Hi guys. first post here. I just picked up an Aleph P going into an Aleph 5. Need a lil newbie advice on this pre amp. I had Pass gear in the past the 1.2's mono's (should have never sold em). Anyrate was able to get my hands on a clean Aleph 5 and Aleph P first gen. and Im not quite understanding the manual with regards to the left and right channel PASSIVE / ACTIVE gain pure class A balanced and all that stuff vs master gain. Right now I have the right and left all the way down and the master all the way up as the manual suggested and using my cpu to control the volume. Mechanical Eng by trade not Electrical so completely stupid when it comes to this. Here is my current set up and any pointers would be great. Sounds great outta the box but Im sure can be improved upon.
Laptop via USB Feeding the chain
Shiit Audio EITR direct wired USB
Kimber Kable D60 into
PS Audio DAC II No bridge
Monster M1000i Ballanced .5 M into
Pass Labs first gen Aleph P
Monster M1000i 1.0 M into
Pass Labs Aleph 5
Monster 2.4 8 ft into
Dunlavy SC'3
HSU reseach ULS 15's in stereo being feed with Zip wire off the Dunlavys
All being powered by an Old School Tice Audio Signature Conditioner..
Thank you in advance for your knowledge as that is the expensive part of life and Happy Holidays to ya!
-ALLGOOD
Laptop via USB Feeding the chain
Shiit Audio EITR direct wired USB
Kimber Kable D60 into
PS Audio DAC II No bridge
Monster M1000i Ballanced .5 M into
Pass Labs first gen Aleph P
Monster M1000i 1.0 M into
Pass Labs Aleph 5
Monster 2.4 8 ft into
Dunlavy SC'3
HSU reseach ULS 15's in stereo being feed with Zip wire off the Dunlavys
All being powered by an Old School Tice Audio Signature Conditioner..
Thank you in advance for your knowledge as that is the expensive part of life and Happy Holidays to ya!
-ALLGOOD
Simply put, the Volume control and the Gain control are doing two very different things.
A volume knob on essentially every preamp made is a resistive voltage divider, where it divides the signal depending on how much you've got the knob turned - some of the signal is sent to ground and thrown away, the other part is let through to the amplification stage and used. If the volume is turned all the way down, it's all thrown away to ground and not used, and if the volume is all the way up, everything is let through. If the knob is somewhere between the two extremes the ratio of the signal used/thrown away changes with the knob.
Gain is how much bigger the signal is made by the amplification stage. In 99% of preamps out there, this is a fixed number. The signal the active stage sees is made, for example, 10 times bigger. Or 20 times bigger, or perhaps 3 times bigger depending on the preamp. But in most cases the signal from your source component is mostly thrown away at the volume knob, just to be made bigger again by the preamp's amplification stage. Note in this example (I.E., most preamps) the volume is placed before the amplification stage.
The Aleph P puts the volume control on the output. This has some big advantages, the most obvious is that if the volume knob divides the signal it sees and throws some if it away, any noise/static/hum/whatever the preamp has made will also get attenuated down. Neat! Also, the less you have to turn down the knob to get the output level you want, the better it is for the sound quality.
Ok, so lets talk about the Gain knobs.
Remember above how the volume divides the signal, throwing some or most of the signal away, only to be amplified right back up by a fixed amount? Well the Gain knobs allow you to choose that amount. If you have a very small input signal, you'll need to adjust the gains higher, if you have a very strong signal (CD player) you'll need to adjust them to add less gain.
(Why aren't the gain knobs used for the normal volume? That's a more complicated answer than I want to explain, this is already too long, but the quick answer is you can't turn it all the way down to zero(totally quiet) easily.)
Ok, so. Settings for best quality;
The truly important one in your signal chain is to turn all your digital widgets all the way up. Volume on the streaming service UP. Volume on the computer UP, volume on the DAC UP. Why? because any volume change in digital throws away bits. That's bad, as you'll never get that information back. So turn it up.
