Connecting a DAC directly to an amp?

It’s not a 32bit ESS dac it’s a NOS R2R dac so yes even "bit stripping" could have been the biggest factor as well now you’ve bought it up, with 4v!!! output because of volume being set too low. His amps only need 1.2v for full output!!

From the manual total gain setting switches of the output V at full volume which he probably didn’t open it up to do .

Attenuation switches: Depending the input sensitivity of the used power amplifier the output of the Adagio can be reduced with -10dB.

Cheers George

My bad!. I was thinking in terms of the typical, not the OPs specifics.
Never mind🥺

Guys,
The Adagio does not bit strip, the volume control operates by changing the reference voltage so is not actually in the signal path.  The minus 10dB is optioned by a switch on the back and I do not have that engaged.  I am hearing the same thing I heard when comparing the same gear DAC direct vs. through the preamp/buffer into my Clayton M300s, which had an input impedance of 100K ohms.
We could argue about whether I should hear it or not, or whether it is because of the amps, but it doesn't change what I consistently hear.  To be clear, the sound of the Adagio directly into the amps is really good, but it sounds better through the buffer/preamp first.   
The input impedance of the amplifiers is just another example of why it is important to understand your gear and how it all has to work together.  Regardless of the input impedance, the amps are the best I have owned/heard out of some very well regarded amps such as Lamm M1.2 Reference, Clayton M300s, Heron M1As, and Acoustic Imagery NC1200 amps.  Virtually any active buffer or preamp will have a low enough output impedance to easily drive those amplifiers - a small price to pay for the best sound I have heard in my room.

George, I thought Chord used FPGAs.

George, I thought Chord used FPGAs.

His is the NOS R2R Metrum Adagio
And if the vc is "not in the signal path", then it’s either in the digital domain, or horror if it’s changing the output stages feed back, to control the volume up or down, as then the vc sonics will have different characteristic as to where it’s set with the amount of feedback applied.

.

The minus 10dB is optioned by a switch on the back and I do not have that engaged.

Maybe you should and try direct again.



Or we go back to my first explanation of
10k is a very low input impedance, there’s no need for it these days, as things have problems diving it.
47k or higher is the industry standard, some tube amps like Rogue M120 mono were up to 1000k!!! (1mohm)
But if your source output stage is weak and maybe cap coupled (which could be too small with 10k) it’s the problem, not because your going direct.


Cheers George