that’s not what I am saying, I have no idea 
Just that the volume control is in the analogue domain.
I suppose it will come down to the Atom’s DAC. As the OP has a CD555, this is what I would do:
Pick a few CDs and rip them. Then play the rips through the Atom and compare with the CD555. Does it sound ok? Get the Atom.
Exactly what I plan to do. I’m not expecting CD555 performance and the redundant (for me) preamp functions on the Atom HE are not a deal breaker provided it sounds decent.
Hello Bryce
Have you decided to go with the Atom HE?
I’m in exactly same predicament as you with a half shelf fraim available for shoebox streamer
There certainly does appear to be a gap in the market for such a high quality sounding streamer ( which includes the dac) if that size
Cheers
Shoebox size streamer/Dac that will equal or better the CD 555 (maybe) is what I have my sights set on. So far the best I have found,according to reviews and many forums I have read is the Mola Mola Tambaqui.Not cheap,but is everything I need in one small package.
Isn’t that just a DAC?
Well it is a Roon ready Dac,you can play all your streaming services and stored music through Roon.It is a full-fledged endpoint/network renderer that makes external streamers superfluous…according to their website.
You might have to suck it up and go up a level to accommodate the very good NDX2 
Well maybe Mike
Just some thoughts for the future when I finally retire
Cheers
I thought you had! What happened?
Nah - still doing 3 days a week
See how I feel at end of this year, might kick me out anyway 
I’d be tempted to set the volume level on the Atom so that the volume range used on the 552 is roughly similar to your other sources. The good news is that the remotes operate using different systems so that your 552 remote won’t change the volume setting on the Atom.
With my Atom set to 50, it’s roughly the same as my phono input. I was worried about putting too much ‘signal’ into my 82, but it seems OK and the DIN feed for the CD player is louder, and on my old FM tuner, the signal was so strong you could hear it with the volume almost off. There is clearly scope for experimentation here and one reason I went with 50 was that other forum members were in the 60-80 range. I’ve also used it to drive the SBLs directly and while it is still a great sound, as you might hope and expect the answer is still better through the pre/power set up. @frenchrooster challenged as to whether this would compromise the sound, and that’s a fair shout. It might, but the sound it puts out is still excellent. Physically I’ve squeezed it alongside a Hi-Cap out of necessity but this doesn’t seem to bother either box, and of course once it’s there on that shelf, it is all operated remotely.
I have and am very happy with it.
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