Millennia Media imersiv D1

@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.

@woutb 

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. 

That is the Frankenstein DAC I suggested in a previous post. I think I read somewhere that Imersiv wants to license their technology.

@yyzsantabarbara I’m looking forward to your impression of the Imersiv and the Playback. I assume it will be an apples to apples setup and DACS will be warm and stable. I own and love the mpd-8 and find it renders an amazing blend of beautiful natural midrange presence and at the same time, stunning detail retrieval. I have yet to hear a DAC that has this type of presentation. My prior DAC was a Bricasti M21 and it was awesome, I really liked the R2R DAC and linear phase filter, but the MPD-8 edges ahead with more color, natural sounding resolution, and better bass response. Also, I’ve used both DACS extensively direct to amplifiers and both have excellent volume controls. In the case of the MPD-8 I’m now using an Accuphase C-2900 which brings out more soundstage width and seems to unlock more natural detail, but I could easily live with the mpd-8 DAC direct. Its vol ctrl and output drive is seriously good. I hate to recycle this cliche, but the MPD-8 really sounds more like a master analog tape than a digital conversion machine. A friend of mine has been gushing about the Imersive (as much as I rave about the mpd-8) and so I’m genuinely interested to hear one at some point. 

@dpac996 I doubt it will be an apples-to-apples comparison. I have purchased something so that I have great fibre optic streaming with the gear I will bring. I think everyone else will stream from an iPad or computer. 

The plan sometime back was to purchase the MPD-8. I even purchased the PBD STREAM-IF to motivate me to continue on a second job that I was doing to earn some audio funds. However, I get sidetracked by the Schitt Yggi+ OG and decided that that DAC was good enough and used the audio funds elsewhere.

The Allnic D-15000 Signature OTL/OCL is likely more like the mpd-8. Andreas has cooked up some great FPGA code on the digital side of the MPD-8. I used to own the Sony SCD-1 that he was involved with. I forgot the Allnic designers name, he seems to be equally an audio genius. The OTL/OCL analog is so good. 

I am just guessing here but I think the D-1 sounds different from the MPD-8 and the Allnic (which I know all about). I think I said it in an earlier post the D-1 is not really an audiophile sounding DAC. The Allnic definitely is. The MPD-8 is also described by many in these terms. My now sold R2R Schiit Yggi+ OG is also somewhat described in glowing audiophile language.

The D-1 is more of an analytical sound, but I do not mean that in a negative way. I think you hear everything in the source but without harshness. I can understand the glowing comments by the studio engineers (see Imersiv web site). My feelings on the sound of the DAC mirrors, those descriptions.  I am not audio person, but I know what sounds great to me. If I can only have 1 DAC it would be the D-1. 

User Comments - Imersiv

User Comments 2 - Imersiv

User Comments 3 - Imersiv

My friend Danny loves the Allnic DAC, and it is his fav. It was mine also until I burrowed the D-1. It just sounds correct to me.

My greatest compliment is that I am listening to music that I was just so--so about and finding that music now sounds great. Example, Lana Del Ray. I was never a huge fan but, on the D-1 I was listening to a couple of her albums from start to finish and loving it.

Another album I liked even more on the D-1 was "Capriconia" by Midnight Oil. In the past I liked the first 4 or 5 tracks but, on the D-1, the whole album was great. The Oils are great musicians, and I could really appreciate that in the D-1. Same goes for Jeff Beck, never been a huge fan but on the D-1 I am very impressed. I could go on about many more instances. Actually, more fun to talk about the music.