When I purchased my Node 2 last year I had a modest set-up consisting of a Peachtree Grand Pre and a Sunfire stereo amp. At the time I was using the dac in the Peach but had to bypass it to listen to Tidal MQA tracks. Then I started just using the Node as the preamp because that was the only source I had at the time. Worked great and did not really notice any degrading of the sound or loss of transparency even at lower volumes. I also like the fact that you can easily synch a remote control to the node.
Volume Settings/Control - DAC vs Preamp?
I have a Bluesound Node 2 as my DAC and the Bluesound App has volume control. This is connected to my tube preamp which obviously has a volume control as well. What is the school of thought on volume settings and where to control volume during playback? Should I set the DAC's volume to a certain fixed level (and what should that setting be - low, mid, all the way up?) and adjust volume from my preamp? Or vice-versa? Does it matter? It's way easier to control volume via the Bluesound app as my preamp has no remote but I can live with either solution if it makes a difference.
I have combed through a number of similar posts but not sure I got a clear answer.
I have combed through a number of similar posts but not sure I got a clear answer.