It would be nice to be able to disable the software volume on macOS - and have the external DAC in “exclusive mode”. Some might say it doesn’t make a difference in sound, but I know it does with other players.
Please explain a little bit more what you actually mean by “software volume”.
So, while I love the possibilities in Plex to customise the sound using Loudness Leveling, Equalizer, Sweet Fades etc on certain playback devices - when I’m on my main system I just want plex to pass the digital samples without any altering whatsoever.
Audio Output → external DAC
Sample Rate Matching → Strict
Loudness Leveling → off
Equlaizer → off
Sweet Fades → off
But there’s no way to actually bypass the Plex volume control:
I can set it to max - and I can even hide it from the interface - but not bypass it/turn it off.
The goal is to have the DAC in exclusive mode, sending the digital information from the files without any altering. I do believe the Plex volume control do affect the delivery to the DAC since the sound is slightly different from other playback software that offer exclusive mode with the DAC. Also, I’d prefer to only rely on the external amplifier for volume control.
So I guess my wish is both exclusive mode (where Plex will take full control of the DAC and not let the system use it) and also disabling volume control function in Plex.
