You don’t often find a tire shop recommending shoes.
And that's human nature—if a company doesn’t make a certain product, they’re probably not going to champion its importance. Which brings me to something I’ve been thinking about lately: why so many DAC manufacturers seem to discourage the use of a preamplifier.
Today’s DACs often come with beautifully implemented digital volume controls. They’re lossless in the digital domain and capable of remarkable precision. So the thinking goes, why complicate things with another box?
And that’s fair—to a point.
What’s often overlooked is that turning down the volume in the digital domain doesn’t change the analog noise or distortion floor of the DAC itself. The signal gets quieter, but the underlying artifacts remain unchanged. That means the ratio of signal to noise—and signal to distortion—gets worse at lower volumes.
Do these manufacturers avoid recommending preamps because they genuinely believe they’re no longer needed? Or is it simply that they don’t make one, and so the topic quietly goes unmentioned?
As someone who’s spent a lifetime listening, designing, and learning, I can say this: when a great preamp is in the chain, the difference isn’t subtle.
It’s more than volume control—it’s musical preservation.
