porridgecup
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2014
- Posts
- 95
- Likes
- 19
Just got a new computer and a new DAC - a 2021 MacBook Pro and the FiiO E10 USB DAC. Using the latest version of MacOS. Headphones are Sennheiser HD 8XX.
On my old computer and old Schiit Fulla USB DAC/amp, I noticed that when plugging in the DAC and selecting it in the "Output" tab of the Sound panel under System Preferences, I no longer had any ability to adjust the OS volume. It was grayed out.
Here, selecting the USB DAC in the Sound panel doesn't remove the ability to adjust the OS volume. I can increase or decrease the OS volume with the volume keyboard keys and the volume of the headphone output changes.
The recommendation I typically hear is to put your OS and software volume at 100% before sending it to the DAC. However, with this setup, if I set my OS volume to 100% and streaming software volume to 100%, it's way too loud to move the knob even all the way from the "0" to the "1" marker (i.e. ~10% of the knob's range), let alone anything higher. Even half-way between "0" and "1" can be too much, depending on the song.
Moving the knob even the tiniest bit results in a very dramatic volume change. The knob's already very tiny, and combined with how incredibly sensitive it is (and/or simply how loud the source signal is), I essentially can't really use it.
Is this to be expected? Should I just keep the OS and software volume maxed and always keep the knob under "1"? Why is it so different with this DAC/amp and/or OS compared to my Schiit Fulla and previous OS? Is the OS volume function not being grayed out relevant at all?
On my old computer and old Schiit Fulla USB DAC/amp, I noticed that when plugging in the DAC and selecting it in the "Output" tab of the Sound panel under System Preferences, I no longer had any ability to adjust the OS volume. It was grayed out.
Here, selecting the USB DAC in the Sound panel doesn't remove the ability to adjust the OS volume. I can increase or decrease the OS volume with the volume keyboard keys and the volume of the headphone output changes.
The recommendation I typically hear is to put your OS and software volume at 100% before sending it to the DAC. However, with this setup, if I set my OS volume to 100% and streaming software volume to 100%, it's way too loud to move the knob even all the way from the "0" to the "1" marker (i.e. ~10% of the knob's range), let alone anything higher. Even half-way between "0" and "1" can be too much, depending on the song.
Moving the knob even the tiniest bit results in a very dramatic volume change. The knob's already very tiny, and combined with how incredibly sensitive it is (and/or simply how loud the source signal is), I essentially can't really use it.
Is this to be expected? Should I just keep the OS and software volume maxed and always keep the knob under "1"? Why is it so different with this DAC/amp and/or OS compared to my Schiit Fulla and previous OS? Is the OS volume function not being grayed out relevant at all?
