I was under the impression that when your computer volume set at 100% that is the normal volume of the track and that is when you are getting nominal line level output. any volume changes below 100% is digital attenuation (reduction of the strength of the signal). when you digitally reduce the signal, sometimes the result has to be rounded off. aka 4-bit value of 13 halved by digital attenuation would result in 7 (since 4-bits words has to be represented by whole numbers), so that is not as accurate as the original 15.
I believe you can get digital clipping is if the software processing the amplitude of the signal goes beyond largest positive value that can be represented. aka when a value of 2000 is doubled to 4000, but the maximum value that can be represented is only 3000. but I don't think that would happen with most recorded songs unless you artificially alter the signal strength.
There are programs that can push the digital volume beyond the 100% and that is when you get issues with clipping and distortion. Programs like MP3gain would be an example would digitally alter the signal to boost volume which can lead to distortion. Sound enhancements like loudness equalization or "set volume for all songs the same" options can push songs above 100% which can create distortion, so best turn it off those enhancements.
what I've always heard was to max source, max media player (only to 100% as some programs can go above that with >100% settings or dB boost settings), and control volume with amp only.
basically the concept is that you want to leave the digital volume alone and only play with the analog volume control. (edit: and if you are worried about software processing, then perhaps have the media player volume a bit lower but I am unsure about this)
however, I am not an expert on the topic, so I would love to read other people's thoughts.
Sorry... my phone thinks it knows better than me and tries to autocorrect things, despite the fact that I have that feature disabled.
I was asking if you had generated test files at a known amplitude, then played it out of your DAP at full volume and recorded the output, then processed the captured data to see if the DAP played it out at the expected level or if it applied a gain.
You'd have to know the characteristics of the DAP and audio capture card front ends to figure it out. I don't think it's worth the effort, so I haven't done it myself... and since I can't be 100% positive what the behavior of my source is, I don't think it makes sense to risk the chance that the audio may be clipping by setting the volume all the way up. I balance the desire for more dynamic range with my worry about clipping by backing off the volume a little bit. I think it makes the most sense without having all of the information.
I saw something in your post about rounding... I didn't mention any thing before... but there is probably rounding all over the place through the DSP chain on the source. DSP is particularly prone to substantial bit growth because of how many operations require multiplies... There is likely rounding at multiple stages. There are, of course, methods for rounding that will help minimize the impact. For example you could dither the truncated bits before rounding to randomize whether you round up or down, you could round to the nearest even so you don't skew the mean value, etc. And halving 13 does not automatically mean you have to truncate to 6 (or round up to 7)... DSP is done with fixed point math, 6.5 (more specifically 13/2) can be represented in 6.1 format (6 bits, one of which is fractional) as 001101.
not trying to revive an old thread, but I stumbled upon this thread when I googled "headfi PC amp max volume"
after reading through this thread and did some tests myself, here is what I found:
source volume (ie phone, DAP, PC etc) should play the loudest possible without clipping, and on my PC, that is about 50% volume, YMMV
so bottom line is, there is no magical volume you need to be at, each source has it's clipping threshold, and you gotta find it for that particular source.
not trying to revive an old thread, but I stumbled upon this thread when I googled "headfi PC amp max volume"
after reading through this thread and did some tests myself, here is what I found:
source volume (ie phone, DAP, PC etc) should play the loudest possible without clipping, and on my PC, that is about 50% volume, YMMV
so bottom line is, there is no magical volume you need to be at, each source has it's clipping threshold, and you gotta find it for that particular source.
Source volume is disabled if you bypass Windows Mixer through WASAPI or ASIO, and this plays music at the source file volume levels (i.e. no alteration of the bits via software EQ, DSP, software volume control).
I was always under the impression that having the PC volume set at 100% was the equivalent to a fixed line level output, true or false?
Also can't this be tested by playing a CD on a PC plugged into an amp and then playing the same CD on a CD player outputting from the RCA's into the same amp?
If the output is digital, it's true as long as the DAC's line out is fixed. On analog or using on-board audio, it depends on the model. Some only provide .5V or 1V rather than 2V
I have my sens 650 and old schit vali connected to laptop , and I always turn my amp all the way up and adjust on pc.
That way I hear all the registers with equal value and all that;s left is the prefered volume.
Question. If I’m going line-out from my dac/amp to an external amp does it matter if I’m on low or high gain on the dac/amp? Or is high gain preferable since it’s feeding a similarly low output amp? Volume changes on the dac/amp effect the volume of the external amp.
Source -> DAC/AMP
= Make sure DAC/AMP has atleast 30% more than the source to lower the noice level from the source.
= In this setup normally we get a not very powerful amp when a device is DAC+AMP.
= when you are travelling make it 50-50 so not to drain your DAC/AMP quickly.
Source -> AMP
= Make sure DAC/AMP has atleast 50% more than the source to lower the noice level from the source.
= In this setup normally we get a very powerful dedicated amp so make your source volume as low as possible.
= when you are travelling make it 50-50 so not to drain your AMP quickly.
Source -> DAC
= In case your DAC have a volume feature, noise level does not apply because a DAC is not an AMP so make the Source at full volume and let the adjustment happen in the DAC.
= A very good example is the Chord Mojo DAC, If you put the source at 50% your Mojo need to go full volume just to hear it! lol!
= In my case my Fiio M6 is at 120% volume level and Mojo is in both-RED.
= This extends my Mojo's play time to 13hrs.
Bumping the thread...! Here goes... after reading this thread I got lost too...! any clarifications will be greatly appreciated.
This is how I go...!
Foobar Volume 100% and PC volume 100% ---> USB cable to ---> FX Audio Dac-X6 (Dac only) ----> Little Dot MKII (Adjust the volume from there) ----> HD6XX
Am I doing it right or wrong? Sorry for sounding stupid and noobish!
Foobar Volume 100% and PC volume 100% ---> USB cable to ---> FX Audio Dac-X6 (Dac only) ----> Little Dot MKII (Adjust the volume from there) ----> HD6XX
Am I doing it right or wrong? Sorry for sounding stupid and noobish!
With digital volume, if you can use 100%, go 100%.
With analog source volume, use line out, or 1 volume setting less than maximum or, maximum volume before distortion. Use your headphone amp for the rest.
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