[pldelisle]

Hi all, 
 
I'm having a hard time configuring my Mac. I've just installed a fresh copy of Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.1. I own the software Audirvana. One thing has always been bugging me : I cannot control the volume uniquely by my amplifier. If I activate the following parameter that should be enabled to get bit-perfect audio playback, the sound is terribly clipping and have a lot of distortion. It is not even listenable.
 

 
The only way to correctly listen to music with Audirvana is by selecting the Software Only option and minimizing the volume to -15 dB.
 
I've also tried another player, Fidelia, which does the same thing. In it, we can have a representation of the file where we clearly see the signal goes beyond 0 dB.
 

 
I can only listen to the song via the DIM button. CDs were extracted with XLD with log file 100%. Should not be a problem !
 
Is there a way in MacOS to get a reasonable signal out of the Mac ? Because I clearly don't see how to get a decent sound with direct volume. 
 
DAC is Schiit Gungnir. Amp is Schiit Asgard 2.
 
Thank you very much for your help !!!

 

[pldelisle]

Ok that was weird.
 
On my Gungnir, I have two sets of RCA outputs. I just switched the outputs between my Asgard 2 and my Onkyo receiver and no more distortion on both end devices with Audirvana set to DAC Only Volume Control.
 
Quite weird .... But now I'm satisfied. Anyone can explain this to me ?  
 
Well, if it happens to anyone else, try to change the outputs !  

 

[pldelisle]

Finally discovered that this is an impedance phenomenon when my Onkyo receiver is turned off.... weird.