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- Please use high-quality RCA cables with good shielding performance, otherwise there will be noise.
- With no gain, no any amplification, only control the signal from the audio source to the backend devices.
Many sound sources such as HIFI PC sound cards, DAC, CD players, are with high output signal. Some active speakers and pure power amplifiers have high gain themselves, so they don’t need an active preamp to amplify the signal. Passive preamp is the best choice to reduce the sound rendering to the greatest extent because of no power transistor.
Parameters:
- Brand: Nobsound
- Model: VOL-3
- Audio input: Stereo RCA
- Audio output: Stereo RCA
- Power required: No
- Color: Black
- Dimensions (W*D*H): 94 × 52 × 43mm / 3.70 × 2.05 × 1.69in
- Package dimensions (W*D*H): 180 × 88 × 70mm / 7.09 × 3.46 × 2.76in
- Net weight: 224g / 0.49lb
- Package weight: 300g / 0.66lb
- 1 * Passive preamp
AA
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2025
Works great. Sound good.
Rick
Reviewed in Canada on September 14, 2024
Very nice product . The tactile feel of the knob feels good . I just installed it in my home gym , as certain music recordings have much more base than others . Denon’s remote controls for their receivers are terribly designed imo , and it’s difficult to navigate through the menus on the fly to change the subwoofer gain , or base , so I installed this gain control .So far so good . I deducted one star , only because it’s going to be a bear to install in the wall . There is a small amount of bezel overlap that may help a bit ,but I wish they had the option of a larger front bezel with screws so it could be surface mounted on a wall easily .
James P Ha
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2024
I really don't leave many reviews but since i'm on adderall and finally got my speakers working again, I'm really excited to share. This volume knob works incredibly well with my system.Mac --> ODAC --> Nobsound VOL --> Schiit Vidar(1) --> Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1sPrior to this nobsound vol control I was using a Schiit Asgard 2 Headphone Preamp. It sounded pretty good as well but the volume control was noisy and you can hear clicks and distortion in the speakers as you're turning the knob. The nobsound also seems to have a wider soundstage compared to my Asgard 2. I was worried that going with a passive preamp would sacrifice some gain but that is not the case. In fact I can turn the volume louder while getting less distortion than compared to the Asgard.There's a review stating that they experienced some issues where the volume knob wasn't linear with the audio gain. Like they noticed the gain jumping significantly from only slightly turning the knob. I was worried I'd run into the same issue but that hasn't been my experience. The knob feels very solid and the gain does seem pretty linear to me.5/5 stars. I couldn't be happier. I also now have something small enough to set on my desktop.
Blair Babineau
Reviewed in Canada on August 18, 2024
Used this to add a more reachable volume control for my two subwoofers in my sound system. Works flawlessly and doesn’t degrade the audio quality any noticeable amount.
Michael.
Reviewed in Australia on September 14, 2023
Did and does exactly as I wanted. Smooth operation!
TE
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2023
This passive volume control dramatically improved the sound from my desktop DAC at low volumes.It might seem counterintuitive or even nonsense that a passive component could improve the sound of a system, but the key thing to understand is that my DAC only has a digital volume control, and the sound quality degrades at low volumes. With this passive volume control I can leave the DAC's digital volume cranked up where it produces its best sound, then use this very high-quality analog volume control to pad the volume down to whatever level I want while listening.Second benefit is that I now have very fine-grained, continuously adjustable control to set the volume exactly where I want it; the DAC's digital volume is in discrete steps, and at lower volumes it was often too loud at one setting and too low at the next.Third, the construction and the components in this passive volume control are the top of the line. It's just a stereo potentiometer connected to some RCA jacks, but the pot is the best you can buy anywhere, and the audio jacks are top quality. The minimalist design is a good thing if all you want is a volume control - there's no unnecessary components to degrade the sound. All housed in a heavy duty and well made, attractive metal case. I'm using this control with my computer DAC, but it would fit right in with even the highest end systems.Finally, the smoothness and tactile feel of turning this quality volume knob is pure joy and intuitive, compared to clicking the volume buttons on the DAC.Highly recommended and worth the price if you care about quality.
