Millennia Media imersiv D1

@dpac996 I do not think it is 2 DACs it is 2 signal paths that are combined. The analogy the company uses is digital photography were dark and bright sections of say a night photo is sometimes done by taking multiple shots optimized for both dark and bright areas. These photos are then combined to produce a clear image where the bright are not too bright and the dark is cleanly visible. 

They plan on using this technique for various other studio instruments such as microphones and other things I have no clue about. The technique is called HDR-A and the D-1 uses something they call multi-path.

Last night I ended up working till 4AM and I was listening to my RAAL SR1a and the Schiit Mjolnir v3 amp until 2:30AM. This was after I had complained about the fatigue in my ear in the post above and then changed the top-level filter to F0 (default). No issues even so late at night and I was laughing at how good this was. I would have been more productive if I had turned the music off.

Yesterday, I also sold my $7000 MRSP RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp. It was the very best way to listen to the RAAL SR1a earphones. My friend Danny sold me this amp 2x in the past and he was involved in the design. However, my used $800 Schiit Mjolnir v3 amp and the D-1 via XLR was as good and I dare I say maybe better than the VM-1a. Just crazy how good this DAC is and how much stuff I have sold because of it. 

I have sold $14.1k worth of gear in the last 3 weeks and have huge improvements in sound in 3 systems. I have another $5k of gear to be sold. I look at this $12k cost of the D-1 as free money.

With regards to filters I will be staying with the F0 filter that is similar to many DACs that have these 5 filters. However, on every other DAC I could not hear these filters. On the D-1 I physically felt 2 of the filters. I only tested 2.

The other filter is the 2nd Order Harmonic Distortion filter. This filter is different from the F0-F5 ones. The HD filters are easy to hear. On my Yamaha NS5000 system I do not use a filter. On the Magnepan Mini I was using setting B at level 2, but I will eventually remove it as the hours increase on the DAC. On my RAAL SR1a, a bright phone, I use level 4.

I need to talk to the designer about these filters to understand the sonic signature of each. There are 50 permutations, and I have no time to experiment with all of them. I will meet the designer in person in 2-weeks at the Denver headphone meetup.

Does it come across in my posts how much I LOVE LOVE this DAC. it is easily the best piece of audio gear I have ever had in my system. Not the most expensive but the best by several orders of magnitude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@yyzsantabarbara congrats on the moves! It’s nice when a consolidation yields some cash 💰 and there is a performance benefit! 

@yyzsantabarbara It sounds like this is the best DAC you have had.  Can you tell me what other DAC's you have had before?  Are you listening with only headphones and have you connected it to speakers?  What are you using to stream with?  

@brbrock Definitely the best DAC I have owned and maybe the best DAC that I have ever heard. I am debating the latter with the Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL ($26k) via my now sold Benchmark HPA4 preamp or the $33k Allnic top end preamp. The more I listen the more I know I made the correct decision to sell a ton of great gear.

The Allnic gear was in my house and system(s) for 4 or 5 days. Actually, the Allnic DAC was on my system on 2 separate occasions. My friend Danny also sells Allnic and that is how I got to learn about the brand. 

My 3 systems are as follows (the Yamaha is one of the best speakers in the world at any price):

Livingroom: Imersiv D-1 DAC | CODA #11 amp | Yamaha NS5000 speakers

Office: Imersiv D-1 DAC | CODA #16 amp | Magnepan Mini speakers

Headphone: Imersiv D-1 DAC | RAAL SR1a earphone | RAAL Tl-1b amp adapter | Schiit Aegir v1 2-channel amp or Schiit Mjolnir v3 headphone amp

I have 2 tuners left (sold my Magnum Dynalab MD108T tuner today) that are not connected to anything anymore because I sold the HPA4 preamp. The HPA4 preamp was a determinant to the D-1, but amazing on all other gear I used with it.

