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[spiggytopes]

Hi All,

I think I might have problem ...... not sure if this is the right place to post, but here goes.

My sound card's line level is 2 Volts.

My refurbished Quad 303 (not back from the workshop yet) has an input sensitivity of 500 mV.

The repairer said that the fit would be ok level wise, but from what I'm reading the output could be  too high for the Quad.

I'm worried that someone in the family will leave the volume up too high and damage something ...

So, do I buy a passive attenuator, if so any suggestions, OR

try to limit "forcibly" the output from J River AND the Windows system when outside J River?  (current using Wasapi).

Please, any advice will be devoured.


Cheers.

[6233638]

In Tools > Options > Audio, there is an option to set maximum volume, and you can also enable Volume Protection which changes the volume to 20% at the start of playback, and limits the rate at which it can be increased.

I'm not sure that there's a way to never allow Windows to go over a certain level.

[mwillems]

In Tools > Options > Audio, there is an option to set maximum volume, and you can also enable Volume Protection which changes the volume to 20% at the start of playback, and limits the rate at which it can be increased.

I'm not sure that there's a way to never allow Windows to go over a certain level.

I don't think there is a way to hard-limit windows; if you're only using JRiver, the max volume setting works great.  If you're not only using JRiver, I'd recommend a passive input attenuator.  

You can easily get 10 dB in-line attenuators built into an XLR sheath for ten or twenty bucks a piece.  You'd need about 6 dB of attenuation, not ten, but depending on your set up .  10 dB should be about right, but you may want a little more attenuation as a "safety".  That is to say, you may not want the full rated output of the amp, or your sound card may put out slightly more than the rated 2 volts (I had a soundcard rated to 2 volts of output that put out 2.15).  

Input attenuators also usually have the beneficial side effect of lowering the effective noise floor of your sound card/DAC, so there's that too.

EDIT: Made some fixes, when I said previously that you'd need 6 dB, I was thinking of power attenuation, not voltage attenuation; you probably do want about 10 dB of input attenuation, which is convenient because there are lots of comparatively cheap in-line attenuators in the 10 dB range.

[spiggytopes]

Thanks, again.

Is the attenuator a resistor in the phono cables between DAC and amp?

Can I do this myself (ha ha!)?

Cheers.

[spiggytopes]

OK, I found a -12dB RCA attenuator cable on that famous auction site, and actually made for the Quad!

Happy days.

[mwillems]

OK, I found a -12dB RCA attenuator cable on that famous auction site, and actually made for the Quad!

Happy days.

You can make 'em yourself, but you need to make sure the resistances are matched correctly. 

But it sounds like you found something ideal ready made.  Glad to hear it!