Volume is locked to 100% in the Squeezebox settings. Streaming is set to faad/flac or /sox, pcm and mp3 is de-activated.
I have previously had some questions regarding digital reansfer and gain, but cant seem to get answers.
I have a HD tv decoder, and a year ago I tried using digital coax out to my Bryston dac, but the volume was very low. The analog output was much stronger, and since I could use the decoders remote for volume I choose analog sound from the decoder.
Some months later the box received a firmware update from the cable company, and suddenly the digital output was stronger, now almost equal in volume to the analog output.
As for the squeezebox, I have some music on my computer that I copied to the Macbook. Both machines use iTunes as library. On both machines I can access Spotify, but the computer streams the music to the squeezebox via wireless, the macbook I connect to the Bryston directly from digital out on the macbook to the Bryston dac.
I feel the music comes much more alive when using the Macbook, and my thought is that gain must be higher. I agree that the squeezebox is very convenient to use, but somehow I lost the respect for it after getting the Macbook.