The Grace m9xx is a nice headphone/stereo out if that’s all you’re looking for. But your audio interface has zero to do with internal resampling and if I wanted an audio interface specifically for resampling I’d want something with at least a 2nd pair of outs and a pair of ins so I could resample through analog stuff as well.
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What also comes into my mind is the Qudelix 5K DAC, which majorly is meant to be used as LDAC / aptX HD Bluetooth amp with a quite good EQ, but I also use mine in various scenarios as a better headphone amp compared to the built in ones on older Macs.
It even has a built in microphone:
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I was just looking at this one, looks nice, should have awesome quality converters… its sooo slim!
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thanks for all of the suggestions everybody, appreciate it… and the schoolin as well
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Motu M2 works flawlessly and sounds great (for the size and price)
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Zoom AMS22 pocket interface with batteries or Zoom H5 recorder.
Unless I am missing something, I just loopback in software. Monkey rewind is great.
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These are worth looking at also for that versatility inside the Mac…
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I had the older Duet, and it was amazing. This should be even better - love the aesthetics. I only sold it because I needed more I/O.
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if they would manage to have ADAT somehow with the breakout cables it would be great, but anyway it looks very good if you’re ok with the 2 ins 2 outs
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Yeah, agree, I’d go for an RME babyface over the Duet just for that versatility.
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And because it has no clumsy and fragile breakout cable but all inputs/outputs build in.
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Agreed, I forgot about that 
…it was the one aspect of the Duet that used to really get on my nerves. I’m not sure if they have updated these in any way but they were quite heavy and used to fall off the back of the desk all the time.
they sell a deck for it for $179, nice solution for home setup, it’s very expensive in total with the interface but the preamps/built in channel strip should bring a lot to the table… at least it should for that much $$$ 
Macbook pros come with a high grade headphone out. I’d say it would be enough for a really portable setup on the go.
RME Babayface FS would be a good choice and investment for years. Can’t recommend RME enough
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I would like to add a more budget friendly option here for a very high quality but still small-ish audio interface, the Audient ID4 (or Audient ID14 if you prefer a stereo input. It is a bit larger though).
See also the review of Julian Krause where these interfaces perform very well, including the HP output: Audient iD4 MKII and iD14 MKII - Audio Interface Review - YouTube
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This is not how it works. The signal is already digital. Resampling is only a process made by the CPU.
Some interfaces have indeed a loopback functionality but the quality won’t be any better. It will only be a little lighter for your CPU.
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I work on Macs for a living and have used a ton of interfaces, currently prefer the MOTU M4 for the latency while tracking. However for your use case, there’s very little advantage to using an external interface when the Mac is very capable by itself. Save your money and loopback in software.
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I see a lot of people mention headroom/gain concerns with the ai-micro. How about if you just make sure your level is attenuated on the way in? Is the quality up to par to regular interfaces if you take the slight increase in noise level for granted.
Look, headroom is definitely a concern but it’s completely manageable. You’re obviously going to be compromising at some level given the price, size, and the fact it’s primarily intended for lav mics.
That being said, I think the quality is perfectly acceptable and I think it’s a no brainer purchase for people who like to record synths to mobile devices. It’s light enough that it just feels like an extension of your headphones. If you’re not bothered by something more bulky then there’s definitely better options, but if you want tiny, this is it.
Audio example over in this thread: Rode AI-Micro and/or other tiny audio interfaces - #18 by Stone262
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