Reddit reviews Volume Controller Fostex Pc-1e (W) White

http://www.amazon.com/TC-Electronic-Level-Pilot-Computer-Independent/dp/B001PGMNRG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1394835644&sr=8-5&keywords=studio+monitor+volume+controller

or

http://www.amazon.com/Volume-Controller-Fostex-Pc-1e-White/dp/B0058B1T4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394835744&sr=8-1&keywords=fostex+volume+controller

Both will get the job done. I have the fostex and it works like a charm. it also has a 1/8" audio input so you can just get a cable and plug your phone or ipod in to play on your monitors.

A chromecast audio is all you need for spotify.

Those are pretty good. To power them you'd need an amplifier, but for hip-hop, I'm sure some day you'll want to add a subwoofer, which would kinda force you to get a multichannel amp now (stereo amplifiers aren't able to divide the frequencies correctly between sub and speakers) and a beefy multichannel amp is going to cost you $400: if that's within your budget, then go for it. It's certainly the most convenient solution because an AV receiver allows you to connect anything you might get in the future: consoles, bluray players, chromecast video, turntable (for that you'll need a phono preamp though).

Otherwise I would recommend you something entirely different: 2x JBL LSR308s or Emotiva Airmotiv 6s: they go deeper than those B&Ws with a still great sound quality; and they're powered speakers, which means each has built in amplifiers, requiring no additional gear other than a volume controller for convenience. You would hook up the chromecast to the volume controller with the bundled 3.5mm cable and then run a pair of RCA to 6.3mm TS cables to the speakers, one for each. Done.

For the turntable, you'll eventually get a phono preamp with a switch and multiple inputs like this (but if I were you, I'd stick to digital music unless you inherit a collection).

With these a subwoofer would be less important (because again, they go deeper by themselves), but I'm sure you'd add one eventually: in that case you'd just have to make sure that the sub has high-pass filtered outputs (SVS subs do, for example, and they're good - a high pass filter ensures that the main speakers aren't goint to reproduce the same frequencies of the sub, improving their performance and eliminating the unwanted overlap) so that you could add it to the chain with ease (between volume controller and speakers).

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-NPATCH-BLK-Compact-Controller/dp/B01I3B0OH6/

or

https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Fostex-Pc-1e-White/dp/B0058B1T4M/

I'd say save a bit of money from the nanopatch+ and just pick up this fostex knob.

The DAC portion of the E10K is perfectly fine for pretty much any setup you can buy. Modern Dacs are the strongest part of the playback chain by far, with amps coming in second. The only question is does the E10K pump out a strong enough signal to be able to saturate the amps in the sub and speakers. I'm not sure about that part, but I would suspect it's fine, you might just need to run the amps at a bit of a higher gain than you would from something like a Lexicon Alpha for example. Yeah, also consider the Lexicon Alpha. It's a USB DAC that offers a pretty high-gain balanced pre-amp volume control for under $50.

The "noise" caused by unbalanced signals shouldn't be a problem. It's used in studio environments for long cable runs and the fact that there is tons of equipment so keeping noise down is really important. The significant part you need to worry about is the gain structure. Gear made to receive balanced inputs normally wants a "hotter" signal since line level unbalanced is normally a weaker signal in consumer gear.

Performance-wise, all-in-one speakers are a fine way to go. When done right (and I have zero doubts KEF does it right) you get amps matched precisely to the drivers and no fuss. And things stay nice and minimalist.

Price-wise, I have some questions about the value proposition.

> lack of subwoofer connection option.

Annoying, though you can work around it if you use the analog connection and have a volume control upstream.

(source) --> (volume control like the Schiit SYS, Emotiva Control Freak, or oooh! I found a white one for you!) --> RCA splitter --> (subwoofer and KEFs)

> what would you guys recommend

I have not personally heard any of these. But...

• Well, those KEF Uni-Q drivers are kind of magical, I wouldn't rule that out if the workaround above is acceptable
  
• JBL LSR305 is available in white and is self-powered for about $300-$400 a pair. They are the unrivaled sound quality leader. If you add the matching LSR310 sub my hunch is that this would outperform everything else, and would cost less than the KEFs alone.
  
• Kanto makes a lot of great looking speakers in white + other colors, including ones w/ all the features of the KEFs plus sub outputs.
  
  I personally would not care if the speakers had integrated wireless stuff. I would vastly prefer to simply feed them audio through a Chromecast or Apple Airport Express. The latter can be had for like $20 on eBay and offers full lossless streaming.

You can use one of these and 2 RCA cables, but you'll have to control volume on the PC. If you want inline volume control you can use something like this or this.

I think it's the disproportionate amount your willing to spend on relatively unimportant parts of your systems. You have $150 speakers, but are willing to spend $600 on a preamp for volume control, and another $600 on a DAC. You have $200 headphones and want to power them with $600 in amplification. None of those make any sense.

Get an ODAC ($99) and an passive volume controller like this ($33), or get the Schiit Loki which does both ($149). Now with the $1650 of your budget you have remaining, buy nicer headphones like the HiFi Man HE-500 ($599) and an amp to power them, like the Schiit Valhalla ($349). Pocket the remaining $700 or spend it on nicer speakers as well.

The actual speakers and headphones are the single most important part of any system. Spend your money on them.

You can use something like this 3.5mm to 1/4" cable to connect them directly to a PC.

If you want a physical volume control you can use a Fostex PC1e and these RCA to 1/4 cables instead.

If you want to spend $100 and need a headphone amp then the Schiit Fulla 2 has a volume knob and a headphone amp built in.

Is there anything a bit more simple? Something like this but bigger? Would like the knob around the size of a palm

I use one of these with my desktop speakers, Fostex PC-1e.

http://www.amazon.com/Controller-Fostex-Pc-1e-White/dp/B0058B1T4M/

Should also be available in an all black model.