My feeling is that the active cable is the better choice. You should be able to put the M1 anywhere in the patch chain with an active cable.
You got RK-DA10 or RK-DA10P? RK-DA10 is for D7/D8. RK-DA10P should be used for the M1. You are using M1s? I believe that the M1 has a lower voltage at the 7-pin port that won't drive the RK-DA10. If the cable has the grey head it should work on any deck. If it has the black head, it is intended for a D7/8/3. This is from memory but I think it's correct.