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I have tow DDRC 24 units in use on two very different systems one a passive speakers system with DDRC 24 only adding DIRAC DSP the other a full Active system with DDRC adding both Digital Crossover and DIRAC Live DSP .

One thing that has been consistent with both systems has been how the audio has improved the shorter I made the chain . When I first got the active system going I used a digital signal to an NOS DAC then t an AVI Pre amp and analogue from there in to the DDRC 24 with the analogue outs to my pair of Quad 405 Power amplifiers . In a similar way in the Passive speaker system I had a Metrum Quad DAC being fed the digital streaming signal and form that to a Concordant Valve pre and then analogue in to the DDRC 24 and two analogue outs to my Krell KSA50 amplifier.

Looking at this it became obvious that there was an extra chain in the signal path that could be avoided . So in both systems I connected the Streamer digitally (Toslink) direct in to the DDRC24 and then analogue outs to the various Power amplifiers directly and use the remote to control volume.

Not only did this give me a remote volume control that I had not had before it was also noticeable that the sound quality improved with the shorter signal path . The difference was not small and it has meant that I have kept the direct connections and the previous equipment including a number of DAC units are now redundant . Not Sure what I will do with these but they are not going back in to my systems that is for sure.

Is the Metrum Quad also a NOS DAC? NOS, by its nature and unless corrected for, rolls off the frequency response early, which may acocunt for part of what you are hearing. But yes! It's interesting how a "simple" DSP unit makes other audiophile gear redundant.

@John Reekie - Yes the Metrum DAC is an NOS unit but it not the usual suspect when it comes to the chip set no Phillips chips in sight. When used normally in a system it is a very musical DAC one that lets music flow naturally .

I do not think this is the reason for the sonic improvement I think it is the reduction of AD/DA chips the signal has to go through not to mention the full Pre Amp circuit including Valves .