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Low gain dac!

I am contemplating buying a new dac, the dac I have today has 4.3v output on both balanced and RCA, which makes me only use a small turn on the volume knob on my pre amp, which is a high gain design, volume starts at 6 o’clock and too loud at 8-9!
Any input is appreciated, ladde dac’s or more conventional dac’s doesn’t matter, both designs have my interest.
My system:
Primare Dac30
Supratek Cabernet pre
Belles SA 30 power amp
Graham Audio LS 5/9

Thanks!
gryphongryph
gryphongryph OP
389 posts
 
Went on EBay and bought 1 pair of each (Harrison Labs and Rothwell) looking forward to try them out.
paulcreed
565 posts
 
I had same problem with a Bruce Moore preamp with Goldpoint step volume control. Each click was to much gain, either to loud or not loud enough. I couldn't go past 8:00 or 8:30. My suggestion may not help but but I'll give it a shot. I had Goldpoint suggest a couple resistors to put on the volume pot and and after I installed them I could go to 1:00. It was a very easy solder job. Maybe you could install a new volume pot with more steps but that may be to drastic. Why is millercarbon so mean?
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Essentially the attenuators are resistors that will decrease sound pressure levels.  They come in various values i.e. 4, 6,10 db of reduction even higher values are available . @gryphongryp the Supratek seems to provide a lot of positive attributes in your system. No wonder you want to retain it. Just curious if you've tried a passive in your system for comparison?  
Charles 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
What value db attenuators are you trying?
Charles 
marlin38's avatar
marlin38
21 posts
 
If you can find a Muse Two DAC, they're nicely built PCM63-based R2R designs and only have 1.0v output.  They sound nice!
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