[ColtMrFire]

Meaning if I buy a separate headphone amp (say, the Schiit Magni or the O2) and pair it with the D1 (for more power), will the D1's amp be bypassed?  Will I just be stacking amps?  I just want to use the DAC of the D1 and use the other pure amp to drive the headphones.

 

[PurpleAngel]

You can hook up just about any amplifier you want, to the Audioengine D1's RCA output jacks.
Or just sell off the D1 and get a different DAC.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Okay.  I ordered the Schiit Magni amp which should arrive tomorrow.
 
The reason is, when I watch movies, the D1 doesn't have enough volume range to get it loud enough.  I have Senn HD 558 cans.  Music is fine, but the downmixing of movies from surround to stereo drastically reduces the volume.
 
I will eventually replace the D1 with the Schiit Modi to have a Schiit stack (and eventually upgrade to HD 600 cans), but don't have the money for both at the moment, so for now I just need a more powerful amp.
 
What volume should I set the D1 at when pairing with the Magni?  Full?  Half?  

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Okay.  I ordered the Schiit Magni amp which should arrive tomorrow.
 
The reason is, when I watch movies, the D1 doesn't have enough volume range to get it loud enough.  I have Senn HD 558 cans.  Music is fine, but the downmixing of movies from surround to stereo drastically reduces the volume.
 
I will eventually replace the D1 with the Schiit Modi to have a Schiit stack (and eventually upgrade to HD 600 cans), but don't have the money for both at the moment, so for now I just need a more powerful amp.
 
What volume should I set the D1 at when pairing with the Magni?  Full?  Half?  

 
What are the sources (Blu-ray, DVD, Internet video, etc) of the movies and what programs do you use to play them.

 

[ColtMrFire]

I use JRiver Media Center to play everything from blurays to high rez video files (mkv, mp4).

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I use JRiver Media Center to play everything from blurays to high rez video files (mkv, mp4).

 
Are you connecting the computer to the Audioengine D1 using USB
or optical from the motherboard's on-board audio?
 
Trying to figure out why your getting low volume for movies.
Maybe the setting for the JRiver are not setup correctly?

 

[ColtMrFire]

Using the USB.  I'm pretty sure its just the downmixing from 5/6/7.1 soundtracks to stereo so I can listen to them with my headphones.  Someone on the JRiver forums explained it to me.  The volume doesn't get terribly low, just low enough to where I need an external amp with more power.