Millennia Media imersiv D1

I got my CODA #11 back from CODA. Doug Dale at CODA said this was the cleanest amp he had ever seen (30 years old) and that the only upgrade needed was the new speaker binding posts that all new CODA amps use.

He also adjusted the bias a bit and I am now getting more Class A and the amp is running a bit hotter.

The sound with the imersiv D-1 is spectacular. The #11 is a bit warmer than the CODA #16. Not warm like a PASS or the KRELL Duo XD lineup, but a bit warmer than the #16. I dropped the second Order Harmonic distortion on the DAC to Level 2 from Level 4 on Filter B. The higher the number the warmer the sound.

I loved the #16 amp, and a new owner is getting it delivered today. Great amp, but I like the #11 a bit more with the imersiv D-1. 

The point of this post is to suggest a slightly warm amp with the D-1. I seem to love Class A amps with this DAC, #16, #11, Schiit Aegir v1. 

My friend Danny McKinney at one time had plans to build a switching box for the D-1 DAC. However, he is busy with his new speaker design, and I got world today that imersiv is coming out with their own switching box. I have needed something like this since the day I got the D-1.

Here is an email response from imersiv about the new box.

The switching box will have 4 stereo inputs, and each input can be either RCA or XLR. For instance, 2 preamps and 2 DACs.

Box will have two outputs, for 2 different amplifier / speaker arrays (most people will just have one amp/speaker array).

You can route any RCA input to any RCA output, or any XLR input to any XLR output, also XLR and RCA simultaneously if desired. 

The switching box will have UTB transformers built in, so that DAC-1 XLR input can be routed to an RCA output. 

The UTB transformer is also available for $500 as a standalone product. I may get that if the box is too costly. I do not know the price of the new box.

BTW - Danny made a partial switching box with transformers and I had the prototype in the house. I was fabulous and the only thing I would put in front of the D-1. It does not limit the D-1. The imersiv version is similar. Also similar to the Townshend Audio passive preamp.

A New Kind of DAC? Imersiv D-1 Review

This guy sounds like me.

Hoping someone reviews this DAC vs the Tambaqui.   I am itching for a major DAC upgrade in the fall.

kumizi

I would also like to see more professional reviews with A/B comparisons between the D-1 and other DACs.

FWIW, I did listen to both DACs, but under very different conditions, so it's hard to extrapolate too much. 
I tried the D-1 for 2 weeks in my own system, thanks to the gracious support of Danny McKinney. I came away very impressed. IMO the D-1 is one of those few 'step-function' innovations, which truly pushed the boundaries within a category (DAC in this case). I would argue the same could apply to Silversmith Fidelium cables. Not sure if Allnic's OTL/OCL preamps would also fall within that category, or whether they are just an example of masterful design and execution within an existing paradigm.

I listened to the Tambaqui DAC at a dealers, in a full Mola Mola system with Piega speakers. A very well-put together system overall, but harder to isolate the effect from the DAC vs the rest of the system. We put the Tamabqui then in a few other systems, including Accuphase and EAR (closer to my Allnic system than Mola Mola). I really liked the Tambaqui but was more in awe than in love with its sound. The Tambaqui offered great resolution and speed, a lot of detail, a very 'airy', extended sound, but was somewhat lacking in body and timbre , for my tastes. 
If I could have multiple systems (audio fantasy) I would love to have a Mola Mola type set-up. If I can only have one system, I'd favor a more organic sound. 
De gustibus et coloribus, etc. 

I spent much more time with the D-1, in my own system. Compared to my impressions of the Tambaqui, it had a similar airy extension into the highs, but with even stronger, better-defined bass, and greater resolution of tonality in the mids. Voices and instruments sounded very layered on the D-1. I.e. for me, taking into account the different listening conditions, the D-1 beat the Tamaqui at its own game and then offered other qualities too. 

During the same 2-week period, I also tried the Allnic D-15000 DAC and L10000 preamp in my system. Both are amazing, in very different ways from the Imersiv. 

Paradoxically, perhaps, the obvious strengths that the D-1 and the D15000 DACs offer, led me to delay my upgrade decision. Each DAC is so specularly good at a specific sound quality (tonality for the Allnic, resolution , bass & imaging for the Imersiv) that it is hard to give up one for the other. I really want a DAC that offers both and hope such a DAC will become available 'soon'ish.