KevinCorr
Super Member
Definitely want to have a decent source file before making judgements on the sound quality of a device. My guess is that the Airport streaming Tidal will be all you need. I set up a blind test with other DACs costing up to $1,000 at my audio club and everyone preferred the warmth and punch of the DAC onboard the Airport. So I would be very surprised if you will get much benefit adding an external DAC into the mix.
Just use a decent 1/8" mini jack to RCA cable from the Airport to your stereo, like this: https://www.amazon.com/BlueRigger-3-5mm-Stereo-Audio-Cable/dp/B008UG6GCC/ref=sr_1_2?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1486051288&sr=1-2&keywords=1/8+to+rca
You'll be all good, and happily controlling Tidal wireless from your iPad.
Oh, and I don't know if this answers your previous question, but there's nothing inherently wrong or sound degrading about using a mini jack to RCA cable. A decent version will sound just as good as decent RCAs on both ends.
Thanks. Wow, that is very interesting. I that should have occurred to me but it was my 1st attempt at digital music. Doh!
I am not surprised that the mini jack is ok since I have some PSB headphones that use it and they are good. So for now, just doing Tidal is the first question. I posted another long assed query about the whole streaming gear for a new offline digital playback system.