Of course although as the level lowers against a reference of 0.0dBfs resolution is normally lost with a digital volume control , at some point the sound level becomes too low to hear ( or appreciate) that loss. So it is kind of self compensating.
Yes I do use a preamp as that both simplifies some level matching problems and also ( IMO and in that of many but certainly not all) provides a sense of drive and “completeness” to the music that ( again IMO) outweighs any small losses that there may be otherwise.