Source volume level controversy.

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Hey. I could really use some words of wisdom here. I recently purchased a Marantz PM6005 amplifier and Polk tsx220b speakers to go with it. The amp is hooked to my PCs soundcard via S/PDIF. I always assumed that when you use S/PDIF, you cannot even change the volume level from the source, since only the music is sent digitally as ones and zeros.. but to my surprise I found out that the windows volume adjustment works normally (as does the volume adjustments in media players). So my question is, on which level I am supposed to keep my source volume (windows pc, music played with itunes): I have gotten so mixed information on this. Someone mentioned on this forum that I should have the PC volume maxed out and only control the volume from the amp, yet on another forum someone said I should keep the PC volume on 50% cos this is somehow supposed to make the sound better and tmake the amp perform better. Getting really confused here.

Also, I've noticed that when im listening to music really loud, some bass frequencies start to distort. Still the volume level is something the amp and the speakers should easily handle. Could this be due the fact that ive had my PC volume at 90% and I should set it lower and increase the volume from the amp? (itunes player volume has been always on max)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[spiny norman]

I've read in several places that it's best to keep the software volume at 100% and adjust actual volume with analogue control on amp - if it has one. That's what I do and it works for me. If your amp has a digital volume control then i can't say what's best.

Digital volume controls usually operate by bit-reduction, which can affect the sound. For that reason it's best to leave the computer volume at 100%, and control the level with Marantz amp's volume control, which is analogue.

 

[pauln]

Hey. I could really use some words of wisdom here. I recently purchased a Marantz PM6005 amplifier and Polk tsx220b speakers to go with it. The amp is hooked to my PCs soundcard via S/PDIF. I always assumed that when you use S/PDIF, you cannot even change the volume level from the source, since only the music is sent digitally as ones and zeros.. but to my surprise I found out that the windows volume adjustment works normally (as does the volume adjustments in media players). So my question is, on which level I am supposed to keep my source volume (windows pc, music played with itunes): I have gotten so mixed information on this. Someone mentioned on this forum that I should have the PC volume maxed out and only control the volume from the amp, yet on another forum someone said I should keep the PC volume on 50% cos this is somehow supposed to make the sound better and tmake the amp perform better. Getting really confused here.

Also, I've noticed that when im listening to music really loud, some bass frequencies start to distort. Still the volume level is something the amp and the speakers should easily handle. Could this be due the fact that ive had my PC volume at 90% and I should set it lower and increase the volume from the amp? (itunes player volume has been always on max)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've read in several places that it's best to keep the software volume at 100% and adjust actual volume with analogue control on amp - if it has one. That's what I do with laptop and odac headphone amp and it works for me. Conversely, with my daughters computer, which has active monitors plugged into it, I need to bring the software volume down to 50% and turn it up with the volume control on the speakers otherwise it distorts. If your amp has a digital volume control then I can't say what's best but you could experiment with different settings to see what you like the most.

 

[MajorFubar]

If the PC is linked to the input on the amp by optical cable then you can rule out the possibility the distortion is caused by you overloading the input; that can't happen digitally. Are you by any chance using any digital EQ on the PC that could be causing digital clipping? But seeing you say it only happens when you turn the music 'really loud' I doubt this as well, as digitally-clipping the signal at source would be audible at all levels. Truth is I think you're just overloading your amp or speakers by whacking it up too loud. (Do you have the bass and treble pumped up on the amp as well?) With loud sources like modern music with a compressed dynamic range your amp/speakers could easily be hitting the end stops at 10 o'clock or less. The rest of the travel on the volume knob is to add sufficient gain to sources that aren't so loud.