>My dream box is a Transporter with a built in DEQX PDC2.6P. Amen. Let's encourage a corporate takeover or partnership deal. :-)
>But the low tech detail of volume control still remains elusive. Exactly!! phew - I thought I was just being slow or something. Sonically, which would be better? - the passive solution or using an op-amp to control volume? To sum up, I gather these are the options: 1) Passive Volume Control A seperate box with either potentiometers or switches. con's - more cables - extra contacts and componets in the signal path - no remote control (but can still use a remote digital volume mute) - prone to dirt and noise pro's - works with all the existing DAC's and PC cards so more choice - potentiometer solutions are cheap - switch solutions can be expensive (possible DIY project) This is looking like the best stop-gap measure until more products come on the market. 2) PC audio interface cards There are plenty of PC audio interface cards but I believe any volume control they provide is a digital implementation (yes?) - implying a loss of dynamics and increased noise at low listening levels. Really the out's are meant for either a preamp or a powered speaker. Many have breakout boxes which help isolate the power supply. 3) External DAC with PC interface and analogue volume control This is the elusive beast. There are plenty of two channel audiophile DACS's with analogue volume control but all the multichannel DAC's seem to be pro-audio equipment and don't provide an analogue volume control. I'm currently researching what the choices might be. I recently came across the konnekt 24D by TC Electronics. This box is supposed to have an analogue volume control and it seems to be across all 5 of the analogue outputs. http://www.tcelectronic.com/Konnekt24D.asp Hopefully there will be more kit like this aimed at surround sound setups but with less features. -- ianwi ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ianwi's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3567 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=27916 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
