How is the TacT RCS 2.0 as a pre amp vs

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.

Interesting. However, the Placette and its Vishay resistors don't boost the volume, unless you ordered your Placette with gain (standard issue, which I have, has no gain). But your findings would apply anyway.

Does anyone know if the TacT has gain, or is it unity?

I also have the dual mono active. When I get my new TacT, I will certainly try the configuration you describe

Lornecherry, with your SCD-1, you will feed the digital out for Redbook to the TacT for RCS and then either use its DAC or go to an outboard unit. But for SACD output, you don't have that option. You either need the A-D module in the TacT or you need to bypass the TacT altogether and go straight to your preamp. Same with any other analog sources you have.