Preamp for volume control

matbhuvi

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I am looking to buy a preamp to control volume of my Shiit Ygddrasil dac. Currently, i control volume through iFi zen streamer. It is based on Volumio and it is not totally bad. Nevertheless, it is not the best place to control volume. I tried some cheap passive volume control from Amazon. They went bad really quick creating hum. May be the 4V out of the DAC is too hot to handle..not sure. Looking for good options available in the market here. Thought of getting Shiit Freya. Realized shiit it is not available in India. Any alternative recommendation is greatly appreciated.
 
I am looking to buy a preamp to control volume of my Shiit Ygddrasil dac. Currently, i control volume through iFi zen streamer. It is based on Volumio and it is not totally bad. Nevertheless, it is not the best place to control volume. I tried some cheap passive volume control from Amazon. They went bad really quick creating hum. May be the 4V out of the DAC is too hot to handle..not sure. Looking for good options available in the market here. Thought of getting Shiit Freya. Realized shiit it is not available in India. Any alternative recommendation is greatly appreciated.
Topping Pre90? Please make sure the impedence match is right.
 
I have the Schiit Magni 3 listed for sale. I used it as headphone amp, though it has both RCA inputs and outputs and also works as a preamp, but I have never tried that feature though.
You can have a look at that and look for reviews of it as a pre.
 
I am looking to buy a preamp to control volume of my Shiit Ygddrasil dac. Currently, i control volume through iFi zen streamer. It is based on Volumio and it is not totally bad. Nevertheless, it is not the best place to control volume. I tried some cheap passive volume control from Amazon. They went bad really quick creating hum. May be the 4V out of the DAC is too hot to handle..not sure. Looking for good options available in the market here. Thought of getting Shiit Freya. Realized shiit it is not available in India. Any alternative recommendation is greatly appreciated.
Schiit Sys. It will be perfect for your system.

MaSh
 
I got Shiit Kara today. Really understood the difference a good volume control bringing in. The well rated volumio based volume control in iFi Zen is so below par in the lower end. So far enjoying it in pure passive mode. Low gain settings of Kara is also very good. I went based on Audio Science Review. Definitely exceeded my expectations. Thanks everyone.
 
Well-designed passive preamps, and properly impedance matched, will be the most transparent without adding any coloration or attenuation across the frequency bandwidth. If you have enough gain on the source to drive your power stage, any gain on the preamp stage is best avoidable.
Pretty much - if the signal from the source is powerful enough and the source has proper analog volume control, skip a separate preamp.
 
I got Shiit Kara today. Really understood the difference a good volume control bringing in. The well rated volumio based volume control in iFi Zen is so below par in the lower end. So far enjoying it in pure passive mode. Low gain settings of Kara is also very good. I went based on Audio Science Review. Definitely exceeded my expectations. Thanks everyone.
Congratulations. Where did you get the kara from?
 
Schiit Sys. It will be perfect for your system.

MaSh
MaSh, have you used the Schiit Sys Passive Pre? Will it be suitable between Phono Preamp & Turntable? Please tell in detail how did you use it? Thanks.
 
What is the drawback of a digital source volume control such as a phone used as a source during airplay ?
From one of Benchmark Audio's articles on volume control topologies............

DSP-based volume control can work well provided that the following conditions are met:​

  1. The digital volume control must be properly designed. The DSP calculations must internally use word-lengths of at least 24-bits. If the output word length is less than 24-bits it must be dithered. either be dithered or long word-lengths (24 or more bits ) must be delivered to the D/A converter. Many media players, computers, and digital devices use 16-bit undithered volume controls. In most cases, these 16-bit volume controls can bypassed by setting the volume to maximum. When this is done, an external D/A converter can be used to control the playback level.
  2. The D/A converter must have a spectacular dynamic range. It is not uncommon to require 20-30 dB of attenuation for normal listening levels. In those cases, the dynamic range of the D/A will be reduced by 20-30 dB. If your D/A converter only has a 110-dB dynamic range, the output will have a dynamic range of 80-90 dB – a dynamic range that is less than that of a 16-bit CD.
  3. The peak level of the D/A converter’s output should match the maximum input level of the next device in the signal path (amplifier, pre-amplifier, etc). This is a fundamental part of proper gain-staging, as it fully utilizes the headroom of both devices. This is the reason that professional audio facilities will standardize the operating signal level between audio devices (usually at +4 dBu at -20 dBFS). With this type of configuration, the dynamic range of the amplifier will usually be the dominate noise factor.
 
From one of Benchmark Audio's articles on volume control topologies............

DSP-based volume control can work well provided that the following conditions are met:​

  1. The digital volume control must be properly designed. The DSP calculations must internally use word-lengths of at least 24-bits. If the output word length is less than 24-bits it must be dithered. either be dithered or long word-lengths (24 or more bits ) must be delivered to the D/A converter. Many media players, computers, and digital devices use 16-bit undithered volume controls. In most cases, these 16-bit volume controls can bypassed by setting the volume to maximum. When this is done, an external D/A converter can be used to control the playback level.
  2. The D/A converter must have a spectacular dynamic range. It is not uncommon to require 20-30 dB of attenuation for normal listening levels. In those cases, the dynamic range of the D/A will be reduced by 20-30 dB. If your D/A converter only has a 110-dB dynamic range, the output will have a dynamic range of 80-90 dB – a dynamic range that is less than that of a 16-bit CD.
  3. The peak level of the D/A converter’s output should match the maximum input level of the next device in the signal path (amplifier, pre-amplifier, etc). This is a fundamental part of proper gain-staging, as it fully utilizes the headroom of both devices. This is the reason that professional audio facilities will standardize the operating signal level between audio devices (usually at +4 dBu at -20 dBFS). With this type of configuration, the dynamic range of the amplifier will usually be the dominate noise factor.
Thanks. The Schiit Kara seems expensive just for volume control. Are there any alternatives to this available in India.
 
Thanks. The Schiit Kara seems expensive just for volume control. Are there any alternatives to this available in India.
Most DACs today have a good enough dynamic range. Softwares like JRiver have excellent digital attenuation implementation. If you look to get an outboard volume control, it will be expensive as implementing a good analogue volume control is an expensive factor.
 
MaSh, have you used the Schiit Sys Passive Pre? Will it be suitable between Phono Preamp & Turntable? Please tell in detail how did you use it? Thanks.
Yes I have used a schiit sys in my system. It's sitting idle these days though. You can use it between your phono pre and power amp/active speakers. Not between TT and Phono. Atleast I did not try that.

MaSh
 
Thanks. The Schiit Kara seems expensive just for volume control. Are there any alternatives to this available in India.
I have tried volume control via JRiver and Volumio. It was not an issue in my earlier setup (Active speakers from Neumann). My current system is a step up and the result is very apparent. There is a very good video by Paul (P S Audio) on why Preamps are expensive..

 
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