…hopefully some of us will be 80 or 90, and still enjoying…
The Moral of the Story is…Twist the Knobs.
Dear Richard,
My sincere condolences, I am so sorry to hear that.
This is the worst thing that can happen to a parent.
I admire your resilience and positive attitude.
Philippe
Wow. So sorry to hear that.
Two years ago my cousin (who was in his early 30s) just died suddenly. He was in the prime of life and things were going well for him. He suffered an unexpected seizure and swallowed his tongue and suffocated. He had a young son who is too young to remember his Dad.
A few weeks later my uncle was driving on a main road with a couple of friends and his cousin when they got hit by a large 18 wheeler truck from the side. They were all killed instantly.
None of us know how long we have, especially with those we love. That’s why it is so important to make the most of life now and make it clear how we feel about our family and friends as often as possible.
“None of us know how long we have, especially with those we love. That’s why it is so important to make the most of life now and make it clear how we feel about our family and friends as often as possible.”
Very well said. Love is the only thing that lasts.
In addition to that is how we treat each other. That is what makes this forum special. We argue fierce; however, with respect. When you’re wrong, own it, apologize and move on. God knows I have my stupid moments.
Learning is all about being shown a new model, approach, perspective. It requires patience from the teacher and student…
God knows I have my stupid moments.
Exactly. We all do. I’m stupid most of the time. Luckily most people don’t hold grudges. We have to forgive each other or we would never move on. There are some people who can never let a thing go and I feel sorry for them.
My condolences, I’m sure the pain will never completely go away. I think your outlook is correct.
Richard,
I am so sorry to hear that you had to suffer the most difficult loss anyone could ever have. May he rest in peace and be there to welcome you when it is time for you to go home.
@bhk, @badbeef, @tedsmith @Paul For those of us that have both the BHK preamp and the DS DAC I was hoping to get a simple starting point/ rule of thumb for volume control from the brains behind the development of both products. (@badbeef I included you because you have done a great job herding us cats on this topic). I realize it might not be a fair question.
From what I have read among numerous threads and watching Paul’s videos is that the first goal is to be using the BHK at at least 60 and more if possible. I also read that Ted thinks that a good target for the DS is around 85 with either the -20 b attenuator on or off. If that is the case in my system with Bhk 300s & Maggie 20.7s that means I have the -20 attenuator on with the DS at 85. Frankly I did not even know about the -20db attenuator feature on the DS. Shame on me. The attenuator has allowed me to keep the DS at 85 while having the BHK pre between 65 and 95 depending upon the Digital source. I think this is the best of both worlds according to both grandmasters @tedsmith and @bhk. Any affirmation or other viewpoints from @bhk and @tedsmith appreciated.
I’ve stayed away from the -20db attenuator (aside from using it to speed up burning of My DS) as in my head for some reason that it reduced dynamics.
Think this came from the time before I got my BHK Pre and tried running the dac directly into my power amp.
Assuming the Attenuator doesn’t reduce any of the good stuff, only lowers volume output?
The post above mine is a very good question and one which some confirmation would be appreciated by more than a few of us.
Everyones system is different of course and there’s no exact “Best setting” for all, but after so many of us have tried this now, is there indeed a general direction we should be aiming for?
With the Attenuator in place, I can run my BHK at 60-65 and the dac at 80, and sounds very good indeed!
Avoided the Attenuator as I associated it with a loss in dynamics and heft, so for me some confirmation that it doesn’t would be good.
Audiophile FUD, gotta love it. 
What each of us as individuals Hear and Like, with our own tastes, listening to Our Particular system, in our room, is the definition of a unique and subjective experience. I don’t understand why the experience of “sounds very good indeed” and “I think this is the best of both worlds” require confirmation by theory, or certain facts about a specific component.
Anyone telling you something about your particular chain of components without hearing it in your room - or indeed, without Being You, does not have all the information necessary to make the determination. Only you do. Ted, BHK and Paul have all weighed in, but I doubt very much any would presume to tell you what you should be hearing. All the necessary information they can give is in their posts. The rest is up to you.
