I’ve been using Ropieee to feed my main stereo system for the last five years or so. In that time, I’ve had it running through an SMSL DAC that doesn’t permit me to use “Device Volume” in Roon’s settings, leaving me to adjust this endpoint using “DSP Voiume.” This hasn’t really bothered me any, because the DAC in question doesn’t have a very granular volume control (I think it’s 45 steps).
But that DAC is starting to exhibit some flaky behaviors, and I’m looking to replace it. I’d like to replace it with something that goes from -99dB up to 0, and that allows me to adjust the device volume directly from Roon. Is there anything aside from a DAC being “Roon Tested” that will tell me before I buy whether Ropieee will be able to adjust the DAC’s device volume?
What you need is a USB DAC that has a hardware mixer which is exposed on the USB bus. That’s not something which comes ‘standard’: in fact it’s rather rare. Or worse: it is exposed, but non functional. Take for example my beautiful Chord Hugo2: it exposes a mixer on USB, which means that Roon by default thinks the volume is ‘device controlled’ (Roon’s way of telling it’s a hardware mixer), but it’s non functional.
And unfortunately, this happens quite often. There are many Hifi manufacturers out there who are still struggling with implementing a proper USB interface.
With this advice in mind, I bought a Topping DX5 ii, which is the headphone amp-enabled version of the D50 iii, a device which I saw reviewed as having a hardware mixer.
Unlike the SMSL M500 I had before, configuring the DX5 in Roon permits me to select “device volume.” And if I click the volume up or down in Roon, the output does get louder/quieter. But the dB reading on the DAC stays the same. So, I have to assume that the “device” in “Device Volume” doesn’t actually refer to the DAC like I thought.
Is the “device” being controlled for devices with device volume the ALSA logical device? What are the benefits/drawbacks of using this form of control instead of using the DSP volume built into Roon?
Well, it does, because volume changes. And ‘Device Volume’ in Roon is only available when supported/advertised by the device.
However… there are some complexities involved. First, what happens when you increase the volume from within Roon, followed by a manual increase? Does the reading ‘jump’ in dB’s? This would point that the display just isn’t following when the hardware mixer is manipulated via USB instead of a knob.
I’m not sure I understand you correctly. The USB firmware in your device advertises it’s capabilities, and in your case also that of mixer. This means it can be read and written to by the other side (in this case RoPieee, in the form of an Alsa mixe, and higher up in the chain Roon).
Well, from the earlier days in digital audio it was rather simple: analogue volume control is always better than digital volume control (aka ‘DSP Volume’), because it simply reduces resolution (chopping off bits).
However, over time this is a little bit more nuanced story: there are very good digital volume controls out there, so devices, but also in software. So Roon’s DSP volume control, and also HQPLayers volume control, are very, very good. I’m convinced that most people won’t hear the difference. All of course, depends on your hardware chain and it’s quality.
Starting state: DAC is at -6.0dB; Roon volume is at 100 (even though I have a volume limit of 80 on that zone…)
Turn down Roon volume to 66; track gets much quieter; DAC still says -6.0dB
Turn down DAC volume knob one click; DAC now says -6.5, with no appreciable change in volume
Turn DAC volume down five more clicks; DAC now says -9.0, with no appreciable change in volume
So what the DAC seems to do is let the USB bus control the volume, but only by completely surrendering control and awareness of its own level to the upstream device. Weird.
Anyway, once I started using RoPieee’s “USB Force Volume” to keep it from always starting at 100, it looks like it’ll do exactly what I need, including adjusting the volume with a remote control instead of having to wake up my tablet to use Roon.