[Br777]

In various posts in this forum and others, I'm pretty sure I have read that when using a computer as a source it is crucial to turn the volume up on every component - i.e. computer volume, media player volume etc right up until the amp, and that you should only adjust the amp volume or you will lose fidelity or sound quality...

can someone explain what the reasoning/technicality is behind this?

i searched in every way i could think of on this forum and couldn't find anyone talking about this. I'm sure its in here somewhere so i apologize for asking a questions that's probably already been answered.

Thanks

 

[Skylab]

The reason is that using software to reduce the volume accomplishes this goal by throwing away bits. So you actually get lower resolution than you would if you were to have the software at 100%, and use the amps analog volume control to adjust the volume.

 

[Br777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif The reason is that using software to reduce the volume accomplishes this goal by throwing away bits. So you actually get lower resolution than you would if you were to have the software at 100%, and use the amps analog volume control to adjust the volume.

forgive my ignorance... what does "throwing away bits" actually mean in this context?

 

[FallenAngel]

To perfectly represent a sample ("slice" of music), you a certain number of bits (locations to store it). Without digital attenuation, the 16 bits (in case of CD audio) are filled. To attenuate it, you would need to intelligently change the values and still try to fit it into 16 bits. Unfortunately, dividing a number will not always give you a perfect result to the same number of "decimal points" (bits in this case) so the number can no longer be stored within 16 bits. You would need more bit depth (resolution) to adjust volume correctly. This is what Skylab means by "losing bits".

 

[Skylab]

Right, thanks FA.

This is the best explanation I know of:

Digital volume controls - Benchmark

 

[Br777]

since i can see that this conversation is already going over my head, i guess the real questions is this.
UPDATE: i reread a few times, and did a bit more research (now that i know what to search for - thanks) and what youre saying makes sense.. none the less...

If i want to turn the volume down to lets say half (i use foobar by the way), because even when my amp is turned ultra low, the sound is too loud sometimes, is this one of those degradations that only cyborg ears are going to hear, or is it really creating a dramatic effect...

by the way, I've tried, this, but I'm too much of a placebo skeptic to draw any certain conclusions

 

[Skylab]

Only you can decide what sounds good or bad to you. But in this case, there is no question that reducing the volume on your computer to half is going to result in worse sound.

 

[JulioCat2]

If you are using the analog out of you pc to your amp then turn your volumen down or you will get lots of distortion, volumen level set to 100% is good for sending bitperfect digital out to a dac.

 

[leeperry]

.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JulioCat2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you are using the analog out of you pc to your amp then turn your volumen down or you will get lots of distortion, volumen level set to 100% are good for sendinf bitperfect digital ou to a dac.

When you send the volume out from a PC using analog you turn the volume to 100% on the output.
The output signal is line level so there should be no distortion on your amplifer. Why would there be as the input is expecting this type of signal and it is within specification for line level input.

@Leeperry, don't mix up volume and dynamic range or SNR which is what you are doing.

 

[Br777]

FYI - my setup chain - foobar - usb dac - amp - cans
all solid state, no tubes

 

[KingStyles]

Couldnt he adjust the overall replay gain to lower or raise the overall volume without losing bits? I dont know about foobar but jriver has the option.

 

[wlvca]

With sensitive headphones and a powerful amp, which solution to reduce volume would result in the least degradation to the sound quality -

1. Turning the volume down on the computer

2. Inserting a device with a fixed gain reduction between the computer (or DAC) and the headphone amp - assuming the fixed gain device was matched to the headpone amps input ohm.

Thanks

 

[yukihiro]

I honestly don't know the answer to this question either.

I'll have everything set to max, and my amp is like 3-5 clicks from nothing for my Grados (less than the 9 o'clock position). Actually, my ES7's might even only need like 1-2 clicks from nothing. It's quite ridiculous if you ask me.

For a while, I was listening with foobar set to -5dbs, which slightly helped, but I'm not sure if I was losing sq like that. I guess it does sound better with everything at max, but it's way too loud.

I'd also like to know what my best option is. My friend turned up the volume to the 1 o'clock position and said that it was perfect. He does tend to ask "what?" a lot... lol

 

[emmodad]

some of the above posts expound on the "problem with digital volume control" (my quotes) in rather absolute terms.

as is unfortunately the case with many HF threads concerning digital audio, there seems to be a possible lack of completeness a/o understanding on the part of the author(s) wrt digitlal signal processing fundamentals.

in addition to the benchmark wiki page linked above, a further correct and easily-digestible resource on the topic is available from daniel weiss:

http://www.weiss-highend.ch/computer...el_Control.pdf

hth