J. Swarts
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2022
I give this the highest marks for quality of parts and construction. This is a top of the line sealed stereo Japanese made Alps stereo potentiometer with a satin smooth feel. It is housed in an attractive extruded aluminum case with two pairs of very high grade RCA jacks, as inputs and outputs Nothing is really better than this for a volume control as a minimalist "preramp" between your DAC or other line level source, and your power amps. I use the 50k ohm version to control the volume of my stereo. This pot goes between the DAC, (or any line level source) and a stereo amp or powered speakers. It is a, perfect, very high quality volume control that is linear, smooth silent, and totally transparent. It adds nothing to the signal, no noise or distortion, but simply varies resistance to the line level signal.....Less is more.
Jeff Szczerbinski
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2022
Had high hopes for this product. Enough optimism that I sent for a 2nd one when I didn't get the results out of the first one.High points... it looks great. Fells well made. Takes up little spaceLow points... While its described as passive. I guess thats true...it doesnt need power to run. But... is is passive audibly? No. The volume is NOT linear. Its either loud, medium, or no sound. But..the worst part is that as it reduces the volume... it changes the sound. The lower Hz (bass) disappears, then the midrange, even the highs start to disappear as you lower in volume... and it narrows down to something that sounds like AM radio. It is a volume control...but not one that is useful. Its not pleasant to listen to at anything other than full volume. Hopefully they can find a way to fix this product... as I think they nailed its physical characteristics.
Teuthbolt
Reviewed in Canada on March 11, 2022
In my case (straight from Topping d70s to Quad 303), this is what is doing the better job. Better skip the D70s's preamp... really a big difference direct on the DAC setting, as tested by me and at least one reviewer. Huge!. The D70s already has a high output, and the 303 a high sensitivity... In other cases I don't know. But this is also more direct than any preamp with switches and cheap/questionable components in the signal path... Great volume pot (alps27) seen in high end components since decades... I actually took off the rca jacks and soldered my favourite interconnects directly on the board of the Nobsound... After finicking w my system for a year, trying a passive with xlr input, using the d70 pre, this is what I conclude. Can't miss this way. I can always quickly switch to the preamp setting on D70 to use the remote, if I have a period of more coach potato than discriminating audiophilia. Just pull the trigger.
Wes
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2022
This is a great quality product. I’ve used it for multiple comparisons and level balancing situations. Originally purchased for my headphone amps input as the source output was too high and caused distortion. I also used it to compare preamp quality by a/b testing with it between my source and amp versus the pre-amp. I’ve also used it on a source to balance it to a second source I’m doing an A/B comparison to - when one source is louder than another we humans tend to think it sounds better, so to do a fair comparison they need to be perfectly balanced in volume. This works great for bringing the louder source down without effecting the sound quality.
Chuck M.
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2021
I searched for a while, trying to find something to keep me from being sonically assaulted (again) like I was when I was finished initially hooking those up (it was bad, really really bad... I didn't walk straight for a week). After a couple of mistakes (without the subs hooked up) I found this... have I mentioned the Knob? No? Really? The Knob is... sort of relaxing, soothing even... so smooth, so large, so firm... so very accurate in it's volume control... This took my 2.0 system, the extra RCA's on my other selector to turn it into a 2.2 system, with 12inch subs, WITHOUT me requiring medical treatment and years of therapy, to provide me with music therapy that shakes my coccyx, but in a totally good way.
jl007
Reviewed in Canada on July 12, 2020
Bought this to attenuate the volume of my CD player into a 70s Sansui amp, as attenuator RCA plugs tend to colour the sound. This thing works great! Very transparent, nice smooth controls, and great finish. While you are adding an extra set of gear in the signal path, this has been my best of many options. Get the top-level (audiophile version). Extremely happy with this purchase
Pat
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2020
Works as it should , actually not too bad , but not quite audiophile sound quality .
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