[runswithaliens]

I have read more than once that adjusting your volume on the software side is bad because it is done in the digital domain, and if I understand correctly, when you do that the sound quality goes down. 
 
On the other hand I have been reading how great the Asus Xonar Essence XT soundcard is. 
 
However, with such a soundcard you would have your headphones plugged directly into it and so the only way to adjust the volume would be through the software. Am I missing something, or does this then mean that you are going to have degraded performance unless you are running it full blast?

 

[proton007]

If I understand correctly, the software control on your pc controls the audio chip's volume through the driver. Digital volume control is different.

 

[stv014]

Quote:

If I understand correctly, the software control on your pc controls the audio chip's volume through the driver. Digital volume control is different.

 
Actually, software digital volume control works just as well as a hardware one, as long as it uses the maximum (usually 24 bit) resolution the hardware is capable of, like it should. With digital volume control, the dynamic range decreases as the volume is reduced, since the maximum level is lower, while the noise floor remains the same. Therefore, it is not a problem as long as the fixed noise floor is not high enough to be audible. If you do not hear hiss or other noise from the headphone jack of the Essence ST, then the use of digital volume control is fine.