PC Or Pre Amp Or Both??

[musiconthefloor]

Hi,

apologies if this has been asked before, or if it is seen to some as a stupid question...

If you have the below setup/scenario do you need a preamp? My understanding is the source.... in this case, the pc becomes the preamp and volume, etc can be controlled in the OS.....

PC+DAC+AMP(Powered)+Speakers (Passive)

If not but there are benefits in terms of output quality in doing so please advise?

Hope this makes sense...

Thanks guys

 

[rayma]

If you have the below setup/scenario do you need a preamp? My understanding is the source....
in this case, the pc becomes the preamp and volume, etc can be controlled in the OS.....
PC+DAC+AMP(Powered)+Speakers (Passive)

You won't need a preamp for gain, and if the volume can be properly controlled
elsewhere, you don't need a preamp at all.

 

[musiconthefloor]

Thanks, that's what I thought - Could you elaborate on "properly controlled" do you mean using something other than the gain/volume control in the OS? (Windows in this case)

 

[diyiggy]

You need an attenuation between the DAC & the amp*, some modern DACs do that cause it's a feature of the dac chip ruled by a remote control. In this case you have to be sure the volume is already attenuated before switching on the amp, because imagine what can happen if you dac feed the amp with its 2V full outputt 😱 ...



*: if the amp is a real amp without volume pot (attenuation)


All the dacs have indeed enough gain to avoid a pre, Pre may be used for convienance or to enhance the whole result of your sounding experience like the soundstage for instance - if the pre has this quality already. If the DAC is good it's not needed and has to be avoided because it's more circuities between the source and the amp.