Looking for... I don't know the term!!

I guess you're describing a volume control, which is usually on dedicated headphone amps. If you can swing a bit of cash, you might as well get an amp/DAC combo, which will sound better than your onboard sound card and allow you control the volume 'on the fly' independently from your computer. That depends on how much you're willing to spend, of course, but a separate amp/DAC seems like the most straightforward solution to me.

You are using headphones, I presume?

Maybe something like the SHURE PA235 Level Attenuator (passive volume control) ?

Something like this? http://www.tcelectronic.com/levelpilot.asp

That volume control looks nice enough, like some kind of designer paperweight. You might as well get some cable elevators while you're at it.

I think for the price of the volume control (a hundred dollars!) and the adapters needed to actually use headphones with it, you would be much better off with a low-end DAC/amp, like a Styleaudio UD-1 or a Nuforce uDAC-2, and get better sound quality while you're at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12345142 

That volume control looks nice enough, like some kind of designer paperweight. You might as well get some cable elevators while you're at it.

 

I think for the price of the volume control (a hundred dollars!) and the adapters needed to actually use headphones with it, you would be much better off with a low-end DAC/amp, like a Styleaudio UD-1 or a Nuforce uDAC-2, and get better sound quality while you're at it.

That really depends if he wants to change the sound signature or not.

I don't think the sound signature is that big of an issue here. Besides, a DAC/amp won't color the sound drastically. M50s are still M50s.

No matter how you twist it, $100 just for a designer volume control is pretty brazenly overpriced. There's no guarantee the volume control itself won't color the sound as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12345142 

I don't think the sound signature is that big of an issue here. Besides, a DAC/amp won't color the sound drastically. M50s are still M50s.

 

No matter how you twist it, $100 just for a designer volume control is pretty brazenly overpriced. There's no guarantee the volume control itself won't color the sound as well.

I thought that was what "passive" volume control meant, that it won't affect the sound other than volume control. I might be mistaken though.
 

If the signal passes through the device (passive or not) then there's opportunity for the sound to be affected.

I can not comment on the quality of the tc electronic option linked in this thread, but as any DIYer would, I am sure, note, a quality potentiometer or attenuator (which is all a level control really is, plus jacks, casing, and wire) actually makes up a good portion of any headphone amplifier's parts cost.

Per your op, it sounds like you are looking for convenience and not necessarily an increase in sound quality.  As such, many keyboards and other usb devices allow you to set up hot-keys to change the windows volume.

The STX is no slouch for its budget, but if you are indeed looking for a sound quality increase, the level control route is not really your best option, in my opinion.  I would go with an external sound card in this case as a solid level control is already getting you most of the way in price versus buying something from iBasso, nuForce, FiiO, etc...

We'll see what the OP settles on, having been given suggestions. They seem to be MIA, though.

Passive volume controls can effect sound signature by altering the output impedance that the driver sees. This is usually not a problem with most headphones because most have very significant damping already applied to the backside of the driver but there may be some that are underdamped physially that need the extra electrical damping to sound correct. I'm gessing that Grado headphones may be somewhat sensitive to output impedance of the amp for this reason. I found also all the higher end Grados I tried are sensitive to having things in close proximity to the back opening of the driver earcup that are as far away as a foot. Any flat or cupped surface closer than a foot from the backside of the Grados I tried caused a slight tonal shift & the collapse of the soundstage. This is why I think they would be sensitive to the passive volume control