[Staal]

Hey guys!
 
As I'm trying to get more into computer audio I'm quickly running into problems. I managed to feed my Yulong D100 dac/amp with 24/96 properly with Foobar --> WASAPI --> Yulong D100 (hooked up via coax).
 
I do have some issues with volume control though. I've got my "Realtek Digital Output (Optical)" at around 10% in the tray, foobar at around -18dB and my Yulong D100 at around 5-10% turned up. One of the issues with this current setup is the fact that controlling the volume sensitively gets pretty annoying, as I have several places to turn up and down. Ideally I'd just be running everything at 100% and adjust on my Yulong D100 and hence being able to go above 10% would be great as it would allow for me to find just the right volume rather than settling at the tick before "too loud to be pleasant"
 
I was wondering whether all this "muting" affects the audio quality, especially the digital "muting" - but I don't see any way around it. Having either my "sound" in the tray at 100% or foobar at 100% would kill my ears within seconds (not to mention my CIEMs).
 
Is there any way around this issue or should I just stop worrying about it?

 

[lee730]

Not sure if this will be of any help but usually when using plug ins such as WASAPI or ASIO they playback your music bit for bit and there is no volume control. If anything you would normally use your amp to attenuate the sound to your preference. In my case I'm using my UHA4 to do this and since it has a great digital potentiometer it gives me a lot of headroom. and comfortable volume. I think adjusting your DAC would affect things though, I could be wrong.

 

[Staal]

I might be doing the whole WASAPI thing wrong then, as I'm able to adjust volume several places (and thank god for that, if everything digital was 100% my ears would've been dead just from turning on the D100 at 1%)

 

[lee730]

Quote:

I might be doing the whole WASAPI thing wrong then, as I'm able to adjust volume several places (and thank god for that, if everything digital was 100% my ears would've been dead just from turning on the D100 at 1%)

 
Well if anything you aren't suppose to adjust the volume from the program you are using WASAPI with "if it is bit for bit playback". I use Media Monkey for this and it works for both WASAPI and ASIO. I prefer Asio though as the sound is more neutral, bass is tighter and more emphasis on the treble. With WASAPI the bottom end seems to have extra emphasis which I don't need. I did try getting foobar to work but was never able to get it to do proper playback "bit for bit" so I ditched it.

 

[Staal]

Right, so I managed to have the "audio" icon in the system tray at 100%. After a restart of the PC, turning the volume up & down here doesn't affect the sound played from Foobar.
 
Still stuck with the problem that running Foobar at full volume rather than -18 dB or so means that the music gets too loud even at very low volumes with the D100. In other words, I can't really adjust the volume with the knob on my DAC/Amp as it gets way too loud way too soon. I'm pretty much stuck between a little too quiet and way too loud. 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Right, so I managed to have the "audio" icon in the system tray at 100%. After a restart of the PC, turning the volume up & down here doesn't affect the sound played from Foobar.
 
Still stuck with the problem that running Foobar at full volume rather than -18 dB or so means that the music gets too loud even at very low volumes with the D100. In other words, I can't really adjust the volume with the knob on my DAC/Amp as it gets way too loud way too soon. I'm pretty much stuck between a little too quiet and way too loud. 

 
So is this an Amp/Dac combo? I say it's always better to get an amp with very good volume control (Digital Potentiometer). If you are using them with IEMs the UHA4 and Pico Slim are prime for IEM usage.

 

[Staal]

Yep, it's a DAC/Amp combo. I actually went with this product so that I could get a great bang-for-the-buck DAC and not have to throw hundreds of dollars after an amp on top of that. I used to own the Slim and agree with you that it's great for IEMs.
 
I'm starting to think I might need an impedance adapter if I'm gonna stick with my current setup. 

 

[lee730]

Don't impedance cables kill the dynamics of the music? I've noticed it takes the presentation further away (and for vocals that's a big no, no for me).
 
I use a DACport LX with my UHA4 and I consider this combo even better than my DX100.