2. amps-preamps
  3. 161821-152589

Control volume with DAC or Preamp?

My DAC (PS Audio Directstream) has a volume control and so does my preamp(Benchmark), of course.  What’s the best way to control the volume of my system to get optimum sound...turn the dac to maximum volume and use the preamp to make adjustments , turn the preamp to maximum and use the DAC for adjustments, turn each of them up part way? Or does it not make a difference?
wolverine1

Showing 1 response by verdantaudio

verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,517 posts
 
I had a DSD as well and a variety of preamps.  I considered scrapping the preamp because I know folks who were just using volume control on DSD.

I tried several A/B tests using the DSD vs an Ayre K5xeMp, PS Audio BHK Pre and Art Audio Conductor.  In all three cases, the preamps significantly outperformed the DSD.  I found the preamp stage on the DSD to be less than ideal though I hear it does better matched with PS Audio amps.  

The best connection is set the volume on the DSD to 100 and use the volume control on the Benchmark.  What you are doing by maxing out volume on the Benchmark and using the volume control on the DSD is probably giving you the worst possible outcome.  
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