[AntonNZ]

Hm, you guys need a passive preamp, schiit has one https://www.schiit.com/products/sys
or, if you want to feel fancy, you can opt for LDR for the purest sound transition, no direct connection from the knob to the sound path...
https://stereocoffee.wixsite.com/ldrpreamp/the-designer
https://tortugaaudio.com/products/archive/ldr3-v25-passive-preamp/
https://www.javahifi.com/review-product/ldr-pre-amp-single

this way you can keep the volume on the highest and have the ability to adjust the volume to your liking

 

[SmartCheetah]

I just tested it with the volume maxed out in the S17 (and compensated in Windows) compared to a lower volume setting on the S17 with the Windows volume maxed out. I couldn't hear any difference in sound quality. My unit is has no volume or overheating issues if that matters.

 

[ngohw]

Hm, you guys need a passive preamp, schiit has one https://www.schiit.com/products/sys
or, if you want to feel fancy, you can opt for LDR for the purest sound transition, no direct connection from the knob to the sound path...
https://stereocoffee.wixsite.com/ldrpreamp/the-designer
https://tortugaaudio.com/products/archive/ldr3-v25-passive-preamp/
https://www.javahifi.com/review-product/ldr-pre-amp-single

this way you can keep the volume on the highest and have the ability to adjust the volume to your liking

in-line attenuators seem to do the trick too, most popular ones (at least in the UK) seem to be manufactured by Rothwell Audio -- they have ones for XLR and RCA inputs. I've not tried either but will definitely look into picking some up in future, especially as I'm leaning towards Qutest which does not have a volume control

 

[lucanato]

hi guys my s17 has arrived yesterday.. o gosh this is the amp, i love it from the 10 second i listened. i'm a musician and an audiophile from 30 years and it takes few second to decide if something worth or not, for example having listened to ef400 in one minute decide to re sell it. this amp is wonderfull, sound wonderfull, the sound is spread well, instruments are well layered and they keep their right timbre and the attack of the sound is correctly fast,crisp, you feel the energy of the musician a lot of micro details (texture) and its a not a warm sound , rolled off somewhere, and the reverb the sense of space is great. i listened to all these increasing in quality, driving it from just a rca cable coming from a ifi gryphon so imagine what can i obtain with a better dac trough an xlr cable. now i'm looking for the sibling dac to this, to drive with the maximum magic my he1000se but 2/3 of the road has passed! buy it with confidence, thanks Giangi to having sold it to me

 

[sendler2112]

Why choose not to use the nice precision resistor based volume control in favor of digital volume control? I have always found that as little as -10db of digital volume control begins to degrade to sound since you are throwing away bits.

 

[SmartCheetah]

for example having listened to ef400 in one minute decide to re sell it.

No doubt the S17 Pro is a better amp, but have you tried the EF400 as a DAC? I'm currently enjoying this combo.

 

[lucanato]

No doubt the S17 Pro is a better amp, but have you tried the EF400 as a DAC? I'm currently enjoying this combo.

i tried ef 400 as a stand alone dac not with s17pro and i dont't like it it sounded all in your face and sound muffled and like distorted, it was a real pity the ef 400 whatever i tried to using it

 

[MaxMini]

hi guys my s17 has arrived yesterday.. o gosh this is the amp, i love it from the 10 second i listened. i'm a musician and an audiophile from 30 years and it takes few second to decide if something worth or not, for example having listened to ef400 in one minute decide to re sell it. this amp is wonderfull, sound wonderfull, the sound is spread well, instruments are well layered and they keep their right timbre and the attack of the sound is correctly fast,crisp, you feel the energy of the musician a lot of micro details (texture) and its a not a warm sound , rolled off somewhere, and the reverb the sense of space is great. i listened to all these increasing in quality, driving it from just a rca cable coming from a ifi gryphon so imagine what can i obtain with a better dac trough an xlr cable. now i'm looking for the sibling dac to this, to drive with the maximum magic my he1000se but 2/3 of the road has passed! buy it with confidence, thanks Giangi to having sold it to me

Could you try to use volume control in IFI at the same time as the volume in Aune is set to 63 max and write what your impressions are regarding the sound comparison.

