Preamp lemon?

[Broken Wing]

I think you are misreading most of the responses.

You may very well be right. I am overly defensive inrl at the best of times. TMI but, I suffer from a nervous system disorder that keeps me in a flight/fight state most of the time. I'm always jumpy, I can't even watch action movies! So taking criticism, even constructive, can be difficult lol. Sorry about being overly defensive.

I am going to spend the day doing A/B, with/without the preamp while keeping all of these thoughts in mind. Especially the treble roll off and mid bass hump the preamp may be adding that causes me to "prefer" it's sound.

I really want the cleanest, most faithful reproduction of music I can afford. I honestly appreciate all of the feedback.

 

[JeremyFife]

My understanding is that, since I was an idiot and got the Digital I/O FLEX, the analog input has to be routed through a DAC always. Which is fine if I was always using the PEQ/DSP on the FLEX. But when I listen to vinyl, I'd really like the option to listen to it "pure analog". Hence the need for a separate preamp.

edit - And you're probably right about me responding positively to a slight treble roll off with the Bach. I'm pretty sure that was the harshness I heard with the DAC direct into the amp. And my room definitely needs acoustic correction! That's next on my list

Consider this - that running your analogue source (turntable?) through an ADC is a positive thing to do. It allows you to apply DSP which will almost certainly give more benefit than any nostalgic 'all analogue ' approach. Digitisation will not degrade your signal path at all. (That's another of those myths I'm afraid)

 

[MaxwellsEq]

So taking criticism, even constructive, can be difficult lol. Sorry about being overly defensive

You are taking a bit of a risk asking for people's opinions on the internet!

Especially the treble roll off and mid bass hump the preamp may be adding that causes me to "prefer" it's sound.

I think you need to break this down a bit more.

Firstly, the sound you didn't prefer may be the most accurate from a transparent electronic perspective. You say you want an accurate reproduction, but accurate electronics may be showing up loudspeakers issues or room issues. I worked in recording studios and live instruments are often MUCH sharper / louder / harsher / brighter than many HiFi enthusiasts realise.

Secondly, the preamplifier may be fixing a problem. Your current setup may have a significant gain mismatch which is fixed by having an extra attenuator. Or you may have a an impedance mismatch (ideally the input impedance should be more than 10x greater than the output impedance) which is corrected by the preamplifier.

What you should do is MEASURE. Stop spending money on random, expensive boxes, buy a UMIK microphone, install REW and find out what the preamplifier is actually doing!

 

[JeremyFife]

I really want the cleanest, most faithful reproduction of music I can afford. I honestly appreciate all of the feedback.

Just musing on this .. it's a proper can of worms

I'd interpret that to say that there is a signal stored on (a record, a CD, a digital file ...) and I want that signal represented without modification.
That signal describes audio frequencies changing over time.

First implication is that you want to hear that signal unchanged; your electronics must not alter anything, your speakers must not alter anything and your listening room must not change anything.
So ... having transparent electronics is not a problem. You certainly don't want any 'warmth' or other adjustments, if you want to be purist.
Speakers and Room are a problem, which is entirely down to physics. It's practically impossible for the signal not to be altered
... so, you have to measure the signal (sound) that reaches your ears. If you know how your speaker behaves anechoically then you can calculate where the biggest deviations are and understand whether they come from your speakers or from interaction with your room.
Then you can correct using room treatment and DSP.

In other words, if you want your signal to be 'faithfully reproduced' then you should start with transparent electronics and you then have to add in room correction and electronic adjustments

Or, you can play music and if it pleases you then everything is good with the world.