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[George Bonanza]

Hi

Technically speaking which is the better choice for a USB DAC?

I'm using an AQ Dragonfly Red.
OS: Win 7 x64
Under control panel>sound>DF Red> properties the exclusive access is enabled. Both options are checked.

I'm using this article as reference (https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Volume)

In jrmc when I use system volume moving volume slider in system tray moves the volume control in jrmc in perfect sync and vice versa.

I hear no hiss or noise when I max the volume to 100% when using system volume. Tried it using the method mentioned in the article link, also I hear no hiss when I use internal volume and max it and system volume is set to 100.

I'm interested in knowing which option is technically better in my case because of the internal volume control built in the DF Red. According to Audioquest...

"DragonFly Red is equipped with a 64-step, 64-bit, bit-perfect digital volume control. With DragonFly Red connected to a PC or mobile device, adjusting the host’s system volume control will, through proxy, control the DragonFly Red’s onboard volume. This ensures maximum resolution and the highest sound quality, regardless of volume setting."
"DragonFly Red employs a 64-bit, bit-perfect digital volume control that resides inside the DAC chip itself—an elegant and sophisticated implementation that ensures maximum fidelity, dynamic contrast, and signal-to-noise ratio. With DragonFly Red connected to a PC or mobile device, adjusting the host’s system volume control will, through proxy, control the DragonFly Red’s"

In the wiki article it states "Internal Volume is useful in cases when hardware does not offer a volume, which is common with high-end sound cards and DACs".

I've tried both volume options and the only difference I found was when using internal volume I have more range/steps in the volume control. System volume gave me 25 steps (25% on volume slider) and it would get too loud on some some songs with internal volume I have 60-70% usable volume range, but still If one option is technically better I would choose that. To my ears apart from the usable number of steps I could not detect any difference.

[DarkPenguin]

If you can't hear a difference then you're golden. I would probably let the dragonfly handle the volume if it has hw support for it.

[stewart_pk]

If you use JRiver's Internal Volume you'll have processing available to you like LOUDNESS and you'll be able to change volume with one of the many mobile device apps (Gizmo, JRemote, eos).