I think they're usually like digitally controlled pots, right? I know I've heard of DACs and CD players "lowering bit depth" with their volume controls, but I don't know if there's any truth to it. Maybe, but technically if you express total dynamic range in terms of real world bit depth (like "18 bit" which is very high actually) any reduction in the source's output potentially decreases this spec. Hence the reason companies often use very hot outputs to make their performance seem better. It's easier to get great S/N and TDR with a 4V output. But I'm not sure about the reality of the bit-depth-reducing thing in the DAC-stage people used to complain about on my Denon DCM-370 in storage, for instance. I'll leave that to more technically-inclined peeps to comment on.
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