Do I really need a preamp?

Another interesting amp to check into is the new Ampzilla from Wyred 4 Sound who bought the rights from Spread Spectrum Technologies. I believe it lists for $3000

Go into a studio and see they always have a pre gain stage ,..... Always.
Can certainly get good sound with a passive, no doubt. All about
preferences. No need for the active to be tube....just my preference.

grannyring

there will be pre gain stages on mics, guitar amps , ect. Not on the playback system

What about the recording engineers of the world? Should they be eliminating gain stages? They in fact use them right? Fact is eliminating these gain stages does impact dynamics. High frequencies compress all together so you can hear everything at the same level. The background noise is just as loud as the voice etc...This is just an example of properly executed gain stages a their importance.

I have found the same to be true in a high end playback system. I have also heard playback systems without an active preamp that sounded good .... Just not as good to this set of ears. It is certainly subjective.

In this particular case, given the relatively low output impedance of the DAC2 series, and given the 32 bit processing that is utilized in the digital part of its "hybrid gain control" mechanism, and provided that none of your sources are phono cartridge/phono stage combinations providing particularly low output (gain does not appear to be specified for the analog inputs of those DAC2 models which provide analog inputs), you don't "need" a preamp, at least from a technical standpoint.

As many of the others have indicated, though, whether or not you would find incorporating a preamp in the signal path to be sonically preferable is not predictable with any certainty, as it is system dependent, listener dependent, and perhaps even recording dependent. It might even be dependent (in unpredictable ways) on whether or not the power amp you settle on would be driven by the DAC2's balanced or unbalanced outputs.

Personally, my instinct is to place the burden of proof on adding anything to the signal path that might not be necessary. And my suspicion is that while a high quality active preamp, especially one that is tube-based, would more likely than not enhance the sound quality of your system, obtaining that enhancement to a meaningful degree, and without introducing unwanted side-effects, is likely to cost significantly more than the sub-$2K price you will be paying for the DAC2 itself.

Good luck, however you decide to proceed. Regards,
-- Al