If I just use a DAC, do I need a Pre-amp?

Luminous Audio makes a passive preamp with a volume control that is not in-line with the signal. It works great, trouble free, and it does not change the sound. You can add inputs and outputs and selector switches as desired.

Not sure if this is to be believed but some reviewers were stating that the addition of this preamp made the DAC sound even quieter than direct DAC to amp.

Who ever said this is yanking himself, because it’s impossible, unless there was a grounding problem.

Nelson Pass,

“We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10 db more.

Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.

Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an input selector and a volume control.

What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors – just musical perfection.

And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the volume control up compared to an active preamp.”

Luminous Audio makes a passive preamp with a volume control that is not in-line with the signal.

That’s just uses a series fixed resistor with a pot shunted to ground, best is is a series/shunt ladder as it gives far better input impedance consistencies.
http://diyaudio.co.kr/wwwboard1/data/board1/compare.pdf

Cheers George

I tested my system last year as you are considering.  In my case I preferred the system with the preamp.  In my case the DAC was a NAD M51 and the preamp is an Aesthetix Calypso.  I was considering eliminating the Calypso.  The Calypso has the best fit/sound in my system.  So much so that I sent it in to Aesthetix for their Signature upgrade last fall which has proven worth the money for my system.  Maybe I would have felt differently had I selected a better DAC.  

You need to do some homework. True digital volume control (such as in a mac, windows, and many consumer players) is very poor. You begin with 16 bits, do some digital math, and wind up with as few as 8 bits remaining at realistic listening levels. On the other hand, some solutions can do the math -- **and the D-A conversion** with 24-32 bits, which allows them to play around with 8 bits and still have 16 left. These are likely superior to any analog volume control. Otherwise, analog is still the gold standard, if built properly. That means using a preamp - active or passive. "Passive preamp" of course, is oxymoronic since it amplifies nothing.


I answered this in much more detail, twice, in the past year and my fingers are tired. Look up ESS’s excellent technical paper with the graphs to show you. ESS is one of the few DACs that allows it to be done properly, so, duh, they publish a paper on it :-)

So, first you need to find out what your Fiio does. If its a clean volume control, and you need no further switching, no need for a preamp o add more stuff to the signal path, and maybe clean up some impedance mismatches (an unsung benefit of a good preamp).
G

I faced the same question, having found that adding a preamp always brought sound quality down a notch, compared to a simple analog volume control. My solution was the Schiit Saga preamp, which is passive if you want it to be, and has the option of adding a tube buffer should the impedances of your system be incompatible with a pure passive. The volume control is completely analog.  As an added plus, it has a remote control, and it was less than $400. The new versions, the Saga + and the Saga S, are tube buffered, or solid state buffered, respectively. As with the original, the buffer is optional and can be turned on or off with the remote.