Yesterday, I met the designer of the Imersiv D-1, John La Grou, at the Denver meet. He told me that he is working on a new amp with his friend Bruno Putzeys. It will use the multi-path tech used in the D-1 DAC.
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More feedback on the D-1 can be found here on a writeup about the Denver meet in January.
Colorado Winter Head-Fi Meet Impressions -- January 10, 2026 | Page 3 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
Perceived speed was quite good, and that was the characteristic in which the imersiv was weakest to my ears. It’s really just remarkable. There is no coloration at all. I mean absolutely none. So, if you are looking for a DAC to add its own flavor, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere. But I can add coloration with an amp (or, perhaps, filters on the imersiv, which I did not get a chance to try), and don’t really look to a DAC for that. What the imersiv does as a DAC is amazing. The biggest takeaway is ridiculous clarity, top to bottom; it’s insane. Notes float in completely empty space, exploding out of total darkness. I read impressions in which someone said they found the silence of the imersiv captivating. I agree. There is nothing but the notes. It’s like any semblance of a noise floor has simply vanished. That makes for incredible dynamics that are competitive with anything, great instrument separation, and really stellar imaging (though it stages about average to my ears). I did not expect this technology to make a big difference with timbre, but I was wrong. It has some of the best timbre I have ever heard. Every instrument sounded incredibly lifelike. Bass was also simply fantastic, competitive with the best of other DACs. Treble wasn’t just competitive, though, but better. I don’t think I have ever heard a setup more accurately reproduce treble, with greater extension, and more texture, than the imersiv D-1, yet without any noticeable fatigue. I have never noticed this much musical information in the treble than I did with this DAC.
But don’t be mislead into thinking the D-1 is U-shaped. It’s not. It’s perfectly balanced with mids that are crystal clear and dynamic, without any recession or unnatural emphasis. With this kind of clarity and technical competence, it’s no surprise that emotional engagement was extremely high for me with this setup. Everything from metal (like Night Verses) to live prog rock (Yes) to live acoustic (Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia, & John McLaughlin) to live pop (INXS) was captivating.
Then there was the lack of distortion. I have a few tracks I use with recording flaws and distortion to test how gear handles those imperfections. Generally, the gear that handles them well is the gear that smooths things over—say a tube amp. But with the imersiv, it’s like the distortion on the track simply isn’t there. Which may mean it isn’t there on the track. Rather, the DACs I’ve tried in the past may be introducing some distortion in those passages. But the imersiv doesn’t.
Next up, swapping the Zahl HM1 for the new Allnic ASRA amp but keeping everything else the same. More greatness! This change lost a bit of perceived speed, the soundstage got a bit more intimate, and there was a tiny step down on instrument separation. But holographics actually got better, and dynamics, timbre, bass, mids, and treble all remained fantastic. Emotional engagement again was terrific and distortion just . . . gone.
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@yyzsantabarbara From what you are saying tracks that wasn't recorded very well actually sounded better with the D1? Where you listening to the D1 with headphones or speakers?
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@brbrock That passage is from the Denver meetup feedback by another person @Hiker16 on Head-Fi. The link I provided shows photos of all the top end gear that was brought to the meetup, things like PlayBack Designs MPD-8 DAC. I particularly was interested in how that DAC compared to the imersiv D-1. I found the MPD-8 kind of boring. No one would say that about the D-1.
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At home I have the following setup:
Office System
- Magnepan Mini speakers
- CODA #16
- imersiv D-1 with a Balanced Y cable into the CODA #16
Livingroom
- Yamaha NS5000 speakers
- CODA #11
- imersiv D-1 with a Balanced Y cable into the CODA #11
The designer of the imersiv D-1 suggested I use a Y cable to use the DAC in 2 systems. I ended up using a Benchmark balanced cable and also Benchmark XLR cables to my amps from the Y cable.
I have other sources connected to my CODA #16 via a passive RCA switch and a RCA Schiit Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL preamp that connects to the RCA input on the CODA #16.
For headphones, I am using the RAAL SR1a earphones but at the moment I cannot use the D-1 DAC on it since the D-1 is ONLY XLR and the headphone amp I have is ONLY RCA. I am using the new Schiit Byggy DAC for my phones and also RCA into the CODA #16.
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