Passive Volume Control for DACs/Sources

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Madaboutaudio, Dec 20, 2015.

  1. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Yeah I am at precisely -22.5 dB right now. This is a slightly loud listening volume most of the time. I expect that to increase slightly once I have finished off my room treatment. At the moment, I rarely go louder than -20 dB. EDIT: Speaking of which, GIK has 20% off Acoustic Art panels until the end of April. You can turn all or almost all their panels into art panels and provide your own image or vector files.

    Yup! FPE and a spreadsheet + high school math to calculate the coordinates and angles of all the tick marks. That was basically all manual inside FPE as the software isn't terribly feature rich. But it sure does give you an opportunity to create, and in the end, they ended up dead on. Every position of the AVC lands squarely on a tick mark.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2019
  2. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    you have a PM.
     
  3. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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  4. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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  5. wormcycle

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    Agree, it would be lovely if they could fill the gap: in general passive preamps come either at idiotic price points, or are inadequate.
     
  6. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    My pre-amp was $1k, two decades ago. (bought by me just a few years ago for very much less). My one and only ever piece of Stereophile A-list kit!

    Have a refurbishment plan. But I find that even non-audiophool gold-plated phono sockets are INR300 and it needs 22. For starters.

    And the scratchy pot? eek. But my magic repair man (who was working on another of Koth Ganesh's boxes when I saw him 2 days back) says he can spray some magic liquid into that.
     
  7. trung225

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    Unless Schiit can outsource good AVCs/TVCs from China, where the salary is much lower than US or European, I don't think you can expect the good AVC/TVC passive preamp for less than 1.5K. The high quality core is not cheap, the good winding technique is mandatory, and the salary for professional winders in US/Europe is also not cheap too. Adding the cost for case, wiring,... and profit for manufacturer, the price will go up. And trust me, unlike the pot volume (Alps) or relay stepped attenuator (like in Schiit preamp), the low cost TVC/AVC with inadequate winding technique or low quality core is unbearable
     
  8. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    I would buy this.

    Make it so Bazzy
     
  9. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    That's a very pretty display screen. Tempted, wonder what the final price will be.

    Is use of Apple remote for higher-end audio gear common these days? Guess it makes sense, the user can purchase it cheaper than it would cost Nord to OEM it.
     
  10. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Whole heartedly agree with you. I know my music first audio TVC is not cheap, yet I do not think it is overpriced given the BOM and the time a skilled person needs to put everything together.

    A cheaper option with good quality might be:

    http://www.promitheusaudio.com/referencetvc/ref.htm

    Never heard it myself and did not consider it due to lack of European warranty.
     
  11. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    What I cannot get my head around is why anybody would add a remote function, which introduces an active electric circuit to the passive amp, even if it is not in the path of the audio signal. Beats me. But hey the more (choices) the merrier.
     
  12. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    When your gear is in an audio closet.
     
  13. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Time for your gear to come out of the closet man, it’s almost 2020 already! :p
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2019
  14. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    I've seen Promitheus mentioned around here but has anyone actually ordered one of their products? Are they still in business and making these things? Looks like that last external reference they list is from Stereophile in 2007.
     
  15. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    If that's the tranny from Bangkok, @MrTeaRex played with it and it gave him herpes. He can expound.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2019
  16. gridmaster

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    Funny you guys mention the Promithues Reference tvc. I actually ordered one a week ago.
    I'm supposed to get it 2-3 weeks, or something like that. I was super on the fence about ordering it because I read on forums the guy is super sketchy, and people waited for over a year for their orders....

    If I end up getting it anytime soon I'll post some impressions here. I actually didn't even buy it for the preamp capabilities, I wanted a good XLR balanced to RCA unbalanced converter haha. The volume control is def a plus tho.

    It is one of the cheaper TVC out there, why I bought it. Guy has an extensive background in transformer design so I assumed it might be good. Who knows.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2019
  17. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    A year? The design for it isn't super complicated.
     
  18. gridmaster

    gridmaster Facebook Friend

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    It wasn't the build time, apparently according to the forum the guy just dipped on a sabbatical for a year leaving open orders unfilled. The guy responded to me promptly in emails tho, 3 or 4 of them, only reason I ordered it. But ya, most of the review links on the site are broken, no reviews or forum posts on his stuff from the last decade. I was surprised when he emailed me back tbh.
     
  19. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    Good to hear. I sent him a custom request for a quote.

    Located in Kuala Lumpur per the old write up.
     
  20. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Oh yeah I understand, wait a second let me have a look where I put my gear:


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    works a treat without a remote, each to their own;)
     

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