A generic headphone amp question

[primus]

hi guys,

Well I've got a pretty basic headphone setup - Chaintech AV-710 -> Headsave Classic -> Beyer DT 531s - together but am unsure of something.

And I'm just wondering what volume levels I should be setting for optimum performance.

Instincts tell me to set the source (sound card volume in Windows) volume to minimum and the amp volume to maximum. Is this a correct theory? Obviously, if there just isn't enough volume at these settings, then bump up the sound card volume till it's suffice.

So basically, am I correct in having the amp volume at maximum at all times, and setting the sound card volume around it accordingly?

This is for games, music and movies (if it matters).

Thanks for reading

 

[The_Mac]

I'd set the sound card to somewhere near 50-75% and then just use the pot on the amp to get the proper levels there (that's assuming that at 50-75% card volume, the pot will be at 25-75% range... the optimal range)

 

[agile_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by primus Instincts tell me to set the source (sound card volume in Windows) volume to minimum and the amp volume to maximum. Is this a correct theory? Obviously, if there just isn't enough volume at these settings, then bump up the sound card volume till it's suffice.

I don't know what chaintech docs recommend, as I do not have one, but the docs for my Xitel Pro say to do just the opposite. That is, set the sound card's volume to MAX, and do all attenuation with your amp. This makes sense if you consider that the sound card is operating in the digital domain, and attenuation there is usually at the expense of dropping bits, whether it's actually audible or not (in terms of sound quality) is another story..

 

[primus]

hmmm ok, thanks for the replies.