Audiophile Loudness Wars—Too Much again!?

simple answer: turn down the volume. Does the same thing and easier than any of the methods described above - they are ALL resistive divider networks. Admittedly, the volume may track poorly at low volumes and most continuous volume controls are more colored than a pair of resistors (which is why i have not used them for new designs or in my own systems in years).
Now, on to your question; as always, "yes and no". :-)


yes, many components, notably DACs, put out a nominal voltage that is WAY above the unofficial "standard" of ~ 1Vrms line level at max volume. The new normal seems to be 2V rms. The worst offender i have seen is Theta (at least legacy Theta) at about 8V rms. This is enough to seriously over-drive the inputs of many pre-amps.

Why is this done?   Well, because enough people think the idea of "passive pre-amps with simply a passive volume control, is a good idea. So they give them lost of gain to play with. What do you know, the Theta DS-Pro DAC was derived form the earlier DS-Pre DAC/preamp. And in the electronics, apparently nothing changed.


I see the allure of a hgih quality passive attenuator in place of an amp; but only if you have the knowledge to ensure good impedance matching. These "DACs with power amps built in" solve that in spades.

But, in the end, you can just pad it down with the volume control. Its just a resistive divider, just like a gain attenuator would be (with a few caveats there for methods that IMO are worse yet).

Preamps i have designed, assuming the producers leave them mostly alone, have about 6-9 dB of gain typically.

G

Ah the loudness wars.

Don't ya just love it.

Too much gain, too much compression, too much clipping, too much volume. Too much of everything!

Setting up the system for the amount of gain you need or want is an important consideration. I can say that the loudness wars are real and the best equipment is the kind that grows on you not the stuff that just sounds loud on first listen.

Get an inline stereo attenuator; then, just adjust it to get the reduction in gain that you’re looking for. 

I have to wonder if the excess gain is in response to the jokers who think an amp is underpowered if they have to turn the volume control to 2:00 before their ears start to bleed.