Basically what MLE said. You can easily test it out though.
My own experience of using the G6 as dac and pre-amp to a more powerful amplifier via 3.5mm rear lineout (G6 > Loxjie P20 / Massdrop THX 789 AAA):
Max volume G6, endpoint amp only as loud as necessary: difference was not huge but at least noticeable enough to be worth considering
Max volume endpoint amp, G6 only as loud as necessary:
Difference more noticable still, enough to be a no brainier as the default setup. *However*, BE CAREFUL trying this. The G6 can prove temperamental when using rest / sleep mode for consoles (leading to random distortion necessitating disconnect /reconnect of G6 and reboot of consoles) and, during some kind of momentary glitch a week or so ago where my Ps Pro freezed momentarily for a few seconds, the sound from my G6 cutout before re-engaging. . . at MAX VOLUME. The G6 hadn’t remembered the relatively low volume level it was previously on, so I got a double dose of max G6 volume plus max amp volume. Cans are ok but NOT a pleasant experience and still have tinnitus from it Despite it only being a couple of seconds duration.
Doctor says eardrums are fine and my general hearing accuracy appears unimpaired but unclear at this stage whether the tinnitus will improve, let alone go away inner ear hair cells damaged, only temporary.
. if it lasts more than a month, then I’m gonna book an ENT appointment.
So, for best audio quality but some possible risk to cans / ears:
AMP at max, G6 at minimum
For best safety:
G6 at max, amp at minimum.
Maybe there is some recommended balanced happy medium to be had in between, dunno. Have been trying to avoid headphone use in the hope to heal up.
Yeah, they started off as a joke by Phanteks, April Fool’s or something like that, but they garnered such a positive reaction and genuine demand that the Phanteks went ahead and made them into an actual product.