Quality connectors required. I initially used a cheap non-gold plated rca jack adapter and it sounded much worse than if I had plugged in my phones directly into my tablet. Got a quality adapter and it did the job. The sound quality is about the same as when I use the amp stage of my Oppo ha2-se DAC, maybe a little smoother and punchier, but I've only 20 hrs of burn in. Recommend something like the iXCC 6ft Dual Shielded Gold-Plated 3.5mm Male to 2 RCA Male Stereo Audio Y Cable, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019D048XC