[Music Alchemist]

lol. Just about missed the darn package. I was lying in bed resting but still awake. I just barely heard a noise and went to the front door to check it out. Sure enough, USPS was seemingly about to leave without delivering my package. (Have postal workers ever heard of knocking?) But my efforts were not in vain. I have arisen victorious with STAX in tow. (Now I have both a 1979 SR-Λ and 2016 SR-L300.) So woozy...time to sleep. I'm just glad I didn't exceed my quota of one energy drink and soda, so I didn't hurt my body too much.

 

[Whazzzup]

 

[StanD]

lol. Just about missed the darn package. I was lying in bed resting but still awake. I just barely heard a noise and went to the front door to check it out. Sure enough, USPS was seemingly about to leave without delivering my package. (Have postal workers ever heard of knocking?) But my efforts were not in vain. I have arisen victorious with STAX in tow. (Now I have both a 1979 SR-Λ and 2016 SR-L300.) So woozy...time to sleep. I'm just glad I didn't exceed my quota of one energy drink and soda, so I didn't hurt my body too much.

Dream about Stax and be careful of the combination of high voltage, energy drinks and wet hair.

 

[wink]

.... and treat the volume control with utmost respect......

 

[Music Alchemist]

Dream about Stax and be careful of the combination of high voltage, energy drinks and wet hair.

.... and treat the volume control with utmost respect......

I made the mistake of downgrading to a DAC that barely outputs over 1 volt, so I have to crank the volume too much sometimes and get distortion with the SRM-252S. Gotta decide on another now that outputs 2 volts or more. On the plus (or just another minus?) side, I've been so enamored by the music that I haven't bothered eating for hours after the energy drink. I just keep hurting myself more every day with this caffeine abuse...

 

[wink]

Forget the energy drinks and go for thick shakes.....

 

[Whazzzup]

 

[Whazzzup]

I hear you on volt output, fortunately for myself chord TT outputs all kind a volts. I think 5v so middle fixed line out is plenty...

 

[StanD]

I made the mistake of downgrading to a DAC that barely outputs over 1 volt, so I have to crank the volume too much sometimes and get distortion with the SRM-252S. Gotta decide on another now that outputs 2 volts or more. On the plus (or just another minus?) side, I've been so enamored by the music that I haven't bothered eating for hours after the energy drink. I just keep hurting myself more every day with this caffeine abuse...

You might want to think things over. Too much voltage results in distortion. Having to crank up the volume of your amp to get to the same volume due to a lesser signal level could possibly increase the noise level a little but not cause distortion.

 

[Music Alchemist]

You might want to think things over. Too much voltage results in distortion. Having to crank up the volume of your amp to get to the same volume due to a lesser signal level could possibly increase the noise level a little but not cause distortion.

Hmm. But 2 volts is the standard line level output accepted in the industry. And when you push an amp's volume knob to its limit, that can make many amps distort regardless of other factors. At the moment I'm using the headphone output of a vintage receiver connected to the amp to get slightly more volume without distortion.

Edit: Bought a JDS Labs OL DAC and an optical cable too so I can experiment with USB and TOSLINK via a Behringer UCA202 audio interface.

 

[StanD]

Hmm. But 2 volts is the standard line level output accepted in the industry. And when you push an amp's volume knob to its limit, that can make many amps distort regardless of other factors. At the moment I'm using the headphone output of a vintage receiver connected to the amp to get slightly more volume without distortion.

Edit: Bought a JDS Labs OL DAC and an optical cable too so I can experiment with USB and TOSLINK via a Behringer UCA202 audio interface.

The nominal line level for consumer or pro audio is far less than 2 VRMS. You might be confusing that with the max. output spec. of a particular DAC. If you think 2V is not going to cause distortion, then 1V is not going to. You probably have different problem or have the numbers mixed up. Turning up the volume control shouldn't cause distortion unless you are driving to clipping which would be terribly loud for any input signal regardless of its level. Too high of an input signal might overload the input stage, however, that is not the scenario you describe.

 

[Music Alchemist]

The nominal line level for consumer or pro audio is far less than 2 VRMS. You might be confusing that with the max. output spec. of a particular DAC. If you think 2V is not going to cause distortion, then 1V is not going to. You probably have different problem or have the numbers mixed up. Turning up the volume control shouldn't cause distortion unless you are driving to clipping which would be terribly loud for any input signal regardless of its level. Too high of an input signal might overload the input stage, however, that is not the scenario you describe.

But I'm turning up the volume knob nearly all the way with some tracks. (These are electrostatic headphones that require much higher voltage than normal.) I'd say that could be clipping. On the other hand, there could be something weird with my computer causing the distortion because I got it at much lower levels with normal headphones/.amps recently. But there's no distortion with my active speakers. Perhaps using TOSLINK instead of USB could fix it too. I'll find out soon.
Edit: Now there's distortion on the speakers too.
Edit 2: When I use a 3.5 mm to dual RCA cable from one of the 3.5 mm outputs on my laptop to my passive preamp, the speakers have far more volume available than with the UCA202, and no distortion...but with the STAX amp (with preamp at max, or just connected directly to that cable), nothing changed; still distortion, and no more volume available than before. How strange...

 

[Whazzzup]

Ordered some special coffe from Brasilia, an 88% masterpiece, heads up when it arrives.
And oh ya our fluff ball can't resist a basket.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

But I'm turning up the volume knob nearly all the way with some tracks. (These are electrostatic headphones that require much higher voltage than normal.) I'd say that could be clipping. On the other hand, there could be something weird with my computer causing the distortion because I got it at much lower levels with normal headphones/.amps recently. But there's no distortion with my active speakers. Perhaps using TOSLINK instead of USB could fix it too. I'll find out soon.
Edit: Now there's distortion on the speakers too.
Edit 2: When I use a 3.5 mm to dual RCA cable from one of the 3.5 mm outputs on my laptop to my passive preamp, the speakers have far more volume available than with the UCA202, and no distortion...but with the STAX amp (with preamp at max, or just connected directly to that cable), nothing changed; still distortion, and no more volume available than before. How strange...

Every time I see your collection I'm a little jealous. You just keep adding to it too. At the moment I'm not really able to expand my collection any, but at the end of the summer I plan on purchasing the Campfire Audio Vega. This summer is taking too long, I want to have them now!

Ordered some special coffe from Brasilia, an 88% masterpiece, heads up when it arrives.
And oh ya our fluff ball can't resist a basket.

Can't wait to hear how it is! I'll be getting back into coffee at the end of the summer as well. Currently I'm so busy with work I hardly have any time.

 

[wink]