Digital volume control question...

Hi all,

A little background first. I am planning on getting a Wyred4Sound DAC2 and feeding it directly to my amp, which powers my Magnepan 3.6s. (I also plan on getting the W4S ST/SX 500/1000.) And I listen to 70% 24-96, 25% Redbook and 5% 24-192.

Now I know that the W4S volume control is well-implemented and 32 bit. So I’m not too concerned, although I know that there will be SOME signal loss. My question has to do with which amp I should get, given my normal listening levels, (apartment friendly), and about the levels at which the DAC2 begins to degrade or decimate the bit depth through those different amps and into those inefficient Maggies.

I assume that at my normal sound levels and with the more powerful amp, that the DAC2 would begin to degrade the bit-depth SOONER (or at a lower setting), than it would with the less powerful amp producing the same db level. In other words, I would have to turn the more powerful amp down MORE than the lesser one -resulting in signal loss. Am I correct here, or not?

(This question will be posed to W4S too, but I wanted an unbiased opinion, also.)

Thanks!

Michael