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Do you need a pre-amp for PC source?

E

EPOQ

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
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Using a Titanium HD, bought a pair of passive bookshelves. Picking up an Onkyo M-282 amp today, brand new, very cheap off of Craigslist. How does the volume control on integrated amp work? It's just an "input level" adjustment knob -- and supposedly should be on 100%. Can I control the volume of the speakers from my PC in Windows? Or do I need a pre-amp/receiver, because I'd prefer to NOT have to go that far.
 
Useful, especially to keep the noise floor down, but not really necessary for your application imo. The ideal would be to keep the windows volume at max in order to keep the signal to noise ratio as high as possible and adjust volume downstream. I wouldn't worry about it though. Btw, the input lvl adjustment is basically a gain knob for the amp. You want to use a little as possible while still getting the max volume you want without distortion.
 
Seems weird that I don't truly have a master volume knob in this set up but I will give it a shot tonight once everything is hooked up. Onkyo M-282 amp, Energy CB-20 speakers, Titanium HD sound card/DAC.
 
Nice. These speakers are pretty amazing. The M-282 is nice as well. I have the input level adjustment pretty low and music is pretty damn loud at 20% Windows volume. The CB-20's could easily fill a large living room for a party, etc.
 
The Onkyo M-282 is not an Integrated amp, it is a Power amp. The input level adjust is not really meant as a volume control, but as in input trim adjustment.
I would leave the gain at 100% and use the PC as a preamp to adjust the volume.
 
Yeah. I guess I don't understand the difference between integrated and power amps? Either way, I took the advice to keep the "Input Level" knob as low as possible, while controlling the master volume through Windows. Seems to be going well so far.
 
EPOQ said:
Yeah. I guess I don't understand the difference between integrated and power amps? Either way, I took the advice to keep the "Input Level" knob as low as possible, while controlling the master volume through Windows. Seems to be going well so far.
Click to expand...

Good choice on keeping the input level on the amp as low as possible for your needs. From the sound of things you should lower it even further since windows reduces bit depth in order to attenuate the volume level. If you set the input level to max on the amp, you'd have even less volume control in windows with the added fact that you could possibly clip the signal at the amp adding distortion. Clipping and distortion are things you want to avoid always.

Integrated amp just refers to an amp that's part of a system like in powered speakers, powered receiver, ect. What you have is a stand alone power amp since it does nothing but amplify the signal to power speakers.
 
So ideally then, I'd want the input level on the amp to be as close to zero as possible, and the Windows volume to be on the louder side?
 
I would still get a pre-amp. Grab a cheap integrated w/pre-outs off c-list and see how you like it.
 
If using the computer to control volume, yes you'd want the windows volume to be above 80% if possible. The input level on the amp is just to account for sources that may have lower signal levels to begin with, or to increase the gain if the speakers you are powering are inefficient(need more power). The speakers you have seem to be pretty efficient. There's no need to use more gain than needed ever. All more gain does is increase the noise floor and raises the chance of distortion.
 
For sound, you need a pre amp, which controls volume, switches inputs, might adjust bass/treble, balance, etc.
You need a power amp, which amplifies the low-level signal from the pre-amp to levels that can drive speakers. Generally a power amp does not have volume controls, but some have input level controls on the back. Just be aware that if you turn them down low, you are limiting the max power your amp can put out.
A pre-amp and power amp in the same chassis is called an integrated amp
If you add a tuner to the same chassis, then it becomes a receiver.
Add a bunch of video in and outs, and video processing plus multi-channel processing, and it becomes an A/V Reciever.
And I wasnt thinking about Windows shaving bits to control volume, does it do this through the analog outputs also?
 
JohnDC said:
For sound, you need a pre amp, which controls volume, switches inputs, might adjust bass/treble, balance, etc.
You need a power amp, which amplifies the low-level signal from the pre-amp to levels that can drive speakers. Generally a power amp does not have volume controls, but some have input level controls on the back. Just be aware that if you turn them down low, you are limiting the max power your amp can put out.
A pre-amp and power amp in the same chassis is called an integrated amp
If you add a tuner to the same chassis, then it becomes a receiver.
Add a bunch of video in and outs, and video processing plus multi-channel processing, and it becomes an A/V Reciever.
And I wasnt thinking about Windows shaving bits to control volume, does it do this through the analog outputs also?
Click to expand...

Yes, the windows mixer which includes volume control decreases bit depth. This comes into play whether you're using an outboard dac or the integrated dac in the motherboards onboard sound. While a pre-amp is useful, especially for source selection, it's not usually not needed for most applications.

Keeping the input level low on the amp will limit the overall power of most amps, but for a pair of bookshelf speaker like the op is using this won't be an issue. If the application were for larger drivers he'd need the extra power and the speakers wouldn't be super loud with windows at 20% volume.
 
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