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A dillema

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The following is a qoute from a poster on another forum:

"You d'have to use the line out of your Interface, as the headphone amp would already "amp" the signal thus ruining the signal path for the dedicated amp. The Volume of the Dac/ Interface should always be on full as well as the actual sound source, volume control should be left to the last member of the chain (so in this case the headphone amp)."

This was a response to a question about connecting an external headpohne amplifier to the line outs of an audio interface. What I'm wondering is, is it true that in this scenario the volume of the audio interface should be on full? I've never considered doing this myself, as I was always afraid it could potentially damage my equipment, or at the very least sound bad. What do you guys think?
 

amirm

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You do want the full line level output to drive an external headphone amp. You would then use the volume control on the latter. Having the input to it too low causes amplification of noise. That said, it is not end of the world if you have to use another output.
 

oleg87

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If you're particularly paranoid, just turn up the levels slowly. Whatever you're driving is not just going to sound perfect then blow up, you're going to hear some pretty gnarly distortion before that happens.
 
OP
S

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@amirm, if I understand you correctly, The volume should be maxed on my audio interface when the headphone amp is connected to line outs!? If this is the case, then it's no wonder I was not impressed by the power of my Topping l30 ii. I've always had the volime knob at around 60% on my interface.
 

Rednaxela

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If your interface + source were a CD player, would you be worried too about it being at full volume?

Sorry if I misunderstood your question.
 
OP
S

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Sorry, but I'm not sure I'm following you. I don't have a CD player. I was just curious to hear an opinion from someone who knows more about this stuff than I do.
 

Blumlein 88

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It is better to tell us the two pieces of gear. So the Topping L30 ii, and what interface. The Topping has three gain settings. So if we know the interface we could give precision advice. :)
 
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S

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I've been listening to rock and classical music on my PC, but this time I maxed the volume on both PC and audio interface. I am listening with my Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 ohms, Topping is connected to Audient's line outs. Before, I had to have Topping set to high gain with the volume knob at around 3 o' clock. to be able to drive the headphones to comfortable listening levels, which basicaly meant there was no headroom left. Now the amp is set to medium gain with the volume knob at 1 o' clock, so there is plenty of headroom left. That being said, the headphone amp of the interface is capable of driving the headphones as well, when the volume is maxed on the PC. It is certainly not as strong as Topping, but it's good enough.
 

Leiker535

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I've been listening to rock and classical music on my PC, but this time I maxed the volume on both PC and audio interface. I am listening with my Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 ohms, Topping is connected to Audient's line outs. Before, I had to have Topping set to high gain with the volume knob at around 3 o' clock. to be able to drive the headphones to comfortable listening levels, which basicaly meant there was no headroom left. Now the amp is set to medium gain with the volume knob at 1 o' clock, so there is plenty of headroom left. That being said, the headphone amp of the interface is capable of driving the headphones as well, when the volume is maxed on the PC. It is certainly not as strong as Topping, but it's good enough.

Good enough is the name of the game in the majority of usecases when regarding modern amplification. Most of the good habits we have are either theorical or go back to old days when distortion was rampart with most devices. The tip you've received is true, often times the less attenuation or max amping is the best perfomance scenario of the device. That is the reasoning behind 50mV measurements and why Power/Voltage vs THD curves are often negatively inclined, a downward slope.

As said though, as most devices are already good enough, even if you apply amplification noise it shouldn't be that audible.
 
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