I now have my most difficult system sounding the best I ever heard. It is the RAAL SR1a earphones. There are bright phones but are my all-time fav headphones. I sold them once thinking I would buy the 4x more expensive RAAL 1995 Immanis but after doing a home demo I was drawn back to the 2-channel sound of the SR1a, and I repurchased it. The Immanis is right at the top of the headphone space, but I like the SR1a the best.
I have done 2-channel amp rolling with the SR1a along with DAC rolling. A lot more painful $$ wise than simple tube rolling, but at one time the SR1a needed 100 watts of 2-channel amp power (not anymore with a new adapter). These potentially could be my second-best system but were not until today.
The D-1 seems to have nicely broken-in, and I have now set the Harmonic Distortion filter to B and Level 2. Just a tiny bit of distortion that I use the same on all 3 systems.
In the past I used the following warm DACs to tame the top end of the SR1a,
- Musetec 005
- Audio Mirror Tubadour
- Schiit Yggi+ LIM
- Schiit Yggi+ MIB
- Gustard X26 Pro
- ROON Convolution filters by Mitch Barnett of AccurateSounds.ca. Specifically designed for the SR1a and I used occasionally but not with the D-1.
With the best being the Schiit Yggi+ MIB. The Schitt Yggi+ OG, my second fav DAC of all-time, while good with the SR1a, there was still a bit of unwanted energy on top with the OG.
Today, the "analytical" D-1 is the very best DAC on the SR1a. The highs are tamed nicely, and the uber resolution of the D-1 comes across in this uber resolving earphone. No fatigue whatsoever.
I am using the Schiit Mjolnir v3 headphone amp as my amp. I think the Schitt Aegir v1 2-channel amp (20-watt Class A) is even better, but I can only use RCA with the single stereo amp, and the D-1 has RCA, but I do not think it works. The manual says to not use RCA. I am waiting on the development of the passive switch box to get my tuners and Aegir v1 into the mix.
I sold the $7k RAAL VM-1a a few days ago, this tube headphone amp is universally considered the best amp on the SR1a. I liked the used $400 Aegir more with the D-1. With all other DACs the VM-1a was the king of the hill.
Maybe I need to stop the tunes on the SR1a and go to sleep. Only thing bad about the SR1a is that it does not work well with your head on a pillow.