I have since starting running my DSD at 100. Actually sounds better to my ears
badbeef, I’ll concur, who said BHK Pre at 70, DSD at 70? Awesome… the bass…
could just be me, but the lower volume listening has improved as well… Stevie Ray’s Tin Pan Alley… BHK Pre set to 70, DSD at 35 very good, cinco de mayo…
I have been listening to the BHKPRE set to 65 streaming and using the DSD for volume for about a month. I think of the SNR I am giving up on the first stage amplification and I say, wait a minute… why am I doing this w/ sweet spot on PRE… I then turn it back to DSD fixed at 84 and use the PRE for what it was designed to do and after a day… do not like it… the reason for my “it’s counterintuitive”. To add to the conversation, I got rid of Tidal weeks ago and stream nothing but 24bit and DSD. It makes no sense because you would think the higher bit rate, the cleaner the DSD higher SNR would sound… I have no idea. Maybe Bascom or Ted may have an answer…
Don’t overthink it
Yeah right! I am staying w/ PRE at 65 and it sounds great and I love the DSD as volume; gain slope seems less sensitive. 
I just did a third round of comparing my two fave “Iconoblast” speaker cables (buddies humorous reference), and I set the three sources (DSD, Streaming and Vinyl) at different levels on the DAC - where they were good-ish and loud enough.
I’m not married to any DAC level - or Pre level, for that matter, anymore. Just as there is a volume level that is the most appropriate for a given track/album in a given room, my feeling is that Theory falls away when presented with temporal reality.
Though there may be a range for a given system that works, there is no absolute setting for any of thew devices in the chain, IMO.
Your killing me… too funny… yeah, I give up… just sitting back and letting my ears pilot…
As a life long musician and recording engineer, there is nothing else. It is only Now. Theory be damned.
Yeah, right you are, just have fun listening and don’t overthink."
Theory falls away when presented with temporal reality.
Is that a bit like “i reject your reality and substitute it with my own” 
No - all temporal realities are equally valid. The difficulty arises from the desire to agree about a particular aspect.
It makes no sense because you would think the higher bit rate, the cleaner the DSD higher SNR would sound… I have no idea. Maybe Bascom or Ted may have an answer…
One theory I have is it might have to do with how in most (non classical) music the dynamic range is very small and quiet passages are very short - our ears and our auditory cortex tend to acclimatise to the higher average volume level.
Even at low volumes on the DAC the noise floor may not be high enough from your listening position to be noticeable - especially when your ears adjust to the music itself. On the other hand with a classical piece that has long passages that are very quiet you might find it more apparent as your ears acclimatise to the lower volume levels.
Also thinking back I seem to remember someone (maybe @tedsmith ) saying that even if you reduce the volume a lot (don’t remember what number he stated) you only lose a bit or so or resolution - hope I"m not misremembering that though.
So just tonight I lowered the DSDac down to first 90 then 80 and then 70 - this allowed me to raise the BHK Pre volume into the 20s and eventually 30s. (Previously my BHK Pre was between 12 and 18 for most music).
I didn’t really notice much difference with with the 90 setting on the DSDac. 80 sounded better and 70 a lot better. The sound seemed more fluid and holographic in terms of imaging.
Anyway this is just a couple of hours of listening but so far it seems better. I haven’t tried anything below 70 yet.
Also I did briefly try the built in DAC attenuator but it seemed to make the sound worse compared to adjusting the volume manually.
You don’t loose resolution with the DS volume control - any change in an incoming bit has the expected result in the output, but getting too close to the DS’s noise floors will definitely detract from your listening experience.
OK. I think I was confusing the signal to noise ratio of the format with the actual noise floor of the device.
@tedsmith - thanks Ted, that explains it well. Now I have no issue with using the DSD as volume control and I like its less sensitivity to changes in volume. As long as you are not dropping the # value too low, no issues… As Mark indicates, the BHKPRE value can change depending on the source. So far I like the BHKPRE set at 65 for streaming and DSD is usually around 50 most of the time. In addition (streaming), I don’t like the Roon auto volume level; however, the down side is having to really pay attention to the source music level as you change songs/albums…
Thanks for the post, appreciate the help.
After a morning of testing have the DSD at 89. Didn’t like 80 at all. 100 still good but 89 for now. Pre is Pass XP-22.
I also have an XP-22. I hear no difference at 80/90/100, etc. My guess is that the folks who are hearing a difference are hearing the differences when driving their tubes harder. I don’t think it makes an audible difference with solid state. I would love to hear Mr BHK address this interesting question.
It made an audible difference in my solid state system, though preferences certainly will vary…