Volume of the dac/amp into an amp

[aristofane]

I have a fosi audio Q5 dac/amp that i want to pair with a magni heresy to power a sundara.

considering that the volume knob on the q5 controls both the aux on the front and the rca on the back (that i will use to connect to the amp) a what volume should i put the dac/amp to have the best experience?

 

[staticV3]

For the least amount of noise, your DAC (in this case the Q5) should be set to max volume, and your Amp to the lowest Gain that still gives you satisfying volume.

 

[Doodski]

Let us know how the Sundara runs off of the Heresy. I have a Heresy and it's been near max volume for near a year now and no issues at all. It's been a wonderful amp and goes real loud too.

 

[aristofane]

For the least amount of noise, your DAC (in this case the Q5) should be set to max volume, and your Amp to the lowest Gain that still gives you satisfying volume.

but with this scenario i will use to full power the "amp" part of the Q5 (that is not great) while not really using the heresy

I'm new to the audio world so maybe that's not how an amp works

Let us know how the Sundara runs off of the Heresy. I have a Heresy and it's been near max volume for near a year now and no issues at all. It's been a wonderful amp and goes real loud too.

full volume? the whole 2W? with Eq?

 

[Doodski]

but with this scenario i will use to full power the "amp" part of the Q5 (that is not great) while not really using the heresy

I'm new to the audio world so maybe that's not how an amp works


full volume? the whole 2W? with Eq?

Yes, with PEQ. I run the Heresy between 3pm and 4pm with Win10 and a JDS Labs ATOM DAC+. With music playing I run the desktop @ 100%. Using Sennheiser HD 598SR headphones.

 

[staticV3]

but with this scenario i will use to full power the "amp" part of the Q5 (that is not great) while not really using the heresy

No. The "amp" part of the Q5 will not be used when you use the RCA Line out.

 

[aristofane]

No. The "amp" part of the Q5 will not be used when you use the RCA Line out.

ok so the volume knob it's just a negative gain that is applied to both the output of the dac (that goes into the internal amp and the rca) and the output of the amp, and to have the full dac signal i have to put it at max