Any DAC/AMP or audio interface that allows me to do this?

[Caobita]

Hello, I have iLoud Micro Monitor and Sennheiser HD560s headphones.

I am looking for a DAC/AMP where I can connect my headphones and active speakers, control the volume, be able to switch between headphones and speakers, and be able to equalize the headphones (by software) without affecting the speaker output.

I haven't really found ANYTHING that allows me to do all this, since as far as I have been able to see, the DAC/AMPs output the sound from the headphones and speakers through the same output, there being only one playback device in Windows. Regarding audio interfaces, the same thing happens.

This is something really annoying, I want to have centralized my speakers and headphones in the same device and that also allows me to control the volume and equalize them separately.

Any DAC/AMP or audio interface that allows me to do this?

The AUDIOENGINE D1P might be perfect, but it will also not allow me to equalize the headphone output without affecting the speaker output.

It seems that the only solution is to buy two DACs or audio interfaces, which I believe is not worth it and would have a high cost.

My main idea was to connect the speakers directly to the motherboard output line, use a DAC/AMP (such as the FiiO KA13) for the headphones, use SoundSwitch to switch between the two devices, and control the volume from the keyboard volume knob. But I have read in hundreds of posts that controlling the volume in Windows degrades the sound quality, is this really true? I would set the DAC volume up to a sufficiently loud and comfortable level, and then lower the volume in Windows to my needs.

Thanks for the help, I am open to suggestions.

 

[Sicaris]

I'm curious about this too. Do internal soundcards show up as separate devices for headphones and line out? I've been considering a build with an internal card and voicemeeter/Camilla DSP to route things correctly.

 

[Caobita]

I'm curious about this too. Do internal soundcards show up as separate devices for headphones and line out? I've been considering a build with an internal card and voicemeeter/Camilla DSP to route things correctly.

Motherboards come with separate outputs/devices for speakers and headphones. The internal sound cards, I'm not sure about that, it would be nice to know.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

The following from RME both include two DSP/DACs that allow for separate control of Speaker Out and Phone Out:

• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R
• RME ADI-2 Pro 2/4 SE

Additional notes:

1. The DSP/DAC for Speaker Out will apply to both the Balanced (XLR) and Unbalanced (TS) outputs; and it can optionally also be applied to the Digital Out (i.e., AES, S/PDIF Coax, S/PDIF Optical). Put different, the same device will work regardless of what type of input your downstream amplifier or active speakers are designed to receive.
2. The headphone amps on the entire RME ADI-2 line are top caliber, so you do not sacrifice on sound quality and available power on either the speaker side or headphone side of the equation.
3. You would save a massive amount of money buying two separate DACs instead of these very amazing products from RME.

P.S. At my desk, I have both the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R and also a separate DAC / headphone amp. The reason is that for me, I want to have two completely separate physical volume knobs (for my speakers, for my headphones) that are always active. I'm a bit unusual in my preference on this front; but I find it much more convenient to keep the volume controls separated.

 

[Caobita]

The following from RME both include two DSP/DACs that allow for separate control of speaker out and phone out:

• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R
• RME ADI-2 Pro 2/4 SE

I have to spend 1700€ to do something so basic? I totally refuse, I really can't believe it. Nevertheless, I appreciate your input.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

I have to spend 1700€ to do something so basic? I totally refuse, I really can't believe it. Nevertheless, I appreciate your input.

I updated my comment above. You don't have to spend it. And you shouldn't spend it. But it does do what you requested.

Others will chime in with more economical solutions, such as those from MiniDSP.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

€ 1,000 will do if you are ok with the ADI-2 DAC. It is supported by ADI-2 remote that lets you control every detail of the ADI-2 family, including toggle between headphone and line (speaker) output. Volume is independently saved between outputs.

 

[Doodski]

€ 1,000 will do if you are ok with the ADI-2 DAC. It is supported by ADI-2 remote that lets you control every detail of the ADI-2 family, including toggle between headphone and line (speaker) output. Volume is independently saved between outputs.

I out of curiosity read the entire owners manual for the ADI-2 series DAC and it is a amazing piece of gear. It does it all.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

€ 1,000 will do if you are ok with the ADI-2 DAC. It is supported by ADI-2 remote that lets you control every detail of the ADI-2 family, including toggle between headphone and line (speaker) output. Volume is independently saved between outputs.

