Low gain dac!

You can put an attenuator between the pre and the amp. 

I don't get it. You know what you want- a DAC with lower output so you can turn the volume knob higher. You think where the volume knob points matters. It does not. But it is for some reason important to you. You know this. So simply buy a lower output DAC. What is the problem?

Sometimes we all make things more complicated than they need to be. Some of us forget this.
https://youtu.be/EVkYaZXCl8U

There are a lot of threads on DAC choice. Do you need balanced output? Any particular input you are most fond of? Do you require MQA, DSD, or some other acronym TBD? What is your budget cap? (because whatever it is, clearly the best DACs cost just a little bit more) And of course, what color should it be?

russ69 - I always heard that an attenuator would degrade the sound, but maybe that is just a tale !

As to millercarbon - I know that where a volume knob is sitting isn’t really important, therefore writing from 6 o’clock to 8-9 o’clock would give you and others a picture of the small adjustments that is useable, in reality it is more between 6 and 7.5 !
As it is more you with a problem, please stay out of this tread, life is too short to answer grumpy people. Please find peace in some other thread, have a nice day.

Why not a DAC with a volume?  My Chord Hugo has a great volume control and sounds awesome.