If I just use a DAC, do I need a Pre-amp?

I tested my system last year as you are considering.  In my case I preferred the system with the preamp.  In my case the DAC was a NAD M51 and the preamp is an Aesthetix Calypso.  I was considering eliminating the Calypso.  The Calypso has the best fit/sound in my system.  So much so that I sent it in to Aesthetix for their Signature upgrade last fall which has proven worth the money for my system.  Maybe I would have felt differently had I selected a better DAC.  

You need to do some homework. True digital volume control (such as in a mac, windows, and many consumer players) is very poor. You begin with 16 bits, do some digital math, and wind up with as few as 8 bits remaining at realistic listening levels. On the other hand, some solutions can do the math -- **and the D-A conversion** with 24-32 bits, which allows them to play around with 8 bits and still have 16 left. These are likely superior to any analog volume control. Otherwise, analog is still the gold standard, if built properly. That means using a preamp - active or passive. "Passive preamp" of course, is oxymoronic since it amplifies nothing.


I answered this in much more detail, twice, in the past year and my fingers are tired. Look up ESS’s excellent technical paper with the graphs to show you. ESS is one of the few DACs that allows it to be done properly, so, duh, they publish a paper on it :-)

So, first you need to find out what your Fiio does. If its a clean volume control, and you need no further switching, no need for a preamp o add more stuff to the signal path, and maybe clean up some impedance mismatches (an unsung benefit of a good preamp).
G

I faced the same question, having found that adding a preamp always brought sound quality down a notch, compared to a simple analog volume control. My solution was the Schiit Saga preamp, which is passive if you want it to be, and has the option of adding a tube buffer should the impedances of your system be incompatible with a pure passive. The volume control is completely analog.  As an added plus, it has a remote control, and it was less than $400. The new versions, the Saga + and the Saga S, are tube buffered, or solid state buffered, respectively. As with the original, the buffer is optional and can be turned on or off with the remote.

Even cheaper than the Schiit Saga, but it’s just passive is the Schiit Sys $49. it’s 10kohm passive just like the Saga just not paying for the tube stage or remote. https://www.schiit.com/products/sys

Cheers George

I hooked my Fiio M15 up to the Fisher SA-100 and a pair of Altec 604B Hollywood's.  It was beautiful.  The buddy pushing the 400Cx-2 was not thinking there would be an improvement.  That is going in for a total refurb.  So we will A/B in a month.  But it sounds great as is.

The SA-100 has no volume control, so it is all via the DAC and works great.