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Preamp/dac vs separate preamp

Discussion in 'Preamps' started by dericchan1, Sep 21, 2021.

  1. dericchan1

    dericchan1 Facebook Friend

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    Hi everyone, please excuse my noob question. I am currently using my ifi neo idsd as a preamp/dac with controllable volume, connected directly to a Roksan k3 power amp to my monitor audio silver 300 speakers. The ifi does come with a tiny remote control for volume control and I am overall happy with the energetic sound from this set up.

    Can someone please advise any advantages or improvements, if any, I should expect by adding a separate preamp to the set up?

    thanks

    Deric
     
    dericchan1, Sep 21, 2021
    #1
  2. nishan99

    nishan99 Friend

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    nishan99, Sep 21, 2021
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  3. dericchan1

    dericchan1 Facebook Friend

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    Thanks will do going forward

    Deric
     
    dericchan1, Sep 22, 2021
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  4. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I would venture to say that a separate preamp is not going to offer a huge difference to you here. Without knowing much else about your setup, I'd offer the generic recommendation of tossing a couple sound panels or creative furniture/room accessories at your main reflection points. That or toss money into a higher tier speaker.
     
    Armaegis, Sep 22, 2021
    #4
  5. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    You generally add a pre-amp because at least one of the following are true:

    - You need some way to control volume
    - You need to drive very long cable runs
    - You need additional gain
    - Impedance optimization
    - You want to avoid digital attenuation
    - You want to tune the sound a certain way (the pre-amp can't add something that isn't already provided by the source though)

    1 is common, 2-4 are rarely issues, 5 is sometimes an issue, and 6 is totally up to you.

    My advice, if you're happy with the gain staging of your DAC's built-in pre, stick with that. You can get some in-line attenuators if your DAC uses digital attenuation and you want to minimize losses due to that.
     
    sphinxvc, Sep 22, 2021
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