[Andolink]

Other than Audio-gd and a few very high end headphone amp makers, emplyment of this not terribly complicated technology seems to be extremely rare.
 
Why so?
 
It woud seem to me that the huge added convenience of remote volume control combined with the absence of negatives such as sound degradation would make this feature much more widely available.

 

[murphythecat]

I know.
I really wonder why not more company build their own stepped attenuator instead of the ordinary sounding pots. I guess is to save money and pots work fine, but there's serious improvement to be made when going from pots to stepped attenuator (as big if not bigger then to get better caps for example)

 

[Andolink]

  I know.
I really wonder why not more company build their own stepped attenuator instead of the ordinary sounding pots. I guess is to save money and pots work fine, but there's serious improvement to be made when going from pots to stepped attenuator (as big if not bigger then to get better caps for example)

What you're saying makes complete sense to me.  I wonder why there seems to be no demand among audiophiles for what is superior technology that's really quite simple and inexpensive to implement.

 

[tomb]

 

  I know.
I really wonder why not more company build their own stepped attenuator instead of the ordinary sounding pots. I guess is to save money and pots work fine, but there's serious improvement to be made when going from pots to stepped attenuator (as big if not bigger then to get better caps for example)

What you're saying makes complete sense to me.  I wonder why there seems to be no demand among audiophiles for what is superior technology that's really quite simple and inexpensive to implement.

 
You keep saying that, but it's completely non-factual.

 

[Andolink]

Well the Audio-gd NFB 6 that I have (now discontinued) uses a relay-based stepped attenuator volume control and it certainly is far from being expensive even considering that it's a Chinese product.

 

[murphythecat]

  What you're saying makes complete sense to me.  I wonder why there seems to be no demand among audiophiles for what is superior technology that's really quite simple and inexpensive to implement.

Imlpementing a good stepped attenuator is not cheap though. The switch and the resistors quality comes into play and thos are expensive if SQ matters. Even for DIY, a good stepped attenuator can cost up to 400$.

 

[Andolink]

  Imlpementing a good stepped attenuator is not cheap though. The switch and the resistors quality comes into play and thos are expensive if SQ matters. Even for DIY, a good stepped attenuator can cost up to 400$.

Wow, that might explain why Audio-gd doesn't have the resources to produce a remote control that actually works.  I love my NFB-6 though.

 

[murphythecat]

  Wow, that might explain why Audio-gd doesn't have the resources to produce a remote control that actually works.  I love my NFB-6 though.

ya, look at diy project relaixed 2 which is very good. to built it yourself it still cost about 300-400$.
 
DACT or Goldpoint are also about 2-300$.
 
There's also glasshouse http://www.hificollective.co.uk/catalog/glasshouse-stereo-stepped-attenuator-elma-p-9977.html which uses the same switch that goldpoint use but with better resistors. Then you go crazy and use Rohpoint resistor at 7-8$ each for the best resistors and you need 100 of those.
 
Ive been on the lookout for the best attenuator. There's also LDR based like the lightspeed attenuator.
I plan to try the Mosaic VC, the lightspeed attenuator, the ifi itube and a django tvc and compare as I need a good passive pre for my speaker system

 

[Greg70]

I'll be interested in the results of your tests murphythecat.
 
There are people who claim there's a downside to any contact based system, which includes stepped and relay based attenuators, and it seems the LDR solutions introduce distortion of their own.
 
The ultimate solution is probably the autoformer volume controls, but they're not cheap, especially if you want IR control.
 
http://www.myemia.com/Prod.html

 

[murphythecat]

  I'll be interested in the results of your tests murphythecat.
 
There are people who claim there's a downside to any contact based system, which includes stepped and relay based attenuators, and it seems the LDR solutions introduce distortion of their own.
 
The ultimate solution is probably the autoformer volume controls, but they're not cheap, especially if you want IR control.
 
http://www.myemia.com/Prod.html

I'll ty to find autoformer but they dont come cheap. Ill probably eventually find a dave slagle and also compare. I'm waiting for used unit though so it will take time before I can test,.

 

[Greg70]

  I'll ty to find autoformer but they dont come cheap. Ill probably eventually find a dave slagle and also compare. I'm waiting for used unit though so it will take time before I can test,.

Looking forward to your findings murphythecat.
 
Id love a remote autoformer, but there's little out there since Bent Audio stopped taking orders.
The only one I've found is the Emia, which I'm sure is amazing, but a remote setup with XLRs is $7500.00 !