Does a DAC need a pre-amp

[davide256]

 Pre amps are important. I think of them as  the diplomatic buffer and negotiator  between two parties that don't get along well face to face, your sources and your amp.  More of the music gets heard with a good pre-amp in the picture

[davide256]

18 hours ago, gradier said:

I am playing my music collection (ALAC files) through JRiver and listening via an IFI IDAC2 and M-Audio M-38 powered monitors. Right now, I have to use the mouse on the computer to control volume (the IDA2 does not have  volume control for the RCA OUTS). Is this a scenario where I would benefit from having a pre-amp? If it had volume control, that would be a possible benefit, but my real question is this: Is there any advantage from the point of view of sound to adding a preamp to the chain between the DAC and the powered speakers?

Depends. Cheap pre-amps really aren't worth buying. Something like a Burson Conductor V2 (integrated DAC/pre)  for your solution may be a  better bet where you get a better DAC and quality pre circuitry in one package. You can also buy DAC's with electronic volume control, but I've never used electronic volume control where I didn't have "oops" moments of blasting sound at 100db because the software reset. WIth an analog control, your equipment ( and your hearing) is better protected against destructive accidents.

[davide256]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

 

crummy recordings

Under performing transport solutions destroy bass dynamic range, they dither the signal. And amps start to act up as the music signal gets closer to a pure DC voltage.

[davide256]

51 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

 

you mean a mechanical transport?  or the general phenomenon of moving the bits to a DAC via cable, etc.?

 

I know some of my recordings sound great on drums & others suck, so I blame the recording engineers.

Transport to me means turntable/arm/cartridge solution,  cd media spinner/laser reader, tape player, and digital renderer. They are devices where music data in one form is translated to an audio signal in a different form. Bass improvement (clarity, weight, tone color) is often the first recognizable sign of significant improvement from a transport  upgrade.

[davide256]

22 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

I'm not understanding how mechanical speed variation in reading bits off a CD would affect SQ.  Shouldn't the buffers handle this?

For LP's motor speed variation itself  isn't that different between a modest and expensive disc player. What differs is the damping & isolation of the transport  protecting the disc read from being dithered by rotational and external vibration.  In a CD player you are reading pits off the  disc surface at high speed, I suspect that vibrations causes same because  you see a lot of hardening in better CD transports.

 

 

[davide256]

9 hours ago, esldude said:

From your usage, I don't think dither means what you think it means.  Jittered maybe is what you have in mind?

hmm, perhaps not. Dither = "white noise" is not what I was intending to describe. Jitter is probably an inexact term also in that superimposed vibrations aren't random, have 1 or more component frequencies. 

[davide256]

and now for something completely different