I was having an issue with playing music from my laptop running MC18 into the DAC in my hi fi system. The sound lacked dynamics, air, and large soundstage. I thought it might have been the specific files I was playing, but when I ripped a CD into MC and played it through the CD player/DAC, it sounded worse than CD played in the unit's transport. So I thought maybe it's a USB cable issue since the laptop is connected to the DAC via USB. I tried some high end USB cables, and that didn't make much difference.
I then started playing with the volume settings. I had originally been using internal volume set at 80%. I turned the volume down a little because some of the tracks are recorded at a high level. I didn't give it any more thought because the MC manual says that the volume control in MC is supposed to preserve all the dynamics. Regardless, I set the volume to 100% to hear what difference it made. When I did that--voila!--there was the music. Dynamics, soundstaging, detail were all there!
I never thought the difference between 80% and 100% volume setting could affect the sound in such a dramatic way. Now I've disabled the volume control in MC. Windows volume is 100%, and I can still alter the volume with Windows. (I'm trying to figure why that isn't disabled.) But now I can finally enjoy hi rez files on my sound system!
What volume mode and level do most people use when connected to an outboard DAC?
Jim