. I would never use neither of them for a serious musical project. But Mac output is a decent thing, with decent latency if you work at home and don’t want to connect all your devices.
A windows output is usually more noisy and with more latency, depending on the chip and driver used, but usually not enough for a simple listening, even at home.
Big difference is software driver, on Mac it is intrinsic of O.S. and always the same, on windows it depends on system setup, and this can be extremely good or extremely bad.
I remember I made, on my iPad Air, the music of an outside children show in a school. It was the first time I planned to use my RME UCX with the iPad, and I was also new to controlling TotalMix FX (the RME mixer app) on the iPad while managing the show. And to tell the truth, I was a bit scared by the complexity of the whole thing during a show. So my idea was to use both the RME audio interface output and the iPad audio output, such that if something would go wrong I could use the iPad audio out as an easier B plan. I started a song with the iPad audio to check the sound on the PA system and I concluded that it was fine. Then I continued the audio check with the RME audio interface output and it suddenly sounded so amazing with comparison to the iPad audio that the the guy next to me said: wow, what did you change in the audio settings?
So, I don’t know for a Mac, but I doubt its audio can compete with a nice audio interface.
Well, that is NOT surprising considering the cost of RME units…eeek!! I’d want it to be much better too!!!
It is probably the audio chip in the iPad that is very very cheap, any decent Audio interface would probably kill it.
Yeah, I have a Behringer Flow 8 digital mixer, that macOS auto runs (ie no drivers) and it has four digital channels available, so I guess it might be a better way…I was planning on selling it (help pay for GP 
) might have to keep it…also got the B X-Air 18, which also works…
Just trying to make as simple a setup as possible 
Yeah that would probably do the job.
I’m using a Flow 8 with my setup and it performs really well.
Question about Flow8. Can you manage two stereo analog outputs indipendently? Four TRS out with volume fader? It would be nice for me, one couple to FOH and one for my monitors
Yes, you can. that is exactly what I already do. I send the main outputs to FOH and send the stereo linked auxes to my stage monitors. There is also a dedicated “layer” with all the buttons & sliders to manage FOH and monitor levels separately.
can´t comment on FOH, but on M1mini.
its “doable”. If your Music is good, will it still be !
i compared my M1mini HP out to my Quantum2626. (@homestudio with good 5" speakers)
Mac-HP out has less Bass, less pressure, higher noise floor, feels a little less “balanced”.
tested with:
i´d not be concerned too much, until its techno, and has to "pump"in a club.
(but thats overall just me)
really, …my initial words do sound worser than it is.
i could enjoy still any of these musics as a listener.
and you can bet i would hear also a big difference with such Behringer thing vs. my quantum ( i have behringer AIs myself)
personally, i would not want to rely on a macminis HP out ! but it is doable, IMHO. jm2c
Thanks - yes, it is more the reliability of the connection I was querying.
TBH, the audio quality, whilst arguably noticeable on studio monitors, imho, once it gets out those F.O.H. speakers is not. Pretty difficult to get audiophile quality through PA speakers, unless you spend BIG bucks on gear!!