Tube DACs

@allanblissett every dac has an analog output stage, volume or no volume.

Obviously if a DAC has a tube, the tube has nothing to do with digital. It is usually a cathode follower for impedance matching to the device the DAC is feeding and it's there to color the sound to be tube like(otherwise it's colored solid state like).

@allanblissett volume control inside a dac is often done digitally,  and if done right causes no loss of resolution. 

AFAIC tubes should be in every possible gain or buffer stage. 🙂

There are many great solid state preamps. Nothing wrong, at all, with using one. I still prefer high end tubed preamps. When I have compared similar prices ss and tubed preamps I have preferred the tubed… they have a more natural and musical presentation. There are probably exceptions.

Controlling amps directly from DACs is not a thing yet. Many people have tried it and most have abandoned it. You end up with great details and a sterile sound. I suspect over the next twenty years this will slowly change as digital dominates the market and analog becomes less main stream.

But for now, unless you want to put out a lot of money, a lot of research time and probably buy you DAC (non-tube) and amp from the same manufacturer, it is better to assume you need a high quality DAC and Preamp.

All components have a sound. Tube DACs were not designed to eliminate the preamp any more than a tube phono pre is. Yes tubes into tubes could get too tubey but if they are well designed they will probably work fine. No generalizations are possible.