I looked at the manual, and it did not appear that the ADI-2 DAC has dual DSP/DAC functions. Am I wrong on that? But on the other hand, it believe it would have setup modes that allow for loading and quickly switching between different profiles -- provided you only need to play either headphones or speakers at any one time.

That said, I also suspect that the ADI-2 DAC is out of their range. And they can do fantastic with dual DAC / Amps for much less than the cost of even the ADI-2 DAC. Even more so for any single DAC that also includes quickly switching between setup modes.

 

[Palladium]

But I have read in hundreds of posts that controlling the volume in Windows degrades the sound quality, is this really true?

IIRC under normal circumstances in Win10/11 with a sensible gain structure? Nope.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

IIRC under normal circumstances in Win10/11 with a sensible gain structure? Nope.

Those hundreds of pages will often conflate simple volume control (e.g., under WASPI Exclusive) with sample rate conversion, mixing, and volume control (under WDM). With the later case under WDM (allegedly) being more problematic if WDM's sample rate setting is different from the music source material being played.

 

[Doodski]

IIRC under normal circumstances in Win10/11 with a sensible gain structure? Nope.

I listen with the gain settings in various configurations and pretty loud daily and I can't hear a difference. But @amirm advised me to use the windows control as the primary control and turn up then media player or web browser to maximum and that is the best way.

 

[Caobita]

Today I received the Audient iD14 MKII audio interface which allows me to do everything I want except for switching between headphones and speakers from the interface, although I can do it via Windows, using the SoundSwitch application and a keyboard shortcut, for example. The software on this interface allows me to route the sound through the outputs I want.

I have also received the FiiO KA13 DAC/AMP, and making comparisons between it and the Audient interface, I have the feeling that the sound is clearer and cleaner in the FiiO KA13, without being a high quality DAC/AMP, but is it possible?

Another audio interface that could be useful is the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3th or 4th Gen, the drawback is that in this case, I would have to play with the volume knobs of the main output and the headphone output, this is more comfortable in the Audient interface.

But seeing that the FiiO KA13 gives me better sound quality (or so it seems to me, I do not know if it is placebo effect) I have thought about the possibility of another setup, even if I lose the option of being able to equalize each output separately, I can always turn on and off the equalization as needed. The setup would be as follows:

1 single DAC/AMP for headphones and active speakers (FiiO K5 PRO ESS for example), connect it to a passive monitor controller (Like the Mackie Big Knob Passive). This would allow me to easily switch between headphones and speakers, control the volume, and even mute.

Would this work well, would it have any disadvantages?

In case this works well, which DAC/AMP do you recommend under 250€?

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Today I received the Audient iD14 MKII audio interface which allows me to do everything I want except for switching between headphones and speakers from the interface, although I can do it via Windows, using the SoundSwitch application and a keyboard shortcut, for example. The software on this interface allows me to route the sound through the outputs I want.

I have also received the FiiO KA13 DAC/AMP, and making comparisons between it and the Audient interface, I have the feeling that the sound is clearer and cleaner in the FiiO KA13, without being a high quality DAC/AMP, but is it possible?

Another audio interface that could be useful is the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3th or 4th Gen, the drawback is that in this case, I would have to play with the volume knobs of the main output and the headphone output, this is more comfortable in the Audient interface.

But seeing that the FiiO KA13 gives me better sound quality (or so it seems to me, I do not know if it is placebo effect) I have thought about the possibility of another setup, even if I lose the option of being able to equalize each output separately, I can always turn on and off the equalization as needed. The setup would be as follows:

1 single DAC/AMP for headphones and active speakers (FiiO K5 PRO ESS for example), connect it to a passive monitor controller (Like the Mackie Big Knob Passive) and the controller connect it to the PC. This would allow me to easily switch between headphones and speakers, control the volume, and even mute.

Would this work well, would it have any disadvantages?

In case this works well, which DAC/AMP do you recommend under 250€?

One option: simply turn the volume all the way down on one dial (e.g., speakers) while turning up the volume to the desired level on the other dial (e.g., headphones). [Edit: never mind, just noticed that those were MIC input gains, not volume controls for the two sets of output.]

