RCA to XLR trouble

[somebodyelse]

Official Audio Component Guide – GND-Tech

Welcome to another official guide here at GND-Tech about audio products ranging from headphones to speakers, sound cards, amplifiers, and more.

gnd-tech.com

Seems like an anti-snake oil article. What's wrong with that quote?

The first part is technically correct, but meaningless in practice for a decent DAC. The signal is reduced while the noise floor remains the same (so reduced SNR) but when the noise floor is inaudible (as it will be for any decent modern DAC) or below the noise level of the monitor's ADC, you can't hear a difference. For the 'blind test' I'd love to see the details of the test. It's certainly possible for the OS or application to have poorly implemented volume control, or for the analog volume control to have audible distortion that might be preferred, but if both are done well you're unlikely to hear the difference. We have whole threads on these issues, like:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...olume-control-vs-analog-volume-control.20512/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nding-the-windows-audio-quality-debate.19438/

 

[nab1828]

The first part is technically correct, but meaningless in practice for a decent DAC. The signal is reduced while the noise floor remains the same (so reduced SNR) but when the noise floor is inaudible (as it will be for any decent modern DAC) or below the noise level of the monitor's ADC, you can't hear a difference. For the 'blind test' I'd love to see the details of the test. It's certainly possible for the OS or application to have poorly implemented volume control, or for the analog volume control to have audible distortion that might be preferred, but if both are done well you're unlikely to hear the difference. We have whole threads on these issues, like:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...olume-control-vs-analog-volume-control.20512/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nding-the-windows-audio-quality-debate.19438/

I don't know if this applies to lower end subs, but Genelec have this to say:

https://support.genelec.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013337160-Where-does-the-volume-control-happen-in-SAM-Systems

Supposing it applies to the 7040/7050 or F One subs, I could go digital out on the Wiim and have the subs deal with the conversion and volume control?

 

[somebodyelse]

7040/7050 don't have digital input or remote volume. F One has a wired remote volume control that probably works via the DSP, and has digital input, so should be usable that way. It has RCA outputs.