Digital preamp to be or not ..

[heliumflight]

Hello Friends,

I see lots of preamps that have volume control, so one may think that inorder to save money lets get it and get it over with. Does anyone know the advantages of using a digital preamp or connecting directly to an integrated. How would they different sonically? Recently I was surprised by CA Cxn which I was using the digital preamp all this while, but then an audiophile friend told me that you can disable it and connect directly to your integrated.

Wow! What a world of difference it made. More fluid, wholesome sound with tone and textures of musical instruments flying across, which I had never heard before. It also had lot of control and the digital harshness was gone.

HiFi Rig: Cambridge Audio Cxn > Lyrita Audio Set 2A3 > Pioneer CS-905 / Piega Classic 3.0

 

[prem]

As far as possible avoid a digital preamp. It’s always nice to have a analogue one. That’s been my experience.

 

[heliumflight]

Any streamer is about convenience, hence I took this path. Actually, I never knew that I could disable preamp from CA Cxn. After doing so, it is truly unbelievable. It has made a world of difference. Yes, always avoid. My experience I like to share with all and avoid making this mistake.

 

[newlash09]

The sound signature of a integrated or a pre+power combo comes from the pre-amp section. It is a seemingly innocuous looking circuit with just a volume pot and change over switch for different inputs. But the implementation gives them their distinct sound.

In your case, I guess you liked the implementation of your integrated than the cxn. But others may prefer otherwise.

A great brand like benchmark, make their DACs with pre-amp functionality to pair with their Poweramps. And it is supposedly a great combination. A benchmark dac3 + AHB2 power amp, is hailed by some as the best sound under USD 10k.

So in my humble opinion it is a case of preference.

 

[jls001]

I see lots of preamps that have volume control,

Preamps would usually have volume control, isn't it? Is there a typo in your sentence?

 

[heliumflight]

The sound signature of a integrated or a pre+power combo comes from the pre-amp section. It is a seemingly innocuous looking circuit with just a volume pot and change over switch for different inputs. But the implementation gives them their distinct sound.

In your case, I guess you liked the implementation of your integrated than the cxn. But others may prefer otherwise.

A great brand like benchmark, make their DACs with pre-amp functionality to pair with their Poweramps. And it is supposedly a great combination. A benchmark dac3 + AHB2 power amp, is hailed by some as the best sound under USD 10k.

So in my humble opinion it is a case of preference.

Quite likely. In my case didn't like the digital preamp implementation.

 

[heliumflight]

Preamps would usually have volume control, isn't it? Is there a typo in your sentence?

Yes, there were many to choose is what I meant.