Macbook Pro M1 headphone out

I got the 14 inch and for fun tried out the 3.5mm with some of my headphones - sounded a little bright (I haven't burned it in), but well controlled, clean, wide and with good oomph (Sony IERM7).. I was a little shocked that it beat some of my hifi dongles or matched them - certainly beat the Qudelix 5k in most sound quality categories. It kinda matched the Earmen Sparrow (sounded very similar), i think though it was bit better in separation/width - sounded larger. The Sparrow sounded a little more colored with plumper mid bass, but also a little more processed.

Next I tried HD800S - I was unable to max it out even with low volume tracks. Also good control, space, width, not lean - essentially what I expect from a reasonable powerful amplifier driving these cans. It didn't sound like a typical weak ass dongle amp.

I will burn it in and see if the slight brightness settles down, but for me the Pro's head out renders most dongles useless now apart from the Cayin RU6 which has it's own specific R2R flavor. More worryingly I'm not so sure I want to keep the Mojo 2 anymore - I think the Pro's head out amp drives the HD800 better! I will give it some more time.

Anyway these are just first impressions, I don't think it'll overtake more serious desktop stacks but the performance it provides is probably around 200$ dongle/amp category give or take, and better in some respects probably thanks to more power on tap. Apple have done a stellar job here I think.