To Hans Wetzel,
I enjoyed your review of the Oppo Digital Sonica DAC and in fact I have recently purchased one. My old Arcam integrated amp is not working well and I was going to buy a Parasound A 23 amp. The Sonica DAC does have a volume control. I only intend to play streamed music from Tidal on my Sonica DAC. Do I need a preamp? Would the Sonica DAC's volume control be sufficient? Thank you.
Mani Pashmforoush
United States
You should absolutely try running the Sonica DAC directly into the Parasound A 23 amp -- that could produce the best possible sound, providing you can get a high enough volume level out of it. While you can certainly add a preamplifier into the mix to tailor the sound to your liking, if the output from the Sonica is already sufficient, it might not be necessary and would only add a possible source of noise and distortion into the signal chain. If the output from the Sonica is not sufficient, mind you, that is a different story. . . . Hans Wetzel
