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DACs With Killer Built-In Preamps

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I see a lot of DACs with volume controls with the ability to act as a preamp. The Audio Research Reference Dac/Digital Media Bridge ($15k) has a volume control and a lot of innards of its Reference 5SE preamp...which makes for a very serious preamp section on that DAC.

Are there any DACs with voulume controls under $7k that can compete with top-tier preamps?
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128x128mitch4t
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
@ charles1dad, are you thinking about going back to a active pre-amp?, cheers.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,239 posts
 
I've never abandoned active linestages, I find them indispensable.
Regards,
doc77
47 posts
 
I have the AMR 77 right now and did remove my Ayon pre from the signal chain. The AMR pre delivered a smoother and more detailed sound top to bottom. It made the Ayon pre sound colored and slow.

However, I'm saving for the Empirical Overdrive. What I heard from it last year at RMAF was impressive, and people I trust have said it's THE dac to beat.
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