@SmartCheetah even wrote that the volume control in Aune is at the same level as the volume control in Windows, which can be a not good sign.

In my system, the volume control in DAC R26 degrades the sound less than the volume control in Aune. Remembering that volume control always affects sound quality.

 

[lucanato]

Could you try adjusting the volume in IFI at the same time as the volume in Aune is set to 63 max and write what your impressions are regarding the sound comparison.

@SmartCheetah even wrote that the regulation in Aune is at the same level as the regulation in Windows, which can be a terrible sign.

In my system, the adjustment in DAC R26 degrades the sound less than the adjustment in Aune.

i've already tried, quikly, not doing a-b test, but too many experiment have confused me so i remember only that sound come out with less effort but i let you know with better tests. i was wandering what was the correct volume on ifi to drive s17 cause after last firmware upgrade the scale was to 0 to 100 and than turbo. A friend of mine said me to set to 100 but with that volume if i put the s17 at 01 music is not nearly disappeared as as should be... now i'm looking for a proper dac, a dac that is informative but not sterile, it doesn't have to go over 1000 euros, this dac has to have a nice bass to fill the he 1000 se timbre. the 2 dac i'm targeting are d70 pro octo ( but only one review said that it misses sub bass) and the other one is smsl su-10. my only experience with r2r is the terrible (for me) ef400 but i can't imagine a better r2r sounding even if i read and listened to a LOT of reviews saying that dimensions of the stage are bigger but there is a little roll off ob both the bass and treble and mycrodinamic is so and so. Mycrodinamic IS the music information that is more importanr for me, than thickness of the sound , than separation, than stage.

 

[SmartCheetah]

i tried ef 400 as a stand alone dac not with s17pro and i dont't like it it sounded all in your face and sound muffled and like distorted, it was a real pity the ef 400 whatever i tried to using it

Interesting. I compared the EF400 to the FiiO K7, Earmen St-AMP as AiO and in different combinations and didn't find the EF400's DAC to be either muffled or distorted, even compared to the neutral and clean ST-AMP. But you made me to at least try to pair the S17 Pro with some dedicated, highly appreciated DAC to compare. At least earlier than anticipated Nevertheless, to me the current pairing of the EF400 in the NOS mode + S17 Pro sounds really good. Better than anything I heard before.

@SmartCheetah even wrote that the volume control in Aune is at the same level as the volume control in Windows, which can be a not good sign.

This is not what I said. I said that I compared the sound quality with S17 volume at ~35 and Windows at 100% VS Aune at max volume & Windows adjusted to match loudness. This was to test the theory that the S17 sounds much better past volume 56. I can't confirm it, at least on my unit.

 

[MaxMini]

This is not what I said. I said that I compared the sound quality with S17 volume at ~35 and Windows at 100% VS Aune at max volume & Windows adjusted to match loudness. This was to test the theory that the S17 sounds much better past volume 56. I can't confirm it, at least on my unit.

I meant the sound quality level, not the volume level, becouse you wrote earlier: "I couldn't hear any difference in sound quality"

 

[SmartCheetah]

I meant the sound quality level, not the volume level, becouse you wrote earlier: "I couldn't hear any difference in sound quality"

Ok, but what did you mean by it's not a good sign?

 

[ngohw]

I wasn't overly convinced with R2R DACs when I tried them with the S17 Pro -- nothing wrong with it, just did not wow me enough to spend that much.

What did wow me were Chord DACs; I managed to pick up a Hugo TT for a reasonable price and I have been enjoying it for a bit now. All I can say is, this really did wow me, I'm hearing many veils lifted from my music and it removes that over processed sound I felt I got from my previous DAC on more instrumentally 'intense' tracks I listen to, zero distortion and still maintains that warm signature I love from the amp and headphones.

FPGA DACs are the real deal!

 

[listen4joy]

A Review

 

[MaxMini]

A Review

I also wrote earlier that the Aune has grainy treble on the HE1000, I missed the warmth in the vocals, now I know that the Aune requires at least 300 hours of warm-up to start playing like a pure class A for my ears. Moreover, I recommend doing 30 or more cold starts during the warm-in period. up to 60 degrees C to get rid of grainy treble