You would usually come out of your audio interface, if you have one. In my case I hook up my Digi002's main outs to my monitors. The output from the headphone jack isn't as clean but will get the job done. A mixer would certainly be helpful if your monitors only accept XLR inputs.
i think i just answered my own question. i have one of the first gen. motu 828's and i think i can use that as both my mixer and to route my monitors. is this correct?
