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Topic: How to tell if you are controlling the volume of the DAC or software (Read 1757 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to tell if you are controlling the volume of the DAC or software

I just wanted to know if there's a way to tell if you are adjusting the volume of your DAC (like hardware based volume control), or if you are adjusting some kind of software based volume control, when turning the volume up/down via Windows.

My personal guess is that the software based volume control would be audio service (the replacement for kmixer from Windows XP), but since most of my audio is not going through audio service (I'm mostly using kernel streaming and WASAPI exclusive-mode streams), the only kind of volume control I can imagine happening, would be the one of the DAC.

Anyways, let me know if I am wrong or if there is a way to check whether you are actually controlling the volume of your DAC.

Re: How to tell if you are controlling the volume of the DAC or software

Reply #1 –
Quote from: kageking on
I just wanted to know if there's a way to tell if you are adjusting the volume of your DAC (like hardware based volume control), or if you are adjusting some kind of software based volume control, when turning the volume up/down via Windows.

My personal guess is that the software based volume control would be audio service (the replacement for kmixer from Windows XP), but since most of my audio is not going through audio service (I'm mostly using kernel streaming and WASAPI exclusive-mode streams), the only kind of volume control I can imagine happening, would be the one of the DAC.

Anyways, let me know if I am wrong or if there is a way to check whether you are actually controlling the volume of your DAC.

You should know this a priori because you set up and configured the hardware and software. 

If the volume control is part of the PC or a program running on the PC, then it is probably also controlling something that is part of the PC.

If the volume control is part of an external DAC, then the physical control you are operating is generally part of that device.

For example, I ofen listen to music on a pair of Sony 7506 headphones, connected to a SoundBlaster E3 headphone amplifier connected by a 3.5 mm cord to the analog audio output of my Nvidia Shield tablet.  There are two effective volume controls, one part of the Nvidia, and one part of the SoundBlaster.  Both appear to be digital volume controls because they are stepped and controlled by push buttons. However, fool that I am, it seems pretty clear to me which one I am operating when I am operating it...

Re: How to tell if you are controlling the volume of the DAC or software

Reply #2 –
Its hard to experientially test. In theory you could plot snr vs volume, but this is complex to measure and error prone.

If possible, look up the device you're using. Often you can tell from the data sheet or choice of components.