 

[dualazmak]

1. If you would have two different stereo DACs (unique ASIO driver for each, one for headphone, one for power amp to SP system),
2. if you have no need of perfect/complete synchronization between the two DAC,
3. if you would use system-wide one-stop software DSP center (like "EKIO") in your PC (or Mac) (flexible Routing+Channel-Gain+XO+EQ+Phase+Polarity+Group-Delay controls, as well as of course each-channel Solo/Mute),
4. if you would use system-wide one-stop ASIO/VASIO/VAIO multichannel routing software (like VB-AUDIO MATRIX, can route into two DAC units via ASIO drivers),
5. if you would use system-wide audio (and visual) software player like JRiver MC (which can be used also as digital master-volume controller at top upstream) feeding audio into VASIO (virtual ASIO driver as output audio device) to DSP center ( like "EKIO"),

then you can very easily achieve what you are intending to do, including not only audio(-visual) playback using JRiver MC, but also OS's default audio playback (set VAIO = virtual audio I/O device as default audio output device)!

My latest multichannel setup with details of VB-AUDIO MATRIX (ref. here #931), and possible use of two/multiple stereo DACs (even not completely in-sync with each other) (ref. here #783), would be of your reference, I assume.

Edit:
Instead of the two DACs, you may of course use multichannel DAC, like OKTO DAC8PRO (8-CH) and TOPPING DM7 (8-CH), for your preferable setup.

 

[Caobita]

1. If you would have two different stereo DACs (unique ASIO driver for each, one for headphone, one for power amp to SP system),
2. if you have no need of perfect/complete synchronization between the two DAC,
3. if you would use system-wide one-stop software DSP center (like "EKIO") in your PC (or Mac) (flexible Routing+Channel-Gain+XO+EQ+Phase+Polarity+Group-Delay controls, as well as of course each-channel Solo/Mute),
4. if you would use system-wide one-stop ASIO/VASIO/VAIO multichannel routing software (like VB-AUDIO MATRIX, can route into two DAC units via ASIO drivers),
5. if you would use system-wide audio (and visual) software player like JRiver MC (which can be used also as digital master-volume controller at top upstream) feeding audio into VASIO (virtual ASIO driver as output audio device) to DSP center ( like "EKIO"),

then you can very easily achieve what you are intending to do, including not only audio(-visual) playback using JRiver MC, but also OS's default audio playback (set VAIO = virtual audio I/O device as default audio output device)!

My latest multichannel setup (ref. here #931) with details of VB-AUDIO MATRIX and possible use of two/multiple stereo DACs (even not completely in-sync with each other) (ref. here #783) would be of your reference, I assume.

I understand that you have a lot of knowledge on this subject and I understand that you want to help me, but I really do not have so much knowledge, I am a novice and I want something simple and basic to use, all these options that you indicate, for me it is complicated, I have no idea how it works, honestly.

 

[dualazmak]

If you would/could carefully learn and understand, "the way I proposed in my above post #15" is not so complicated at all, but it is very easy to be implemented with excellent reliability and stability.

And, furthermore, it is highly cost-performance friendly and effective. The paid-up fully-functioning lifetime-licensed DSP "EKIO" (unlimited number of input/output channels) costs only US$149, and the donation routing software VB-AUDIO MATRIX can be fully used only minimum US$5.0 donation.

I assume you have been already using JRiver MC which is also reasonably affordable.

If you would be using Windows 11 PC for this purpose, and if needed, I will be happy to assist you on this thread, and/or through PM communication, using easy-to-be-understood diagrams and/or photos (of captured screen shots). Or, I can even on-line assist you through "tentatively enabled" remote desktop operation using free version Remote-Desktop software (I prefer ver.5.5.3 of "AnyDesk") simultaneously having real time voice conversation (in English only, please!) with you through any of the free internet voice communication tools (like free ZOOM).

 

[KSTR]

I looked at the manual, and it did not appear that the ADI-2 DAC has dual DSP/DAC functions. Am I wrong on that?

It has only one DAC chip but you can use completely different settings (Volume, EQ, Crossfeed, Stereowidth, etc) for the line output and the headphones output, just not both at the same time. IIRC, you can manually select the active output but you can also make it switch to headphones output and mute the main out whenever a headphone is connected and vice versa. It's not cheap, but excellent quality and a complete standalone solution that "just simply works" once you've set it up. With any digital source. With a hardware remote control as well as a remote control app for the PC side.

OTOH, managing the problem purely with a PC setup and software is the most economic way but the price you pay is that you need to get much more involved with the topic.