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DAC's with volume control question

it's been a while since i researched/purchased DAC's. grabbed a new PS Audio PWDII w/Bridge about 10 years ago and it has kept me happy for a long time. need a short term replacement (meaning inexpensive) and am looking for info regarding current DAC's that can be used stand alone without a preamp for volume control.  the PWDII had a shortcoming that would do "something bad" when operated below 50% volume. losing bits or something like that??. 

my question is .... has this issue been resolved in general? 10 years is alot of time in the digital realm and would like to know if modern technology has eliminated this problem with volume control/loss of sound quality.

have three on the list but see nothing disclosed regarding volume control short comings. is it safe to assume no such issues exist anymore? thus not even mentioned?

this is a temporary replacement. probably only 1-1.5 years. don't want to add a preamp so my list is limited to inexpensive options with preamp/volume control so far 

Peach Tree Decco125 SKY
Cambridge CNX V2
Cambridge 851N

seems the 851N might be more of what i need but am concerned about mid-fi integrated preamp hardware making things sound worse. the CNX V2 seems to be more like my PWDII and is preamp-ish with volume control. no real dedicated/integrated preamp hardware. the CXN V2 has me concerned about the volume control having shortcomings like my PWDII.

thanks in advance for any help/input

levy03
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Every dac up to my current one (Lumin X1) that had volume capability seemed to reduce detail (reduced bits).

You turn them down too much. < 75% of full up = "Bit Strippping"

In that case, use a $49 Schiit Sys after the dac, to set the level, so then you can then use the dac’s remote volume control at >75% and over
Cheers George
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,461 posts
 
George,
Probably a poor choice of words on my part. I meant to imply that the Lumin X1 volume control is unique and does not loose digital bits in its operation as the other dacs I have used. The volume is controlled by a process called LEEDH. With this unit I have been able to eliminate the preamp.

ozzy
digital_guy
3 posts
 
I have always been a firm believer in leaving the digital volume at full. Recently I purchased a blue sound node 2i and started getting a popping noise randomly on digital coax or optical connection to my Jolida tube dac. The forums are full of threads for this issue and one of them mentioned attenuating the digital output as a fix. Sure enough, changing the automatic level control from off mode to smart mode reduced the problem by 90%. I then lowered the master output by 5 clicks and the popping noise is gone. Planning to meter the coax later to see what the difference is between the two settings. 
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