I am attempting to use the bass management of the Ultra but use the Ultra’s optical out to feed my own DAC. My DAC outputs to my preamp. I believe I am getting what I want except…. My preamp and the Ultra each have a volume control. Unfortunately, with this setup the speakers are being managed by my preamp and the subwoofer is being managed by the Ultra. And of course, The two volume controls adjust the volume at different rates. Should I hook my system up differently to use my DAC with bass management coming from the Ultra? Suggestions? Thank you.
Two Volume Controls…
- Thread starter Jamp7
- Start date
I took my preamp out of the mix. I am using my DAC and sending its output directly to my power amp. This is the way I would like it to work. It sounds pretty good, but my preamp does improve the overall sound. Hopefully I can make some adjustements to the sound, because the bass management does work to eliminate resonating bass coming from my speakers. Again I like this simpler connection along with having only one volume control, the one on the streamer.
Did you try the Ultra's built-in DAC as well?
Regarding the pre-amp I wonder how it can improve the sound if it's intended to sound neutral and transparent. Is the DAC's output stage powerful enough to cope with the power amp's input impedance? RCA cables?
Regarding the pre-amp I wonder how it can improve the sound if it's intended to sound neutral and transparent. Is the DAC's output stage powerful enough to cope with the power amp's input impedance? RCA cables?
You do have the option of leaving the Modius's volume knob at a fixed position and then controlling playback volume with the Ultra's knob. That would leave the Modius in the circuit for whatever improvement in sound quality you're getting. (You'd want to mark or note the position of the Modius' knob in case someone comes along and turns it and you need to reset it to the correct spot.)
I understand it's the unnamed separate pre-amp connected after the Shiit Modius that results in better overall sound. The Modius doesn't appear to have a volume knob.
Shiit's website doesn't list a product named Vidar 2, just Vidar or Aegir 2. Probably doesn't make a difference since it's all the same Shiit. If they say it works this way ...
No matter how you put it, if you want to use it's sub out, the you must use the Ultra's volume control and only the Ultra's volume control. Any other devices down the chair must be set to fixed volume prior to setting the correct subwoofer level.
I have been all over the place on this trying different configurations. So far, I believe, the best overall sound for me is to use optical out from the Ultra to my own DAC. My DAC outputs to my preamp and to my headphone amp. I set the Ultra volume control at about 75% and control the volume with my preamp or my headphone amp.
If you are not going to use the Ultra's volume control anyway, setting a fixed output volume (100%) is the theoretical optimum.
If you feel the usable range of your pre-amps pot is limited, you could reduce the Ultra's output volume.
In the app you have options to set the line level output to 2 volts, 1 volt, 800 mV, 500 mV or 200 mV. When using the fixed output level choose the one that is the best match for your setup. IMO, that would be the output level that allows the volume control on your preamp or integrated amp to be at around half to three-quarters up when listening to your music at your preferred maximum volume. Analog volume controls track between channels most accurately in the upper half of their range. And, the settings just recommended leave you a little more room to boost the volume if you come across a recording that was made at a softer level.
It depends a lot on the quality of your pre-amp, of course. E.g. my trustworthy old Quad 34 shows pretty much no channel imbalance at all down to maximum attenuation.
In any case, bass management cannot be used when the volume is not controlled by the Ultra. I would really double check what benefits the overall sound quality more.
I’m kinda surprise how well passive volume work but it’s inconvenient that I have to get up to adjust volume depending how dynamic the music. There’s many possible combination you can do on ultra. From what seeing here if you want to use sub you need to set external dac to fix and ultra does the adjustment and works both optical and coax.
For my latest, I am still using optical out from the Ultra into my DAC. My DAC outputs directly to my power amp and directly to my headphone amp. My DAC does not have volume control so when I am listening through speakers, I only have one volume control, the Ultra. When I listen through headphones, I have two volume controls so I set the Ultra volume control at about %80 and use the headphone amp volume control to control volume. This setup eliminates the preamp from the system which is kind of sad, but the sound is the best so far.
