Pass XP30 preamp makes no difference (from dagogo) ? Wow! (active vs passive vs no preamp)

Did a lot of experimentation the other day with a couple DAC's and my XP12 and a loaner XP22.

Ultimately, the XP22 plus DAC was the best combo 85%+ of the time.  

I posted here a few days back.  But, if you can afford a XP22 or XP32... it will out perform a DAC direct 85% of the time or so IMO.

XP22 really impressed me.  I am hoping my dealer decides to sell this demo unit soon so I can afford it.  I badly want it and to support them.  But, I can't really swing full boat.  They don't come up for sale that often I've found.

Do not have a dac have Esoteric o3XD cd player.

As a fellow Dagogo.com reviewer, a few comments. If I understand correctly, the comparison was between using the Pass preamp's attenuator vs. the Bricasti attenuator. If so, this was one very limited comparison, and should not be seen as any kind of holistic assessment of the Pass preamp. He did not seem to comment at all on the majority of sound parameters associated with both pieces, only the resolution at low level. Imo, it would be erroneous to conclude that a judgment was being made in regard to one being holistically superior to the other. 

trudat,
If a dedicated DAC, not an integrated DAC( like the Bricasti, with a preamp output) is compared to having a preamp, then it would be expected that the insertion of the preamp would be superior, chiefly due to the lower output of the DAC not driving the amp well. Now, if this was a comparison of integrated DACs with preamp function direct to amp, that is an entirely different story. In nearly all cases of dedicated DAC to amp, the insertion of preamp is beneficial, no surprise there. I find, however, that I can build integrated DAC to amp systems that can perform superior to a given set of dedicated DAC/pre/amp. 

IOW, it makes a BIG difference whether the DACs used in your comparison were dedicated or integrated. The results would change significantly based on that variable. Frankly, in recent years I am building more integrated DAC to amp, OR dedicated DAC to integrated amp systems and having superb results. 

Finally, the amp makes as much difference as the pre and DAC. Pick the wrong amp and it pretty well doesn't matter what else you're doing, you're killing the sound quality. 

@douglas_schroeder thanks for the clarification! That makes a lot of sense. I was shocked when a friend first showed me this and  clearly I misinterpreted it.

You can go the passive route but only with digital but you will lose dynamics if you go with a good full function preamp or preamp with phono stage you will be able to get the amplifier to sing at any volume level with any source but finding the right preamp can be a difficult one but it is worth the effort in  the long run.