Dedicated Pre-amplifer vs preamp mode on dac

[audiodelic]

Planning on adding a Emotiva usp-1 to my set up of Beresford Caiman in preamp mode to Emotiva Upa-1 to a pair of Ascend Sierra -1.

One of the major reasons is the cross over dedicating the subwoofer for below 60hz and sending the frequencies above that to the ascend sierra bookshelves

I want to know will i get improved sound quality with a dedicated pre amp v/s the pre amp mode on beresford dac itself ? Please advise ....

TIA

 

[Flash]

Looks like we are sailing in the same boat.
I am planning on buying the USP-1 as well as the XDA-1.
I will be mating it to Rotels, B&W & Rythmik Audio Sub

The main reason I am looking at the USP-1 is purely due to bass Management. So integrating it for 2 channel stereo would not a absolute nightmare.

The other option is Parasound Classic 2100 preamp.

Anyway coming down to your question.

I honestly feel having a dedicated preamp does help in SQ. I use a Arcam A70 integrated as a preamp at the moment, however recently i tried out a Dedicated preamp and I found a noticeable difference.
A dedicated preamp does not have added components like a DAC inbuilt etc. So a very short signal path with fewer components inside to cause any interference.
The Emotiva XDA-1 can act as a preamp as well. Considering the price it is a absolute steal however again the same issue, One box doing doing 2things .

It makes more sense to have components in different boxes. less signal interference and each designed to do a specific job and nothing else.

So Power Amp + Preamp + Dac + Source etc would ideally be the way to go if you are looking at midfi / hifi sound.

--END NOTE ---

Preamps have their own sound signature as well. So it makes sense to see if the Emotiva mates well with the Ascends Or rather the synergy between the 2 is the sort of sound signature you are looking for.

Or else after plugging in the USP-1 you may just realize that you prefer the sound signature of Beresford by itself,

 

[audiodelic]

@Flash
How much difference would the pre out voltage make 1v on the beresford vs the 9v on usp-1 ?
i read that higher pre out voltage would mean better snr and less noise effectively making the music sound livelier and cleaner.

I also need to confirm whether im losing bits using the volume control on the beresford dac whereas a volume control in analogue is preferred so that you do not lose digital bits.

 

[Flash]

Well the difference in pre-out voltage 9v to 1v is very noticeable the signal is significantly cleaner, so less noise and better dynamics,
Higher pre-out voltages does not mean that it would make your system louder. nor do they make your amplifier less stressed or run cooler.

The whole purpose of high pre-out is to reduce noise. So you are right on the mark over here when comparing the Beresford to the Emotiva. The signal going into your amp can pick up all sort of unwanted signals, so a higher pre out voltage helps.

So that is where you would see/hear a significant difference

By turning up the volume on the beresford, what you are invariably doing is introducing noise and distortion, which in a real world scenerio you would not notice unless offcourse you have a stand alone preamp to do A/B test, its only then you actually hear a noticeable difference and probably make you wonder how you managed to listen to music for so long that had noise/distortion being fed into it.

So yes keep signal as clean as possible and the only way to achieve this is going separates with each component.