The usage of multi-level elements for current steering digital to analog converters (DACs) is a recent innovation which minimizes the amount of noise current switched to the DAC output at low signal levels. A multi-level e.g. tri-level element is similar to a bi-level element (which can be on or off i.e. 1 or 0) except that its output is reversible resulting in three possible levels (−1, 0, +1). Standard thermometer encoding and data directed scrambling techniques are not applicable to a DAC constructed with tri-level elements. A new scheme, patented by Nguyen et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,063B1) addresses this problem using data directed scrambling. However, this solution doesn't account for the reversal of current source elements during crossover between the positive and negative domains. The result is low level distortion products. The problem results from the elements being scrambled or shuffled without regard to whether they are output in the positive or negative sense.