DAC/w Volume control + Power amp or DAC + Integrated?

arron

search - there are several recent threads that cover the territory you are inquiring about

short answer is digital volume control as part of the dac has certain compromises and may affect sound quality

i personally would use a fixed output dac feeding an integrated amp with its own analog volume control (not to mention additional inputs for other sources)... lta makes integrated models

Built in volume control affects sound quality of the DAC?

No they are better, if not used too low down.

I use an MSB discrete dac with volume direct into monoblock poweramps, and the sound has never been better.
But if you have to use the dacs volume below 2/3rd because it’s too loud, you will start to slowly loose resolution (bit strip) depending on how low you go.

The answer to fix this problem insert a $49 Schiit Sys passive between the dac and poweramp/s and preset the volume on it. so then you can use the dac’s volume above 2/3rd
https://www.schiit.com/products/sys

This way you’ll get better poweramp/s for the same money as an integrated and also save big on not having a preamp if you were going separates.

Then some good dac manufacturers like Wadia have thought about everything so you don’t need the Schiit Sys, in using a volume control in dacs only up high for maximum sound quality in all systems, as they have gain links inside so you match it to your system gain and use the volume only in the top 1/3rd of full up, as you can see from the setup instructions when you get it. (Read the paragraph that starts "Premium sonic performance is achieved")
https://ibb.co/JQJMx8S

Cheers George

It really depends on the DAC.  I had a PS Audio DSD which is an awesome DAC but the volume control in it is not strong.  There are a couple reasons for this, but it was inferior to my preamps.  

I have since moved to Chord and Rockna DACs and the volume control in them is completely different.  Right now, going direct from the Hugo 2 or Wavelight into my amps from DAC is dramatically better than the Schiit preamp I currently have in the system.  

An LTA Ultralinear with a Chord Hugo 2 would easily be on budget and will sound amazing.  

That being said, the UL integrated is not even close to inferior.  The line stage in it is tremendous and the volume control is a superb R2R.  An Ultralinear Integrated with a DAC like the Chord Qutest which would be brilliant.  

In both cases, we could definitely keep you on budget for new gear. 

If using a DAC with volume control I would want one where it was in the analog output stage.