Another info that I found, but I am not following;
The more astute of you may be thinking as you read that, ‘hang on, this sounds more than a little like a Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus and the last time I checked, that was a good deal less than three grand.’ This much is true. The functionality of the D100 is replicated on a number of devices that cost quite a bit less than the McIntosh does but the bald feature list doesn’t completely describe what the D100 can do. The first is that unlike most other digital preamps, the D100 has a preamp circuit that is completely separate from the digital board.
McIntosh D100 Design
The reasons for doing this are fairly compelling. If you are acting directly on the digital signal of a DAC you have two options about how to adjust volume. The first is bit reduction which physically reduces the size of the signal the DAC handles. As the name suggests, physically clipping the amount of data in the signal isn’t a great way to maintain quality so this is not ideal and certainly not for McIntosh. The second way is to use DSP to adjust the volume level in the digital domain without actually losing any information. This is much more effective at retaining the overall quality of the recording but it does tend to make adjustment a little slow and unwieldy.
By fitting a conventional preamp to the D100 - albeit one on a rotary encoder rather than a classic volume ‘pot’, the D100 feels like a normal preamp. If you rapidly twist the volume control on the D100, the volume climbs or descends at a ‘proper’ speed rather than coming to terms with the world around it and slowly ‘ramping.’ Furthermore, with an encoder in place, the D100 has a full remote control that means it is possible to use it at rather more than arm’s length although the remote itself is certainly in the running for the ‘most buttons that have no actual bearing on the operation of the product’ award.
The other benefit of implementing a preamp this way is that it also doesn’t have to be part of the signal path. As well as the variable outputs, there are fixed level ones too that ensure that the D100 can be used as a completely normal DAC into one of McIntosh’s preamps and integrated amps (of which there are many). The preamp isn’t deactivated in this instance, it is completely absent from the circuit.
The more astute of you may be thinking as you read that, ‘hang on, this sounds more than a little like a Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus and the last time I checked, that was a good deal less than three grand.’ This much is true. The functionality of the D100 is replicated on a number of devices that cost quite a bit less than the McIntosh does but the bald feature list doesn’t completely describe what the D100 can do. The first is that unlike most other digital preamps, the D100 has a preamp circuit that is completely separate from the digital board.
McIntosh D100 Design
The reasons for doing this are fairly compelling. If you are acting directly on the digital signal of a DAC you have two options about how to adjust volume. The first is bit reduction which physically reduces the size of the signal the DAC handles. As the name suggests, physically clipping the amount of data in the signal isn’t a great way to maintain quality so this is not ideal and certainly not for McIntosh. The second way is to use DSP to adjust the volume level in the digital domain without actually losing any information. This is much more effective at retaining the overall quality of the recording but it does tend to make adjustment a little slow and unwieldy.
By fitting a conventional preamp to the D100 - albeit one on a rotary encoder rather than a classic volume ‘pot’, the D100 feels like a normal preamp. If you rapidly twist the volume control on the D100, the volume climbs or descends at a ‘proper’ speed rather than coming to terms with the world around it and slowly ‘ramping.’ Furthermore, with an encoder in place, the D100 has a full remote control that means it is possible to use it at rather more than arm’s length although the remote itself is certainly in the running for the ‘most buttons that have no actual bearing on the operation of the product’ award.
The other benefit of implementing a preamp this way is that it also doesn’t have to be part of the signal path. As well as the variable outputs, there are fixed level ones too that ensure that the D100 can be used as a completely normal DAC into one of McIntosh’s preamps and integrated amps (of which there are many). The preamp isn’t deactivated in this instance, it is completely absent from the circuit.