It's been over a dozen years since Gary Dodd sat in my living room with his prototype battery preamp, and to this day, it's still near the top of the list for low/no noise. Are batteries a PITA, sometimes, but they aren't expensive, don't require pricey power cords. So I'm a big supporter of anyone that furthers that approach.
Having said that, I've had both preamp and buffer in my system, and prefer the active preamp. The increase in dynamics is unmistakable. I have one of the original run of 20 that Gary made, and then built a buffer. I had Gary convert it to full active pre. If you are considering a new product, in the case of the Dodd, my ears said the preamp was the more successful implementation. Looking forward to what you come up with.
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