How is the TacT RCS 2.0 as a pre amp vs

Hbrandt, it appears that you are also using the Tact as a DAC. Did you have the opportunity to try the Tact as a preamp using an outboard DAC?

Metaphysics: I am NOT using the TacT as a DAC. I am only using the TacT as a digital in - digital out room correction device. I am feeding the output from the TacT to a dCS Purcell and upsampling to 176k and delivering that to a dCS Delius DAC. I do have the DAC module in my TacT but am not using it.

Wow, then you can also use the Delius for volume control. Lots of possibilities.

Interesting that you prefer the sound with the Placette. I also have a Placette, which comes as close as I can imagine to having no sound of its own. So I wonder if the TacT's attenuation degrades the sound or if, perhaps, the Placette matches up better (impedence-wise) with amplifiers.

One thought: if you are upsampling after the TacT, I think you would not want to risk dropping any bits via digital attenuation prior to upsampling. Whihc argues for using the Placette or even the Delius, but not the TacT, to perform attenuation.

Thank for the clarification Hbrandt. Oh well, it looks like I may have to keep my BAT VK-50SE in place. Seems like overkill, but what isn't in this hobby.

Drubin and Metaphysics: I avoid using the volume control on the TacT and the Purcell/Delius. I believe (despite what the folks at dCS and Wadia say) that digital volume attenuation leads to reductions in clarity. For every 6 dB of digital volume attenuation there is loss of 1 bit. I'd rather feed the 2V digital signal from the Delius into the Placette dual mono and let the all Vishay resistor volume control boost that signal. I agree that the Placette is very transparent...but I do believe that Vishay resistors lead to a very fine sound. The sound is very realistic with superb imaging and an analog quality. I have extensively a-b compared the sound with and without the Placette and I much prefer with.