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Audiolab 8200cdq gone quieter at same volume setting

M

Mirror1

Active Member
Problem as in title.
Driving me mad.The settings are all as they have always been as i have checked them all .This problem arose after switching on a few days ago.
The volume is set to variable,so shows on CDQ display and at present i have to increase volume from -40db(normal listening level) to -20db to get the same loudness.
It is the same whether playing disc or using the usb connection.
I have tried using integrated amp and also direct to power amp.No good.
I have connected an old cd player and things are as they should be(apart from expected loss of sound quality)
Can anyone think of what can cause this?
 
Mirror1 said:
Can you explain what i have to do to check attenuate.I know nothing about Hi-fi tech.
Click to expand...
Is there a button on your remote that drops the volume instantly? Might be called something other than 'attenuate' (check your manual). It's for those circumstances where the phone rings, or somebody comes to the door or something like that, and rather than switch off, or completely mute, you can just drop the volume by a significant amount (usually 10-20dB) at the flick of a switch. If your amp or CD player has that function, and you've inadvertently pressed that button, un-pressing it will fix it.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
Is there an ‘attenuate’ function? The sort of thing you select when the phone rings. If so, has that got itself switched in?
Click to expand...

Mirror1 said:
Can you explain what i have to do to check attenuate.I know nothing about Hi-fi tech.
Click to expand...

I have an Audiolab Mdac. When you push and hold the mute button on the remote, the volume attenuates rather than mutes. Your situation does sound like an attenuate button has been pushed on the remote or on the unit, but that should release when you try to adjust the volume, so I don't really know what's going on.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
Is there a button on your remote that drops the volume instantly? Might be called something other than 'attenuate' (check your manual). It's for those circumstances where the phone rings, or somebody comes to the door or something like that, and rather than switch off, or completely mute, you can just drop the volume by a significant amount (usually 10-20dB) at the flick of a switch. If your amp or CD player has that function, and you've inadvertently pressed that button, un-pressing it will fix it.
Click to expand...

Ah,i understand what you mean now.No i can't see that function anywhere.Thanks anyway.
 
brab said:
I have an Audiolab Mdac. When you push and hold the mute button on the remote, the volume attenuates rather than mutes. Your situation does sound like an attenuate button has been pushed on the remote or on the unit, but that should release when you try to adjust the volume, so I don't really know what's going on.
Click to expand...

Hi Brab
No,nothing when i press and hold mute.Quick press cuts sound completely as it should.
It's a strange one,as i would have thought that if a part had failed,the sound would go completely.Reduced sound,doesn't seem like anything has failed,but i can't find anything in the manual that covers this.
I'm hoping John Westlake sees this and might be able to suggest something.
 
I used to have one of these, im sure there is two levels of sensitivity to match to your preamp or connected poweramp if used in pre amp mode, it may have defaulted to one on power down..
 
dspatterson said:
I used to have one of these, im sure there is two levels of sensitivity to match to your preamp or connected poweramp if used in pre amp mode, it may have defaulted to one on power down..
Click to expand...

Yes, this. You can adjust the output level of each rca input individually.. sounds like your problem..

the manual is available online as a pdf.

Mmm no, I just checked the manual myself and the adjustable level is for the rca inputs, so you could reduce these, but the internal output (from the built in CD player) is fixed…

So a CD player connected by RCA is louder than the internal CD player??

and what amp are you using? No volume controls on this??
 
This happened to my CDQ for a short while. From memory I thought the classic turn it off and on again had solved it but maybe it was after changing from variable to fixed volume and back again. You can do this by holding the menu button when turning on and I think you select with the play button.

Just don’t play anything when in fixed mode!
 
It would be useful to know what's going on with your unit, but you might also consider you're better off with your new normal, i.e. less attenuation, less signal degradation.
 
leevinyl said:
This happened to my CDQ for a short while. From memory I thought the classic turn it off and on again had solved it but maybe it was after changing from variable to fixed volume and back again. You can do this by holding the menu button when turning on and I think you select with the play button.

Just don’t play anything when in fixed mode!
Click to expand...

Hi Lee
I tried that a few times but is still the same.The manual said that you hold the select button when turning on to do it,but you are right,it is the menu button.It's not great that the manual is incorrect.Am i right in saying that variable volume output setting is for when using the pre-amp in the CDQ and then direct to power amp,and the fixed volume output of 0db or +3 is for when using an integrated amp.
 
Mirror1 said:
Hi Lee
I tried that a few times but is still the same.The manual said that you hold the select button when turning on to do it,but you are right,it is the menu button.It's not great that the manual is incorrect.Am i right in saying that variable volume output setting is for when using the pre-amp in the CDQ and then direct to power amp,and the fixed volume output of 0db or +3 is for when using an integrated amp.
Click to expand...
You're right, variable is for pre amp mode and fixed mode 0 to +3.
 
Thanks Paul
Regarding my original post.The volume reduction problem is only happening in pre-amp mode when i'm using a power amp.When i switch to fixed output (0) and connect an integrated amp,the problem goes away and it is loud at 9 o'clock on dial.Beginning to look like a pre-amp fault in the CDQ.I can use the integrated ok,but it's bloody annoying,as i had just found a 2nd 8200p and was going to try bi-amping.I can defintely tell the difference in sound quality between CDQ+8200A and CDQ+8200PX1 and was looking forward to connecting another.Bugger!!
 
As I suggested above, you might want to make a virtue of your problem and find a way of adapting your system to using your Audiolab in fixed mode. If your 8200CDQ is designed like my Mdac, the preamp sound quality is not the best, at least to my ears. Using an external preamp in my system improves the SQ considerably.
 
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