My rather complex desktop audio system has gain issues. They first emerged when I went from delta-sigma DACs outputting 1.9V to a NOS DAC outputting 2.5V. Gain issues worsened when I went from that NOS to another NOS w/3.0V output.
There are all kinds of workarounds, and it's true that some volume pots are more linear at the extreme low/high setting than others. But I concluded that too much gain causes problems that are not easy to resolve downstream. I also know that a balanced DAC (which might be desirable for certain technical reasons) is impossible in this system: a DAC output 4.0-4.5V would wreck me.
There are all kinds of workarounds, and it's true that some volume pots are more linear at the extreme low/high setting than others. But I concluded that too much gain causes problems that are not easy to resolve downstream. I also know that a balanced DAC (which might be desirable for certain technical reasons) is impossible in this system: a DAC output 4.0-4.5V would wreck me.