sahmen
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2014
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Most DACs have best quality at full output, including those that compensate for volume change. As long as your liquid platinum channel balance sounds good at listening level with DAC at full output that would be best bet.
This could be helpful, except that the Morpheus does not seem to have anything like a "full output" maxing out level... Or this is what the manual says:
"The volume control is a so called rotary encoder so it has no end stops like a normal potentiometer. By turning the volume
knob, the output level will be changed in steps of + or - 1 dB. After reaching a level of -64 dB the Morpheus will automatically switch to mute
mode. Increasing the volume level will disable the mute setting. In case that the Morpheus is set for “fixed output level” the volume knob has no
function except the “mute function”. The volume level is visible on the front panel display by exact Decibel level and a thermometer scale. In
fixed mode the display tells you the fixed user setting like -10dBF The “F” stands for fixed.
Remark: When using the Morpheus in conjunction with a power amp and without intervention of a pre amplifier the recommended
gain of the used power amp should be between 22 and 26dB!"
***Notice that it mentions -64 dB as the lowest volume level at which the Morpheus switches to mute mode, but mentions no upper volume limit, and therein lies the riddle...
There is no pre-amp between the Morpheus and the LP, so I think the best approach is to use the Morpheus as the variable volume controlling unit, with the LP's volume fixed somewhere between 22 and 26db as the manual and Cees both say. One main advantage to this approach is that the Morpheus brings a lot more play room, and with that, more layers and shades of subtlety and refinement to the sound and volume range than what the LP alone can muster precisely because of the volume control/pot limitations that many people have been complaining about in this forum. This elegant volume control workaround/solution has been one of the unexpected surprises of the Morpheus, and probably one of the best gifts it has brought to the LP, I think. I still do not understand how it works that kind of magic, nor had I seen an example of this particular approach before, although I have owned a few DACs with volume controls.
So I still have to figure out were the 22-26db range occurs on the LP's volume dial.