I apologize for the frustrated/lecture-y tone of this post. But if you’d told me this thread would turn into such a FUD-Fest, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Twist the knobs, folks. Trust your ears and gut. You are the Only and Ultimate Authority. Do what makes you happy now. Its not brain surgery.
Then - feel free to change your mind later : )
If I might suggest an experiment to conduct, try covering your displays and using the volume knobs on your pre and DAC (if you have one, as on a Jr.) or cover all but the IR receiver on the DSSr. and use the remote, and then use only the two controls and your ears with a few diverse tracks. Turn down between tracks.
Do not think in advance in terms of Numbers. Concern yourself only with the sound. My guess is you can get to where it is either not hard to tell what the sweet spot is for a given source, or that it doesn’t make a very big difference : )
Wise words Mr Beef…
For myself I wondered about the technical knock on effect of the -20db Attenuator, more as an intellectual interest pursuit than anything else.
Running my setup with it on, letting me run my BHK pre at 60+ and Dac at 85 or so.
Sounds as dynamic as I’d ever want it.
Just curious is all 
Thanks - yes, I recall trying the -20dB setting when I was running without a pre. It “didn’t sound as good” to me at the time/in that application. Which was only about that, back then. I didn’t take notes, so I can’t tell you what the setup was.
The question at hand relative to that is - is that something intrinsic in the -20dB attenuator and what it does to the overall gain/headroom of the DAC, or does it have more to do with what you end up doing to compensate for that -20dB with one of your other devices?
Even that specific change has a lot of potential variables in a given system that make it hard to attribute “better” or “worse” specifically to the use of the Attenuator. I’m sure as heck not about to make any pronouncements about the Attenuator based on that.
@badbeef. I don’t want you frustrated. I was not personally saying “I think this is the best of both worlds” in my post above. What I meant to say is this is what I think Bascom, Ted, and Paul would say would be the best of both worlds for owners that have both a BHK Pre and DS DAc. My frustration is it took me a few hours of surfing these forums in a variety of places to get what I think are the veiwpoints of @tedsmith , @BHK , and @Paul with respect to the BHK Pre and DS DAC combo.
I could very well be wrong in condensing their viewpoints into two simple rules. (1) Try having the BHK pre at a volume setting above 60 or higher if possible and (2) try having the DS Dac at or around 85 if possible (attenuated or not). I am not sure if that would be thier combined viewpoint as a starting point for volume settings of the DS/BHK Pre combo. They may completely agree or disagree with these rules. I appreciate the genious of both Ted and Bascom and love both of the products. I am ok with them disagreeing amongst themselves if that is the case. I was just trying to condense their theories as a starting point for folks like me that are blessed to have both the BHK Pre and the DS Dac and are ok getting other viewpoints.
I agree with your premise of turning the dials and trying things…but I dont think it hurts to get the viewpoiints of the folks that designed the products, especially when they presumably both have experience using the combined BHK Pre/ DS Combo. I am happy being a lemming and following their lead as a starting point and then start turning the dials to test their theories. Call it confirmation bias if you will, but I respect their opinions.
Thank you again for herding the cats. I honestly dont know what a FUD-fest is and I am sorry if I created one. Be grateful every day we get to listen to fine music on this earth.
My technical opinion is “Suck it and see”
It’s a balance of so many variables that make the final sound so absolutely it’s hard to pin a reason on any change in reality.
Be great if Ted (Or anyone with a technical nous about how it works) could pitch in.
With the PS Audio kit I’ve stopped fretting about is it all good enough, as absolutely the kit will “do the numbers” it’s reputation says it will.
Call me a fan, never had music like this in my room in 30-odd years of following the equipment, and even longer appreciating the music.
Thanks - I get it now. Sorry about the lecture.
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. You didn’t create it, so no worries : )
BTW, I think that’s a pretty good Rule, or at least starting place, whatever anyone else may think.
Much to my surprise and delight, I had recently turned my DS DAC down to 70. My volume settings are more like up in the 40’s and the sound really was better. I will try the DAC attenuator and/or turning down the DAC volume way up and see how it goes.