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IC's gain dependent?

I have been auditioning a number of IC's of late. There is one in particular that I like a good deal but when I use this IC, it requires the application of a good deal more gain to achieve the same volume level as another (all else except the cable exchange being equal). This may be a dumb question, but does anyone have an idea why this would occur?
4yanx
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
As far as I know, it could only be because of higher resistance (compared to the other IC's you've used), but I find it surprising that there could be as big a difference in this as you report. (I'm assuming it for a given that you are not comparing a single-ended IC to balanced IC's, or a very long one to short ones.) Has anybody else experienced something like this? I sure haven't...
4yanx OP
1,576 posts
 
Z, the cables are the same length and I am using them directly from the variable outputs on my tuner to amp. Both ends are RCA terminated. The difference in gain is between, for instance, from 9:00 to 10:00 for the same level of volume.
4yanx OP
1,576 posts
 
I have found this NOT to be a problem running direct to my SACD, so this must be a tuner issue.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Well, if the tuner had an unusually high output impedance (possibly because of the variable-output feature's potentiometer?), a highish-capacitance IC could exhibit noticable HF roll-off in combination, and I suppose this could be heard as a reduction in overall level upon non-instantaneous A/B comparision...
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