[glynnw]

I am very happy with my Tortuga passive.  To see if a buffer or an active line stage might help. I contacted Roger Modjeski and he built me a simple one tube line stage with only  one switch that allows 0 or +6 dB gain, so I have been able to run it all as passive,  buffered or active.  In my system I simply don't need the gain and heard no change when I inserted the buffer, so I am happily running fully passive.

[richidoo]

A buffer is used to alleviate impedance mismatches.

Yes.     Voltage buffer.
Every active preamp transforms impedance whether or not it also adds gain.

[RDavidson]

OK. Cool. I just wanted to be sure that the Rogue wasn't being confused as a "buffer" per se. The Rogue is a tubed, active, preamp, moreso than it is simply a buffer. It's a little bit of a matter of symantics, but just to clear to those who may not quite know the difference, a tubed preamp (like the Rogue) is different than a Dodd tube buffer preamp, for example. The main difference is the Rogue is fully active and has gain via 2 or more stages, presumably. Buffered preamps are typically just a buffer (a single active stage with little to no gain) and a volume pot. That's why I used "gain" as the main differentiating factor. It's probably the most significant difference between the two preamp types.

[TJHUB]

Is there some other reason that you want to get rid of the Rogue Perseus, apart from hoping to upgrade the sound? Do you really think you can better it on a budget (although you haven't really mentioned what that budget is)?

This is a very good question, and very difficult to answer.  I've loved the Rogue from day one.  It has performed at a level that never made me question its performance.  I've also made some huge sound quality improvements since getting the Rogue, and it still never was a question mark. 

Some months back, I moved to a different home.  This allowed my to have a dedicated 2-channel room/setup.  I now don't need such a full featured preamp with all of the inputs, home theater bypass, or maybe even tubes.  I also run a very flexible PC based music server as a source that has enough adjustment settings to be like tube rolling. 

Recently, some software upgrades have shifted the sound significantly, and I bought different speakers.  My setup now seems to "need" something different.  I don't feel like I need tubes in my setup any longer.  All I think I need is a great, remote controlled, volume control for a single input and output.  The digital volume control in J.River is very questionable for me. 

I'd really love to try the Tortuga LDR.  I'm really wondering if it might land my current setup in a perfect place.

[charmerci]

This is a very good question, and very difficult to answer.

......
 
All I think I need is a great, remote controlled, volume control for a single input and output.  The digital volume control in J.River is very questionable for me. 

 
Come on, just admit it - you're getting old and lazy!   

(I'll admit....I am too!)

[Jonathon Janusz]

I found this online a while back (and saw a some literature on it at an RMAF shortly after), but not much feedback here yet as to anyone trying one out:

http://www.audiocubics.com/

Single input volume control with remote.  I'm (still?) not in a position to try it out myself, but I'm still interested to know how good this thing is.

[richidoo]

Nice find Jonathon, that one is slick.  It has 192 step attenuator, microcontroller and an opamp buffer circuit in there too.

[bummrush]

Coda or innersound

[RDavidson]

Nice find Jonathon, that one is slick.  It has 192 step attenuator, microcontroller and an opamp buffer circuit in there too.

That's pretty cool. I've seen these before, but never looked closely. I don't see info about an output buffer on the website (maybe I missed it), but it has a 600 ohm output so there's apparently something in the box doing that (op amp)....which should make it a very versatile little gadget.

[srb]

I don't see info about an output buffer on the website (maybe I missed it), but it has a 600 ohm output so there's apparently something in the box doing that (op amp)....which should make it a very versatile little gadget.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=111913.msg1205311#msg1205311

[TJHUB]

The Endler stepped attenuators showed up this afternoon.  My wife and daughter are currently sleeping off their Black Friday excursion last night, so I have my J.River volume at 100 and the attenuators turned down quit a bit.  There is a whole new clarity to the sound. It's really amazing...or at least amazing after listening to the crappy digital volume for the last couple of days. 

There is a realism to the clarity that I don't think I've heard from my setup.  There is this perfect wall of sound, the sound stage is deep again, but vocals are creepily real.  Tone is fantastic, and the bass is about perfect to my ears.  This is really incredible to listen to at the moment.

I'm about to get everyone up so I can test my normal listening volumes.  I hope I feel the same later this evening.

Thanks for letting me try these Pete!

[richidoo]

Glad you found something that works for you! Good to know he's still making those!

Just out of curiosity and for benefit of fellow JRiver VC users, would you mind confirming whether you were using JRiver internal volume or system volume setting?

Tools | Options | Audio | Volume | Volume Mode | [Internal Volume] or [System Volume] ??

Thanks TJHUB!
Rich

[TJHUB]

Glad you found something that works for you! Good to know he's still making those!

Just out of curiosity and for benefit of fellow JRiver VC users, would you mind confirming whether you were using JRiver internal volume or system volume setting?

Tools | Options | Audio | Volume | Volume Mode | [Internal Volume] or [System Volume] ??

Thanks TJHUB!
Rich

The Endlers might be old because they are on loan from bigredmachine. 

They work, yes, but I still have to use too much volume control due to the various levels of recordings. 

I am using the "internal volume" setting in J.River.  When I get down in the 80 or less level, I hear what I'd call distortion, smearing, reduced clarity, and of course collapsed sound stage.  With clarity comes a real sense of dimension and space in the sound stage.  I lose that when the digital volume is used. 

[richidoo]

Thanks! I usually only turn mine down to about 85 minimum, but I need a bit more gain on some classical stuff, so I intend to turn up my amps a bit more, which will mean turning down the JRiver further for normal recordings. I will listen for the problems you heard.