Julf wrote: > Yes. No. Maybe. But mostly No. Digital volume control, by definition, is > never "bit perfect" - any attenuation in the digital domain changes the > bits. But likewise any volume change in the analog domain changes the > signal voltage, and normally decreases signal-to-noise ratio. Thus what > you should look at is SNR, both for analog and for digital. The SNR for > typical commercial source material is around 13-14 bits, so if you have > a 24-bit volume control, you can attenuate by 10 bits before you start > decreasing the real SNR. With a 32-bit volume control (typical of modern > DACs) you have 18 bits of attenuation before reducing SNR. > > A completely different matter is the fact that if you get your gain > structure right, the decrease in SNR doesn't matter - if something is > too quiet to hear, it is too quiet to hear, no matter what the volume > setting.
Hi Julf! If I'm getting your drift, this implies that if I don't use the bypass on my Mytek, I should select the digital as opposed to the analogue volume control. This is relevant anyway because the volume control is always in circuit for the headphone output(s)... Dave :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Earring's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=66646 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=106519 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
