[davidhyde]

The on-board sound quality on the raspberry pi line has traditionally been quite poor so you probably want a dedicated sound dongle anyway especially if you are using headphones. This is an article about the model b+. It's an older version than the 4 but explains the problem just as well since the 4 still uses PWM instead of a DAC.

http://www.crazy-audio.com/2014/07/sound-quality-of-the-rasp...

[philistine]

You’re giving me flashback to the whole Game Boy line, who always had a buzz in the headphone jack until the DS finally properly isolated the sound.

[rootsudo]

And why some ipods still are $$$ because of DAC.

[kingosticks]

The hardware hasn't changed much but the software has tremendously and stuff from 2014 isn't relevant. Do you think the current implementation (sometimes known as audio_pwm_mode=2 but it is the default firmware these days) is still poor? I've found it's fine for everyday use and listening to music. I think a line-out would have been fine for people to use.