Are Pre-Amps necessary?

^ This will only inform you as to how it works in your system(s).  Not necessarily as a general rule.

 Ideally you’ll have a DAC with extra available bits for volume attenuation, with a voltage output that matches the input sensitivity of your amplifier(s) for full output. Such a combination will allow for full power output capability of the amp(s) and full range of the volume control without the risk of bit stripping from the DAC. Appropriate interconnects are also needed.

@twoleftears

Yep. All you need is a straight wire with gain and a potentiometer. Amazing that no one figured this out sooner.

well i had thought of that ages ago, but what has deterred me is done this way, i can’t easily get an extra $4,000 directional fuse in the signal chain -- and you know how those just make or break a system, ya???? 🤭🤭

Only if you want the best sound.

An excellent preamp is the heart of a system.  I went preampless for a while (dac direct to amps; berkley alpha dac and others).  NOTHING sounded as good as when I added a Jefff Rowland Criterion preamp.  It gave the wood winds wood wind; it gave brass the brass... It basically gave flesh to the musical bones.  

more seriously folks, i will quote @mikelavigne's response in the prior thread on the subject that i referenced earlier

if this place had 'stickies' on this subject as posed in the op's question, mike's post would have my vote as the definitive and 'straight to the heart of the matter' reply

09-30-2021 3:19pm

you cannot generalize about the importance of preamps as the contribution of preamps to the system performance is all about context and the resolution of the system.

at modest levels of gear preamps are limitations to performance as they add cables, plugs and mediocre circuits to the signal path. you are better off finding sources with analog volume controls that are capable of directly driving amplifiers (less is definitely more at modest levels). your net performance will be higher for the same investment. i’m over-simplifying things somewhat, but this is mostly how it goes. an exception is where you personally prefer the coloration a particular preamp might bring to what you hear. a matter of personal preference....and not how i like to do it.

past a certain point of gear performance/resolution level preamps start to add dynamics and drive to the music. then the next step is preamp synergy with amplifiers. the top level of preamps are the ones made to be optimized with particular amplifiers. at the cutting edge preamps limit amps and amps limit preamps. the idea is the sum is greater than the parts.

in my particular system i have a great passive preamp inside my MSB Select II Dac. it’s really fine directly driving my dart amps. but my darTZeel battery power active preamp combined with my dart amps is even better. but if i did not have multiple analog sources i would eliminate the dart pre and go naked with the MSB passive pre in my dac.