Millennia Media imersiv D1

@audphile1 -

"if your favorite dac is a tubed AC, the odds of you liking the imersiv are near zero."

That is exactly my concern.  Even considering the groundbreaking S/N and all the over-the-top accolades I have read from owners/reviewers of the Imersiv D-1 DAC, I am wondering whether its clean and detailed sonic signature is too different from the naturally organic and rich tonal characteristics of the Helene and other R2R DACs I have enjoyed, or even the Merason DAC1 MkII that I also currently use in my main system.

In his Twittering Machines review, Michael Lavorgna indicated that the Imersiv D-1 displays  immediacy and excitement, and presents music "up close, personal and unadorned."  He found it to improve on his reference totaldac d1 unity but he then compared it to two other DACs known for clarity and detail, the Grimm MU2 and Weiss Helios DAC.  However, he did also write "the Imersiv DAC doesn’t give up the rich, warm, and lovely naturalness that I so enjoy with the totaldac."

Based on what I have heard and read so far, and on my previous experience owning the Mola Mola Tambaqui (another DAC known for clarity and detail), I suspect the Imersiv D-1 may not be a slam-dunk for me and so, as you say, I need to hear it for myself.  

@mitch2 

If you ever get around to auditioning it please post your thoughts. 

@mitch2 

Based on what I have heard and read so far, and on my previous experience owning the Mola Mola Tambaqui (another DAC known for clarity and detail), I suspect the Imersiv D-1 may not be a slam-dunk for me and so, as you say, I need to hear it for myself.  

Fellow from Bulgaria says it sounds "different sound than the Tambaqui" but doesn’t elaborate, and then says he could keep either of them as end-game- he owns them both. I must say Chris gave the Immersiv designer/owner JohnL quite a grilling, but John is still posting. 

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/69850-imersiv-d1-multi-path-dac/page/4/#comments

"It’s so hard to describe audio in words, but this unit adds just the right amount of vibrance, clarity and detail to the audio that, in most cases, is really pleasing to the ear and complements the music. Again, I use it to feed my analog mastering chain, not for monitoring at the end of my chain.

On the other hand, occasionally I'll be mastering something that is either intentionally (or unintentionally) lo-fi or not great-sounding, and fortunately or unfortunately, the D-1 DAC can highlight those unattractive things a bit too much."

This resembles the debate of someone having "studio monitors" for home speakers. 

https://www.recordingmag.com/imersiv-d-1-dac/

I did not read the review except the last part. Not sure if the reviewer mentioned the 50 permutations of 2nd Order Harmonic Distortion settings on the DAC. Not including the 6 or 7 filter settings that some other DACs have. The first time I really felt (not heard) the filter settings was with the D-1. With other DACs I neither heard for felt the filter settings. I wrote about it somewhere, maybe here or on head-fi D-1 thread (I was asked to create that thread by the guys on head-fi).

I am using 2nd HD setting of B and level 4. Not sure what that does frequency wise but it adds a bit of warmth to my bright RAAL SR1a phones and I started to like it for my 2-channel.

When I met the designer, John La Grou, at the January Denver headphone meetup I asked if he could explain the 2HD settings on their web site. He said that was in the plans.