Volume on MAC or Stereomour

[thdewitt]

Hello all,

Probably a simple question.  I have my Stereomour hooked up to my IMAC through a sonos unit.  This stream Lossless uncompressed music from the IMAC to the Stereomour.  My question is, is it better to have the volume turned up full at the computer and control by the Stereomour, or have the volume turned up full at the Stereomour and control via the computer or does it really make a difference.

Thanks,
Tom

[Doc B.]

Volume should be as high as possible from the computer, at least up to the point where you hear distortion which can sometimes occur with maxed out digital sources. If the music seems to get harsh at the highest level setting just take it down a little. Otherwise you can probably just run it all the way up.

[galyons]

Is the D to A conversion done at the Mac or the Sonos? Usually best to eliminate any digital domain volume control. This can generally be accomplished by running digital volume at 100%.

Cheers,
Geary

[Doc B.]

Yes in theory that makes sense. But I'll offer that you should listen and see if the maximum setting is actually distorting. Shawn hipped me to that one when we were setting up our Mac Minis. I don't know why the distortion occurs, but I've heard it fairly often. When it does happen it can usually be eliminated by taking the digital volume level down just a dB or so.

[mhardyman]

Is the D to A conversion done at the Mac or the Sonos? Usually best to eliminate any digital domain volume control. This can generally be accomplished by running digital volume at 100%.

Cheers,
Geary

The Sonos is doing the D to A conversion.  It's OK.  It's a cheap DAC, however.  It has to be when you think about just how much technology is crammed into that thing.  Adding an outboard DAC will yield a world of improvement.  Even something from Grant Fidelity or Maverick will give you great results!  My setup leaves the volume control totally out of the digital domain and I only use the volume pot on the Stereomour for that. 

You get a lot for your money with the Sonos system but they did have to make compromises to reach that price point.

[RPMac]

Doc, I have always run my SqueezeBox at 100%. A slight decrease sounds like a sheet has been thrown over my speakers. Does the digital distortion sound like added brightness?

I have some high-end hearing lose and ringing in my ears, so I don't have golden ears.

[thdewitt]

The Sonos is doing the D to A conversion.  It's OK.  It's a cheap DAC, however.  It has to be when you think about just how much technology is crammed into that thing.  Adding an outboard DAC will yield a world of improvement.  Even something from Grant Fidelity or Maverick will give you great results!  My setup leaves the volume control totally out of the digital domain and I only use the volume pot on the Stereomour for that. 

You get a lot for your money with the Sonos system but they did have to make compromises to reach that price point.

Is it possible to add an outboard DAC to the Sonos.  I use the Sonos because my Steremour is in a place with limited room for components.  I can connect it by Ethernet.  Will it help somehow to hook up a DAC at the Sonos or are the reductions already taking place before sending to the sonos unit.

Thanks,
Tom

[mhardyman]

It is very possible to add an outboard DAC to the Sonos.  You have two choices.  One is a Toslink cable and the other is an SPDIF cable.  My personal preference is the Toslink since it eliminates any form of electrical interference induced into the cable and thereby makes cable routing easier. 

The Sonos is merely passing the bitstream from the source.  It is not processing unless you use the built-in DAC, otherwise it just passes it through without any kind of processing.  Tests have been done and it has been proved that it will pass bit for bit copies just fine.  Of course there are people who will argue that, but for all intent and purpose, it works without any audible degradation. 

I've been using the Grant Fidelity TubeDAC 0.9, TubeDAC 1.1 and Maverick Audio's TubeMagic D1.  They also are excellent as preamp stages so I usually let them do the volume duties and just leave the pot on the Stereomour at 100%.

I have four Sonos boxes here.  Two are hardwired into the existing ethernet and two are wireless.  Can't tell them apart.  At times, all are playing the same thing.  All have DACs.  I used one without a DAC and plugged it into my Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid Preamp hooked up to the Bottlehead Paramount 300B monoblocks and was appalled.  It sounded awful in comparison to the other rigs.  As soon as a DAC went back into the circuit it was marvelous!  Be prepared in case you decide to make a comparison test.  It's a no-brainer!

[thdewitt]

That is great news.  I have two external dacs an Odac and a Little Dot Dac_1.  I think they both would be an upgrade.  Will try today.

Thanks so much,
Tom

[Paul Joppa]

I have seen a case where the audio output from a DAC came from an opamp chip running on 5 volts but with gain set to match the old redbook CD spec of 2.0vRMS fullscale. That would require a peak output of +/-2.83 volts, which is clearly impossible with even a perfect opamp running 5v of power. Just an example where setting the digital gain to maximum may produce overload distortion. I'm confident that there are other ways to screw up the sound, and that they have been included in commercial products now and then.  :^)

[mhardyman]

Fortunately for all the audio forums there appear to be an infinite number of ways to screw up the sound!  If it weren't for that simple fact, these forums would cease to be...