@rvpiano if you’re using XLR out with your benchmark dac, the gain is adjustable using jumpers inside the dac. I liked mine set to -10db, the 0db was a bit much. And even with 10db attenuation the DAC was louder than my Sutherland 20/20 Hana ML combo.
As a side nite… sold my analog front end not too long ago. Got tired of constantly comparing analog and digital, listening for differences instead of focusing on the music. Great LPs sounded great though! But it was a constant race between analog and digital with upgrades for both front ends. There was no winning that battle. Decided to focus on digital at least for time being. So far no regrets.
Volume levels
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I find that I have to boost the volume levels more when I play records softly than when I listen to digital softly. I find that at low levels, records do not equal the intensity that low levels on digital do even if they emit the same number of decibels. I find that I’m forced to listen to analog more loudly to achieve the same measure of SQ.
How about you?