Does the EX5 have a pure dac mode?

[Jimbob54]

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

Okay, I have an EX5. If I want to use it in pure DAC mode, as explained above, I need to set volume to 0db (maximum).

What about with headphones? Is it safe to do that, as long as I turn the volume of the source right down?

Is that for sonic benefit or for something around the functionality of DAC mode? because if the former then its still doing digital attenuation somewhere and I would have thought for safety alone its better to do on the EX5 than source .

 

[MRC01]

Okay, I have an EX5. If I want to use it in pure DAC mode, as explained above, I need to set volume to 0db (maximum).
What about with headphones? Is it safe to do that, as long as I turn the volume of the source right down?

If the headphones are plugged into the EX5, use its volume knob. If the headphones are plugged into an amp that the EX5 is driving, set the amp volume control at max and use the volume control on the EX5. In most cases this will give the best SNR and channel balance.

 

[Berwhale]

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

Okay, I have an EX5. If I want to use it in pure DAC mode, as explained above, I need to set volume to 0db (maximum).

What about with headphones? Is it safe to do that, as long as I turn the volume of the source right down?

The EX5 has separate volume levels for headphone and pre-amp outputs, so you could always set the headphone level on the EX5 to be the highest level you are comfortable with, then control with the source.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Ah, I didn’t realise they could be set separately.

So if there’s a streamer plugged into the EX5 I can set it for 0db for the outputs (to my amp) and control volume from the streamer, but set the headphone volume to something more sensible for headphone usage.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

A quick update. I’m currently in the process of rebuilding my hi-fi system. It’ll be at a desk office/listening station, used for both headphones and speakers.

I have an old Denon UD-M30 and a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze BX1s for the speaker set up, and an EX5 + Sennheiser HD600s (and others) for the headphone side of things.

I’ve now hooked everything up, and indeed I’ve set the EX5 effectively to ‘DAC Mode’ be turning gain to full (100) for output over RCAs to the Denon, whilst having gain set much lower for the headphones.
I can confirm this works perfectly, without me needing to worry about the EX5 blowing up the HD600s.

Volume for the phones done on the EX5, volume for the speakers done on the Denon.

So far, so good.

 

[BobbyTimmons]

A quick update. I’m currently in the process of rebuilding my hi-fi system. It’ll be at a desk office/listening station, used for both headphones and speakers.

I have an old Denon UD-M30 and a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze BX1s for the speaker set up, and an EX5 + Sennheiser HD600s (and others) for the headphone side of things.

I’ve now hooked everything up, and indeed I’ve set the EX5 effectively to ‘DAC Mode’ be turning gain to full (100) for output over RCAs to the Denon, whilst having gain set much lower for the headphones.
I can confirm this works perfectly, without me needing to worry about the EX5 blowing up the HD600s.

Volume for the phones done on the EX5, volume for the speakers done on the Denon.

So far, so good.

The Denon UD-M30 is a great choice for the desktop speakers, it would also be great as a headphone amp if you want to listen to CDs without needing to turn on a computer if you get some lower impedance headphones.