I'm looking for clarification on DACs with a gain option feeding into an AMP

I have a question on gain from DACs to AMPs. I know that there are some DACs that have gain settings on the DAC as well, and my questions is what is the general thing to do when you have a DAC that has 3 gain settings that going into an AMP? Should I aim for the lowest gain on the DAC and control volume and gain on my AMP? Or should I be aiming for a dead smack in the middle for gain settings on a DAC then do the rest on the AMP?

You should see what sounds the best to you. Generally, a lower gain produce better sound, but that’s not the case for all dacs.

Pretty much, just pick something that gives you proper volume range and sounds good to you, personally. I guess to start off try medium gain on your dac and low on the amp and see where it gets you. You still using the soundcard and atom?

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No way to know without knowing exactly what the gain setting on the DAC does.
So use what sounds best.

Alright, thanks.

Damn, I’m surprised you remember something like that, but yup I’m still using the sound card and the atom. I think I’ve figured it out, but I’ll ask just be sure; I think low gain may be the best one since at 7-9 it’s level where I can listen to it if I wanted it to be a little quieter, comfortable at 10-12 and 1-2 if I wanted it loud and after that it starts getting too loud for me. While medium at gain it starts getting too loud after 1.

That sounds like the right range to me

Thanks for the clarification.