[dmehling]

I need some advice on setting up a headphone amp in the most convenient manner possible.  I have decided on a particular DAC in order to listen to streaming music and MP3s from my computer.  The DAC will be connected to my stereo receiver.  In addition, I want to add a dedicated headphone amp.  I will be connecting the DAC to that as well, but probably indirectly through the receiver's line outputs.  The only thing I'm not really sure how to do is control the volume of the headphone amp.  The reason is that I have a physical disability and I have no use of my hands.  I am used to controlling everything on my computer.  But the more I have read about DAC's, I have learned that you should not use the Windows volume control.  Rather it should be maxed out and volume adjustment should be done on the receiver or headphone amp.  If I can find a headphone amp with a remote, I can program my PC to send IR commands to the amp.  However, very few amps seem to exist with that capability.  I'm also on an extremely tight budget.  An alternative idea was to have a mini amp receive input from the DAC, and the line outs connect to my headphone amp.  I found a mini amp that does have infrared capability, so I could control volume on that.  What I don't know is if volume adjustments on the mini amp would change volume on the headphone amp.  Can anyone tell me if this particular amp would allow me to do that:
www.amazon.com/Lepai-LP-A68-Digital-Amplifier-Remote/dp/B00721Z1AE/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1393026462&sr=1-3

 

[Koolpep]

  I need some advice on setting up a headphone amp in the most convenient manner possible.  I have decided on a particular DAC in order to listen to streaming music and MP3s from my computer.  The DAC will be connected to my stereo receiver.  In addition, I want to add a dedicated headphone amp.  I will be connecting the DAC to that as well, but probably indirectly through the receiver's line outputs.  The only thing I'm not really sure how to do is control the volume of the headphone amp.  The reason is that I have a physical disability and I have no use of my hands.  I am used to controlling everything on my computer.  But the more I have read about DAC's, I have learned that you should not use the Windows volume control.  Rather it should be maxed out and volume adjustment should be done on the receiver or headphone amp.  If I can find a headphone amp with a remote, I can program my PC to send IR commands to the amp.  However, very few amps seem to exist with that capability.  I'm also on an extremely tight budget.  An alternative idea was to have a mini amp receive input from the DAC, and the line outs connect to my headphone amp.  I found a mini amp that does have infrared capability, so I could control volume on that.  What I don't know is if volume adjustments on the mini amp would change volume on the headphone amp.  Can anyone tell me if this particular amp would allow me to do that:
www.amazon.com/Lepai-LP-A68-Digital-Amplifier-Remote/dp/B00721Z1AE/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1393026462&sr=1-3

 
Hi!
 
well, unfortunately the one you have selected is not a headphone amp but an amp for speakers. It doesn't have a headphone out as far as I can see. 
 
However, I have a Muse Audio mini DAC USB that I don't use anymore (not because of the audio quality, because that is really incredibly good, especially for the price of around $50). I LOVED its sound quality and it has a headphone amp build in (3.5mm headphone out). However its volume can only be set via the PC or Mac. This is not necessarily a bad thing, an amp can take over the volume control directly while getting the full signal to amplify. For normal amps with built in volume control this is of course not true. 
 
here is the one I have and some reviews: http://www.amazon.com/PCM2704-Optical-Coaxial-Decoder-Converter/dp/B0093KZTEA
It features the reputed Texas Instruments Burr Brown PCM 2704 chip.
 
If you send me your mailing/postal address via pm, I can send it to you free of charge, I would you to have it. However you need to cover any customs that might be charged ( I will send it from Dubai, UAE). If you don't like it, sell it or better give it away to someone else who can use it. What do you think?
 
Cheers,
K

 

[dmehling]

Thanks for your offer, but I'm not exactly sure if that's the kind of device I need.  It doesn't have any RCA inputs which I must have for other reasons.  Aside from that, it looks like a great device.
About the amp, I know it's not a headphone amp.  I guess I didn't make it clear enough what I'm doing with it.  I thought perhaps I could use it as a remote volume control for a headphone amp.  I would connect the line outs of the amp to the line in of the headphone amp.  However, I don't know if the volume control on the amp would have any effect on the line outputs.  That's what I'm trying to find out.