Danny is building a passive preamp/switchbox that I am testing for him. That will allow the D-1 to be connected to that via XLR along with the tuners and other sources via RCA or XLR. The Imersiv company also has something similar but maybe not as good based on the design. When I get to Denver in 2 weeks I will listen in on the discussions on the passive between the D-1 designer, John, and Danny. Something similar but more advanced to what I describe is the passive preamp from Townsend Audio for $12k.

There is another poster on this thread that has the D-1 in his house for demo, and he is using an Allnic preamp. Hopefully he chimes in on if he likes it via the preamp or direct to amp. I only have 1 data point on this, and it was the HPA4 preamp.

The Denver show will have the Playback Designs Dreams (MPD-8) DAC along with other DACs. I will compare the MPD-8 | Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL | my fully broken-in Imersiv D-1. The headphones at that meet will be the very best in the world (a mini CanJam).

For streaming I use a Sonore OpticalRendu streamed via ROON Core. This is fibre optic and as good as it gets. I know you can spend a lot more, but I do not think I need to based on science (fibre is glass and cannot carry analog noise into a DAC). Actually, I would spend more on new Lumin U2x fibre streamer, but it is very expensive. Only reason is because it has fibre and I owned the previous Lumin X1 steamer/DAC which was the first streamer with support for fibre.

I feel so strongly on this that yesterday I purchased a Travel Router / Wi-Fi Bridge so that I can setup my 2 Sonore OpticalRendu’s at the Denver meet. I hate going direct to DAC via a computer or iPad.

Other DACs I have owned were limited to a certain cost threshold because I did not think DACs at much higher prices were worth my $$$. In order of preference:

1) Schitt Yggi+ OG (this one is much better than the others on the list)

2) Schiit Yggi+ MIB

3) Musetec 005

4) Schiit Yggi+ LIM

5) Benchmark DAC3B

6) Lumin X1 ($15k)

7) Audio Mirror Tubadour v3 (maybe wrong on version)

8) Many others under $3k that were decent

This week I get the Schiit Bggy (Singular) DAC shipped back to me. I have not heard it but have it up for sale. I may keep it since I sold so much gear in the past month that I have a surplus of audio funds. It is supposedly the best Yggi ever made.

The Allnic makes my list because the OTL/OCL analog output stage is amazing. The Allnic DAC uses an ESS chip, not uber technical like the Imersiv D-1 on the digital side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

@yyzsantabarbara I'll share my early impressions from comparing the Imersiv D-1 and the Allnic D15000 in my system (Allnic L8500 preamp, Allnic A2000 SE amp, Alta Audio Adam speakers, ..). 
Please note, these are my initial thoughts and require more rigorous A/B comparisons to arrive at more conclusive opinions.

The Allnic D15000 produces gorgeous mids; voices, strings, piano sound fabulous, but in my system, the bass can sound a bit muddy, even distorted on bass-heavy tracks. This might be remedied by rolling tubes and / or changing amps, although my A2000 amp has KT170 tubes which produce about 120 WpC and my speakers are 91.5 db sensitive. 
The Imersiv D-1 sounds more neutral, very resolving with great separation of instruments. Bass sounds more tight, faster, better delineated from other instruments. Everything is in its right place. 
Both DACs are fantastic overall: great resolution, tonality, soundstage, dynamics, PRaT, ... . The choice will likely depend mostly on system synergies. 

The ideal DAC would have the Allnic's mids and the D-1's resolution and separation.I hope Danny can make that happen as he connects both designers. 

Note: I have yet to compare both DACs to my Aqua La Scala II, which for me is one of the best DACs under $10k. Both are definitely a step up, but the Aqua meshed really well with the rest of my system, especially when I tried the Allnic L10000 preamp, which is absolutely astonishing. Paired with the D15000, however, the L10000 sounded too lush and too big in my system. Too much of a good thing ... The L8500 pairs better with the D15000 in my room. 
I still need to compare the D-1 with and without the L8500. 

Finally: my sincere thanks to you Manoj and to Danny McKinney for helping me organize these auditions in my home. You both exemplify the best in our hobby: the ability to connect with and learn from other passionate music lovers.