Resolution drop

+1 @reubent , digital volume controls will sacrifice resolution to control volume. An analogue pre-amp solves this issue and will bring a wider, more dynamic sound too, however good pre-amps will reveal shortcomings of the source components too if not properly matched.

@reubent Your explanation makes great sense, worded well and I won’t forget it anytime soon, thanks. The words bit stripping did come to mind, I thought that will be another question. I see now I was wrong. What I remember of the plan was, using an integrated amp in a home theater set up.

Turns out, the Oppo105 is not a bit stripper and it was suggested to look for a high end pre/pro instead, by the dealer.

The details left me, but, I did invest in a HT bypass preamp.

I was concerned with the whole lowering resolution part and now I have more search words to investigate this further. Any websites that you can point to? Earlier today, bit stripping didn’t have many results.

Again, thanks for the explanation.

@2020matters  - A quick Google Search of "Digital Volume Control" will find links to some articles that discuss the potential loss of resolution with digital volume control.

If I recall correctly, the issue has been reduced/mitigated by increasing the digital word link from 16 bit to 24/32 bits or more. The original problem was from a time 20+ years ago when digital audio was in its early development period.