mdunjic
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I have a question, related to Benchmark LA4 pre amp and Benchmark DAC3 B being used together.
I have a Benchmark LA4 pre amplifier and I also recently purchased a Benchmark DAC3 B to replace the lovely SMSL SU-9n DAC (which will now become DAC+pre-amp in our basement audio setup, he he).
The XLR outputs from Benchmark DAC3 B are fixed, to put out around 12V RMS (assuming factory settings here, when shipped, to be set to 0db attenuation) so it should be perfect match to LA4 XLR inputs ... on the other hand, the SMSL su-9n has max about 4.5V RMS on its XLR outputs.
My Benchmark LA4 XLR outputs are feeding the pair of Buckeye PURIFI 1ET9040BA Mono-blocks (set with LOW GAIN, i.e. ~15db its own voltage gain)
When I used SMSL DAC, with its XLR output feeding LA4's XLR input, I had to usually set up LA4 volume ctrl knob up to around -60db level, to achieve my usual listening levels ... not too loud, not too quiet, just about right for me ;-)
Now, when I replaced SMSL with DAC3 B, I expected that the same listening loudness level I would be able to achieve with noticeably lower volume knob setting (let's say around -80db), since DAC3 B puts out effectively on its XLR output 2.5 times higher output voltage, compared to SMSL's XLR output voltage.
Surprisingly, no change to how Benchmark LA4 volume knob ctrl behaves after upstream DAC switch ... wth? I have to still basically set LA4's volume control knob up to around -60db to achieve the similar perceived loudness level
What's going on? Sound quality is not affected, of course, but I am genuinely confused by this now, as I have expected that I would see a noticeable change in how LA4 volume knob behaves after switching from SMSL to DAC3 B 
I am using Tosslink optical as an input into Benchmark DAC3 B (I used the same with SMSL DAC)
Is there an explanation @John_Siau? where am I getting confused here?
I have a Benchmark LA4 pre amplifier and I also recently purchased a Benchmark DAC3 B to replace the lovely SMSL SU-9n DAC (which will now become DAC+pre-amp in our basement audio setup, he he).
The XLR outputs from Benchmark DAC3 B are fixed, to put out around 12V RMS (assuming factory settings here, when shipped, to be set to 0db attenuation) so it should be perfect match to LA4 XLR inputs ... on the other hand, the SMSL su-9n has max about 4.5V RMS on its XLR outputs.
My Benchmark LA4 XLR outputs are feeding the pair of Buckeye PURIFI 1ET9040BA Mono-blocks (set with LOW GAIN, i.e. ~15db its own voltage gain)
When I used SMSL DAC, with its XLR output feeding LA4's XLR input, I had to usually set up LA4 volume ctrl knob up to around -60db level, to achieve my usual listening levels ... not too loud, not too quiet, just about right for me ;-)
Now, when I replaced SMSL with DAC3 B, I expected that the same listening loudness level I would be able to achieve with noticeably lower volume knob setting (let's say around -80db), since DAC3 B puts out effectively on its XLR output 2.5 times higher output voltage, compared to SMSL's XLR output voltage.
Surprisingly, no change to how Benchmark LA4 volume knob ctrl behaves after upstream DAC switch ... wth? I have to still basically set LA4's volume control knob up to around -60db to achieve the similar perceived loudness level
What's going on? Sound quality is not affected, of course, but I am genuinely confused by this now, as I have expected that I would see a noticeable change in how LA4 volume knob behaves after switching from SMSL to DAC3 B I am using Tosslink optical as an input into Benchmark DAC3 B (I used the same with SMSL DAC)
Is there an explanation @John_Siau? where am I getting confused here?
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