SQ of digital volume controls compared to preamplifiers

I am going to be comparing a Lumin X1 DAC's LEEDH volume control vs the Benchmark LA4 preamp this weekend.  I spent the last 8 hours listening to the LA4 with the X1 and it was fantastic. The LA4 is a killer preamp, if you do not want a preamp to add colour to the chain, then the LA4 is the way to go. 

I have a feeling the LA4 will be a bit better.

I get fantastic sound quality this way:

I have a tube preamp (VAC Renaissance Mk V, very quiet and sounds great) that I set at a volume level that would be the max listening level I’d ever use (for the softest tracks).

Then, I use HQPlayer’s digital volume control (through Roon) to control the listening level.

I use HQPlayer as I upsample music to DSD256 (sounds fantastic). IMO, Roon’s upsampling, unlike that of HQPlayer, sounds worse than redbook quality.

“The sound was pretty good, but the magic was gone. Soundstage is less 3D and the voices are not as believable.”

That and more is my experience every time I try to use any of my systems without a preamp.

You might want to try a preamp with adjustable gain setting (not just volume output)

You can experiment with it and drop the noise floor to what you feel are acceptable levels