Now, turn the gain knobs as low as they will go and play something you like that's raucous, loud and fun.
Turn the Volume knob all the way up.
If it's as loud or louder than you'll ever want to listen to, great, you're done.
If it's not loud enough, slowly advance the gain knobs until the volume is just a kiss too loud - I.E., just loud enough that you'll never actually listen to it that loud, ever.
Done.
Use the volume knob to control output level and be happy.
In your specific case, the single biggest thing you can do to for your playback quality is get your digital stuff all turned completely up so you are listening to every bit of your music's info. It should be a noticeable improvement.
.
A volume knob on essentially every preamp made is a resistive voltage divider, where it divides the signal depending on how much you've got the knob turned - some of the signal is sent to ground and thrown away, the other part is let through to the amplification stage and used. If the volume is turned all the way down, it's all thrown away to ground and not used, and if the volume is all the way up, everything is let through. If the knob is somewhere between the two extremes the ratio of the signal used/thrown away changes with the knob.
Gain is how much bigger the signal is made by the amplification stage. In 99% of preamps out there, this is a fixed number. The signal the active stage sees is made, for example, 10 times bigger. Or 20 times bigger, or perhaps 3 times bigger depending on the preamp. But in most cases the signal from your source component is mostly thrown away at the volume knob, just to be made bigger again by the preamp's amplification stage. Note in this example (I.E., most preamps) the volume is placed before the amplification stage.
The Aleph P puts the volume control on the output. This has some big advantages, the most obvious is that if the volume knob divides the signal it sees and throws some if it away, any noise/static/hum/whatever the preamp has made will also get attenuated down. Neat! Also, the less you have to turn down the knob to get the output level you want, the better it is for the sound quality.
Ok, so lets talk about the Gain knobs.
Remember above how the volume divides the signal, throwing some or most of the signal away, only to be amplified right back up by a fixed amount? Well the Gain knobs allow you to choose that amount. If you have a very small input signal, you'll need to adjust the gains higher, if you have a very strong signal (CD player) you'll need to adjust them to add less gain.
(Why aren't the gain knobs used for the normal volume? That's a more complicated answer than I want to explain, this is already too long, but the quick answer is you can't turn it all the way down to zero(totally quiet) easily.)
Ok, so. Settings for best quality;
The truly important one in your signal chain is to turn all your digital widgets all the way up. Volume on the streaming service UP. Volume on the computer UP, volume on the DAC UP. Why? because any volume change in digital throws away bits. That's bad, as you'll never get that information back. So turn it up.
Now, turn the gain knobs as low as they will go and play something you like that's raucous, loud and fun.
Turn the Volume knob all the way up.
If it's as loud or louder than you'll ever want to listen to, great, you're done.
If it's not loud enough, slowly advance the gain knobs until the volume is just a kiss too loud - I.E., just loud enough that you'll never actually listen to it that loud, ever.
Done.
Use the volume knob to control output level and be happy.
In your specific case, the single biggest thing you can do to for your playback quality is get your digital stuff all turned completely up so you are listening to every bit of your music's info. It should be a noticeable improvement.
.
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Gonna take me a few reads to digest all of that. And I know the Aleph P isn't like most pre-amps and why I asked the experts. Thank you so much for spending the time with the detailed response it's "VERY" appreciated! Also took your advice and sounds really good with my Laptop all the way up and the knobs the way you said. Im sure this should be asked elsewhere but I'll ask you since you were so thorough and kind. My next "Audiobucks" are looking towards a Network bridge for my PS Audio Direct wave MKII or the Auraic Aires with the better power supply which looks to be around $800 to 1000 USD right now used. I'm having a hard time swallowing $800.00 on a network card vs another box that has more flexibility. Or I could sell it and get a Vega but 2k is my max out at the moment.
Again Thank You, Happy Holidays, and Stay Solid!
-Allgood
Again Thank You, Happy Holidays, and Stay Solid!
-Allgood
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