I'm not saying that it is a resistor network, etc... But do we have more evidence? Creative is more of a mass-market company so I'm sure they could do it cheaper than some smaller companies. Emotiva had it in products priced similar to the X7.
Just looking for more details, but there aren't any. Anybody remember when the X-FI came out? They gave a ton of technical details. Now, not so much.
That's right! Now not so much technical detail available. I have to frequently 'Whatsapp' my friend in Creative for some info for this review. For example, I mentioned in the review they use PCM1793 for the surround channels & about the USB asynchronous, those info are not available on their website.
As for the digital volume, it is confirm a digital volume control, told to me by Creative, but no further detail. Logically the digital volume could be placed in between the DSP output to the DAC input.