The examples provided clearly indicate the benefits of "Pass-through" (No-gain/volume) designs in components where their inclusion offers improved flexibilty with regard to the integration of a high quality balanced headphone system, such as the BHA-1. In a situation such as mine, a high-quality digital source can be routed properly to both the BHA-1 and a balanced Integrated amp without the need for a performance-limiting "Y" connection compromising the performance of a top-grade balanced interconnect. I would much prefer the sonic integrity of a direct connection to the BHA-1, outputed balanced / without gain to my integrated amp as opposed to a split to both. I am confident that any BDA-1 owner with an associated top-shelf Integrated and interconnect would prefer this also.
