Are Preamplifier’s Relevant Today or just a Hinderance with Digital Playback ?

I had a Benchmark HPA4 preamp with a Gustard X26 Pro and the sound was fabulous. A killer pairing.

Then a few weeks ago, I moved the HPA4 to another room and had the Gustard DAC direct to amp. The music sounds a bit more lean. I also have a few semi loud pops on the speaker and also varying amounts of hiss. Turning the Gustard OFF and then ON again reset the hiss to a lower level. This did not give me me confidence on the DAC direct to amp.

Today I put in a CODA 07x preamp with Gustard. Great sound again with more body to the sound. Different from the HPA4 preamp but both are way better than DAC direct to amp on my setup, especially so at low volume. I am listening at low volume while my son goes to sleep in the next room and everything is there in the music, just at a lower volume. A digital volume cannot do low volume well, parts of the music go missing.

...stopped using a preamp nearly 3 decades ago.
Haven't missed it a bit.
A digital 'switcher' handles What, a simple matrix switchbay determines How.

For me, a screen control over a digital 'switchbay' would be a nice touch.  Plug everything into The Box, poke 'n prod the program into the route dujour, and enjoy....or whatever I'm listening For....

Yes, I do listen to 'the stuff', but not to the cables or ICs'.
I already 'know' what that sounds like.  What it Is....not what it's not....;)

At this point in my life, I listen less to vinyl and do more streaming. My digital rig sounds really good to me, and while my vinyl rig sounds better it’s not by much. A while back, I was considering selling my Technics 1200G and Herron VTSP-2A(r02) vinyl rig, and giving my 1,200 albums to my son. And I was curious as to how my system would sound without a pre amp.

In my listening room, I’m using a PS Audio BHK pre amp, DirectStream DAC, and BHK250 power amp. Since the DSD has a volume control, I connected it directly to the BHK250 for some A/B listening. The sound was soft and unengaging. So much for that experiment.

I came to my senses and decided to keep my vinyl rig. I’ve heard some amazing streaming systems, but the best I’ve ever head was vinyl, but that system was so far out of my price range I don’t even dream of owing one. I’m just saying .....

@oldschool1948 Try incorporating Fibre Optical cable to your streaming. It will make a world of difference. I use the Sonore Optical Rendu’s. Analog noise cannot travel inside Fibre Optical cable. A great equalizer in my opinion to cheaply getting noiseless streams into the DAC.

Yes, a good preamp is a necessity for a good audio system. 
  Each one has a somewhat sonic sound of its own.

  Only digital I do is iPod connected to preamp via the mini jack to preamps rca.  At low volume and background tunes.

critical,listening is LP & CD. 
I learned my lesson. I now do lossless?. I think for all my iPod playback,  CDs still sound better.