NewBuyer;148484 Wrote: > > So the idea is, that losing some SNR as you decrease volume between 100 > and 40 won't really matter much, because (after all) the decreased > volume means you probably can't hear/notice this difference - is this > correct?Not really. All volume controls will lose some signal to noise ratio (as will all active stages), but by running the SB volume between 40 and 100 and not using a pre-amp, you swap the SNR loss in the preamp gain stage and volume control, for a SNR loss in the SB DAC.
It's swings and roundabouts - but the swings and roundbaouts are not always quite equal (IYSWIM). With SB volumes below 40, you are also losing some digital resolution (which adds to the overall SNR degradation), but digital artifacts are usually less 'graceful' than analogue ones. In general, if you have your system's gain reasonably well set up, at -30dBs (below 40 volume), you not really listening critically anyway, and other system effects will most likely dominate. So there's really two 'optimum' ways to go:- (1) Use a pre-amp, max the SB volume and adjust volume using the preamp control, (2) Feed SB directly to power amp, set a sensible volume range using attenuators or whatever, and use the SB digital volume between 40 and 100 for critical listening. Depending on your system and the quality of the pre-amp, (1) or (2) may be a better approach than the other. -- Patrick Dixon www.at-tunes.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Patrick Dixon's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=90 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=28834 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
