Millennia Media imersiv D1

@woutb My friend Danny McKinney from Requisite Audio is a dealer for both Allnic and Imersv. I think both companies called him to rep them. He is in Ventura, CA and told me last week he has his shop all sorted out now for both 2-channel and headphones demos with some of the best gear in the world (including Meitner). Give him a call and tell him the guy in Santa Barbara told you to call.

The reason I even heard the Allnic was because Danny told me that he has a new DAC that he was very surprised by (sounded like analog) and wanted me to take it home and listen to it. He knew I would not be buying it and just wanted a second opinion. 

I was floored by the Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL. It was the best DAC I had heard by a mile. So detailed and holographic with the tubes but it is the OTL/OCL that was the magic.

I think I may have mentioned the Imersiv to him a year ago and I was surprised last month when he had the Imersiv at his shop. Only issue was that he had an issue getting it to work with his old iPad. I volunteered to help him out with the iPad issue and took it home.

Well, the Imersiv in my home blew my socks of. It is more detailed than the Allnic and it does not have that tube glow BUT I seemed to like it even more than the Allnic. The Imersiv is like a firehose of sound, and I loved it with the following amps. CODA #11, CODA #16, Schiit Wotan, Schiit Aegir v1 (for headphones).

I am just bouncing away listening to music with the D-1. It has not left my house since the day I volunteered to help him sort out the iPad. In fact, last week he came over and we sorted out his old iPad with the D-1 (new iPads were always working). I bought the D-1 (for $12k MSRP) and the only issues I have with it is that it is butt ugly and the GUI is hard to use. Totally the opposite of the Allnic.

I think the audiophiles will like the Allnic more, but I am not an audiophile. However, I do think an Allnic will be in my long-term future along with the D-1.

BTW - I also head the new $33k Allnic preamp with the D-15000 and my Yamaha NS5000 speakers. That was a blast. I told Danny to get it out of my house, or I may start to have crazy thoughts.

BTW2 - The D-1 has allowed me to sell $15k of gear in the past 3 weeks. Well, the $3K Schiit Byggy is still on the block, but it will sell. The D-1 sounded better without these items, or they were made redundant.

Benchmark HPA4 preamp (only bettered by the $33k Allnic)
Schiit Yggi+ OG DAC
Schiit Kara F preamp
KEF KC62 sub
Schiit Wotan amp
RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp
Schiit Byggy DAC (not sold yet)

BTW3 - next month in Denver the Imersiv DAC (including mine with about 400 hours on it) | Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL | Playback Designs MP-8 (Dream) DAC | and others, will all be in the same room for a headphone meet. The Imersiv designer is supposed to show up to talk about the D-1. 

The Imersiv is an analytical DAC however it is NEVER annoying like a Benchmark DAC3 (which I owned a few times). There is a feature called 2nd Order Harmonic Distortion that adds this type of distortion to the sound. There are 5 categories of filter and 10 steps for each, so 50 permutations. I need to ask the designer of the D-1 for some guidance on these filters. They are sonically noticeable when you turn it on. However, I have no time to test 50.

When I first got the DAC, I used one of the filters randomly but at almost max level 10. As the DAC gained hours of playback, I have gradually lowered the level. Now at 0 (disabled the filter) on my CODA #11 amp and Yamaha NS5000 speakers. On my office system with CODA #16 and the Magnepan Mini speakers I used a random filter set to 2 or 3. 

Cost was certainly an issue between the Allnic and the D-1 but my ears loved the D-1 and I thought the D-1 had groundbreaking digital compared to the ESS based Allnic’s digital. However, the Allnic has groundbreaking analog output. Combining them would make a Frankenstein like DAC.

The D-1 seems to benefit from a transformer based passive premp (no power cord). The DAC should go direct into an amp or with the passive. I am testing out a passive prototype that Danny is building.

Something along the lines of this unit. Danny’s is simpler in design and features.
ALLEGRI REFERENCE - Townshendaudio

My uber revealing Benchmark HPA4 was restricting the sound of the D-1 (shocking). I sold the HPA4 and I love that preamp.

Thanks, this is very helpful.
I'm not sure if I qualify as an audiophile. I am definitely not a pro user. What I like about Allnic is its great combination of tonality / timbre, resolution / detail, and dynamics.
I really like my current Aqua DAC, but when I compared it to a friend's Allnic D10000 DAC in his system, the D10000 was clearly better, to my chagrin. 
Btw - my friend also has the NS5000 speakers, L10000 Allnic pre, and Dartzeel NHB108; a great system!
The Allnic is a natural match for my system, but  I'm intrigued by the D-1. I want to make sure it fits well with my system and does not lead to fatigue. 
I'll give Danny a call tomorrow. 
The Denver show sounds tempting too (I'd like to try the MPD-8 too), especially with a few days on the slopes added. 

Danny has a ton of Allnic gear at his location. I think he has their amps too. The D-15000 DAC is supposed to be a bit unique in the Allnic lineup.

You are more than welcome to come and listen at my place after the holidays (when the kid is back at school and the house is quiet). My D-1 is fully broken in, and it sounds way better than the first day I got it home. It was good then but much better now.

The fact that you are going to use a preamp makes me think the Allnic lineup is better suited. However, I only tested my D-1 with only 1 preamp, so my info is limited.