If I understand your situation, I think it is a little more complicated than you think.
Sounds like your PC has a digital output and the output of a HT receiver will be analog. So, you are trying to connect a digital connection to a DAC/pre-amp and also to connect an analog signal from your HT receiver to your DAC/pre. That means your DAC/pre-amp needs to have switchable inputs between a digital input and a analog input and the analog input needs to be a HT bypass. There are not that many of those units out there. I am not an Emotiva expert, but I do not think their DACs have an analog HT bypass. Their analog 2 channel pre-amps do, but they do not have a digital input, because they are not DACs. Correct me if I am wrong.
The typical setup takes the analog output of a DAC and the analog output of a HT receiver and feeds them to an analog pre-ap with HT bypass for the HT. You could do that in your case but then you really want 2 bypass loops in your analog pre-amp if you want to maintain a pure path for your Crimson.
An alternative is to take the analog output from your DAC and pass it to a HT receiver and use a Direct mode on your receiver. That does however, put some of the receiver pre-amp circuitry (like the volume control) into the signal path.
I think you are going to have a challege unless you incorporate a 2 channel analog pre-amp into the solution.
There are some 2 channel pre-amps with both digital and analog inputs and HT bypass. Classe, for example, has one but at a much higher price. I am sure there are others, they just are not that common.
I think you need to slow down and look at what it takes to integrate 2 channel digital and analog signals and HT bypass into one pre.
I think I got this right, but if not I am happy to be corrected.
Sounds like your PC has a digital output and the output of a HT receiver will be analog. So, you are trying to connect a digital connection to a DAC/pre-amp and also to connect an analog signal from your HT receiver to your DAC/pre. That means your DAC/pre-amp needs to have switchable inputs between a digital input and a analog input and the analog input needs to be a HT bypass. There are not that many of those units out there. I am not an Emotiva expert, but I do not think their DACs have an analog HT bypass. Their analog 2 channel pre-amps do, but they do not have a digital input, because they are not DACs. Correct me if I am wrong.
The typical setup takes the analog output of a DAC and the analog output of a HT receiver and feeds them to an analog pre-ap with HT bypass for the HT. You could do that in your case but then you really want 2 bypass loops in your analog pre-amp if you want to maintain a pure path for your Crimson.
An alternative is to take the analog output from your DAC and pass it to a HT receiver and use a Direct mode on your receiver. That does however, put some of the receiver pre-amp circuitry (like the volume control) into the signal path.
I think you are going to have a challege unless you incorporate a 2 channel analog pre-amp into the solution.
There are some 2 channel pre-amps with both digital and analog inputs and HT bypass. Classe, for example, has one but at a much higher price. I am sure there are others, they just are not that common.
I think you need to slow down and look at what it takes to integrate 2 channel digital and analog signals and HT bypass into one pre.
I think I got this right, but if not I am happy to be corrected.