Question re adding a Lina Amp to Rossini Apex Dac w/Vivaldi Clock

dCS Products
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Hi Everybody: I picked up a Lina Amp over the weekend from my friends at JS Audio for my headphone only system. My questions are as follows:

(1) Can the amp be controlled by the Mosaic app, or is that only when used with Lina Stack as opposed to the Rossini?

(2) How can/should I best set volume between the hi/lo gain setting on the amp, the volume wheel on the amp, 2 vs 6V setting in the Rossini, and the Rossini volume control.

Prior to getting the Lina, I was using a Burson Soloist 3xp in “power only” mode, bypassing the preamp and pot in the amp…..and controlling volume earlier in chain with the volume control on a Smyth A16….with the amp and Rossini on unity gain.

If I was streaming straight to the Rossini (instead of using the Smyth Realiser A16), I was using the volume control in the Rossini.

FWIW the Lina amp is significantly better than the Burson.

I’m using the system with a bunch of different headphones, but my two main go to are:

Audeze LCD 5: Impedance 14 ohms/ sensitivity 90db/1mW

Sennheiser HD800S: Impedance 300ohms/ sensitivity 102db

I know this is about as clear as mud, but any help would be appreciated.

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The Lina Headphone Amp is a purely analog device, there is no Mosaic integration at all.

The system was originally envisaged such that the volume control on the amp would be used to control the volume. When the Lina stack was first released the Lina DAC was fixed volume only. Now you have a choice, you could set the volume control of the amp to a level that allows you to use the digital volume control of your Rossini (including via remote or Mosaic control) if you prefer that or set the Rossini volume to 0dB and use the volume control in the amp.

The gain setting in combination with the output voltage (in relation to the sensitivity of your headphones) allow you to tune the gain in a way that lets you use the volume control (analog or digital) in its optimum range. For the analog that would be roughly the middle of its operating range, for the digital that means between 0dB and -40dB.

FWIW I have my Lina DAC set to fixed volume at 2V out and my Lina Amp set to low gain with my pretty sensitive Oppo PM-3s (102 dB/mW).

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Thanks Andrew. Since my first dCS purchase in 2001 (Delius/Purcell), I’ve been consistently impressed with dCS products and customer support.

Sounds like your settings with the PM-3s are nearly identical to mine with LCD-5’s. I haven’t spent much time with the Sennheisers yet….they are a bit more power hungry.

Thanks again for your help.

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