Using VDAC as digital preamp?

[G]

Hi all. I have a question that I'm hoping someone can answer. I plan on building a computer sound system for my computer and I plan on using a VDAC USB by Musical Fidelity with it. I'm not familiar with USB DACS and my question is can you use the volume controls in windows to control the analog output of the DAC. In other words I would like to use the DAC as kind of a digital preamp with the output going to a subwoofer and a amplifier in parallel. I hope my question is making sense. Any help or advice is appreciated.

G

[abraxalito]

Yes certainly you can do this. You'd not really want to with a DAC which can only accept 16bits though because you'd be eating up dynamic range at lower volume settings. I'd also want to check that noise from the computer carried over USB didn't get more and more noticeable as the volume settings get lower - that's mainly a function of the DAC's isolation.