2. home-theater
  3. 1127508148

Theater Pass Through wtih EMM DCC2

Plan on acquiring DCC2 Preamp/DAC. Is anyone using a home theater bypass with their DCC2?

It is my understanding that connecting the analog balanced outs (front L & R only, of course) from my surround processor to the analog balanced ins on the DCC2, then setting the DCC2 volume control to 99 (the highest), will achieve unity gain on the DCC2 and allow me to use volume control on the surround processor. I would then run analog balanced outs from the DCC2 to my amplifier.

The alternative is to leave the surround processor alone and continue to run its analog balanced outs to my amplifier and also connect single ended outs from the DCC2 to the amplifier, then use the toggle switch on the amplifier to select between the balanced versus single ended inputs.

Looking for thoughts from the collective as to preferred method of connection, based on previous experience and, of course, sound quality.
rmaidenberg

Showing 4 responses by rmaidenberg

rmaidenberg OP
32 posts
 
Well, my dealer confirmed with both Ed Meitner and Greg (I think his last name is Soo) that 99 is the unity gain on the DCC2.

I will be connecting mine tomorrow and will post my findings.
rmaidenberg OP
32 posts
 
How are you coming up with the 8dB of gain figure?
rmaidenberg OP
32 posts
 
According to the DCC2 manual, which can be downloaded from www.emmlabs.com, the other analog line outputs to which you make reference are used solely when using the DCC2 as a DAC only and connecting the DCC2 to another preamp. The manual states in bold font that these analog outputs should not be connected directly to an amplifier.

If the gain offered by the DCC2 at maximum (i.e., 99) volume is, e.g., 8dB, would it make sense to either preset the volume on the DCC2 at a lower setting to achieve a lesser gain? Or, in the alternative, would it make sense to keep the DCC2 at the maximum setting and then, on the surround processor, program the output levels of the L & R to reduce the same by 8dB? If both are viable alternatives, is one considered the better alternative?
rmaidenberg OP
32 posts
 
Well, I finally got around to connecting the analog balanced XLR outs from my surround processor into the analog balance XLR inputs on the DCC2. Before doing so, I ran pink noise through my processor in order to confirm what volume setting on my processor produced 75dB on my SPL meter. After bringing the DCC2 into the chain, I can unequivocally confirm that a volume setting of 99 on the DCC2 analog balanced XLR input is unity gain.
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