The first Totaldac D1-Twelve Mk2 DAC in Hong Kong

[ketcham]

I just replaced my 3.15A fuse in the Live Power which feeds 6 chassis (TD12 mkii, streamer/reclocker and dual D1 driver) with the newly released Audio Magic Premier beeswax fuse. Without any break-in time on the fuse, I notice immediately inky black, dead silent background. Improved detail, separation of instruments and more focused bass. This fuse replaces Jerry's previous 'ultimate' fuse. Highly recommended.

The quiet background was what I noticed immediately. The best analogy I can give was when in college I of all things cheated on a colorblind test (from another male student who was also color blind) and in that moment I realize I am color blind.

This is a situation where until I experienced it, I had no idea the potential was there. (This sounds overly dramatic, yes. These fuses are worth your attention.)

John.

(Added detail above in response to Ron's appropriate question below)

 

[Ron Resnick]

I just replaced my 3.15A fuse in the Live Power which feeds 6 chassis (TD12 mkii, streamer/reclocker and dual D1 driver) with the newly released Audio Magic Premier beeswax fuse. Without any break-in time on the fuse, I notice immediately inky black, dead silent background. Improved detail, separation of instruments and more focused bass. This fuse replaces Jerry's previous 'ultimate' fuse. Highly recommended.

John.

Thank you for this report.

How was the background with the prior fuse less “dead silent”?

 

[Blue58]

I just replaced my 3.15A fuse in the Live Power which feeds 6 chassis (TD12 mkii, streamer/reclocker and dual D1 driver) with the newly released Audio Magic Premier beeswax fuse. Without any break-in time on the fuse, I notice immediately inky black, dead silent background. Improved detail, separation of instruments and more focused bass. This fuse replaces Jerry's previous 'ultimate' fuse. Highly recommended.

The quiet background was what I noticed immediately. The best analogy I can give was when in college I of all things cheated on a colorblind test (from another male student who was also color blind) and in that moment I realize I am color blind.

This is a situation where until I experienced it, I had no idea the potential was there. (This sounds overly dramatic, yes. These fuses are worth your attention.)

John.

(Added detail above in response to Ron's appropriate question below)

Been waiting for a comment on this fuse and it could be an SR Orange beater if it has greater musicality And doesn’t rob ambient retrieval by reducing noise.

cheers

 

[ketcham]

I literally turned my head on the first note. -- one singular fuse for an entire system, sans the amplifier. This fuse performs.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ketcham, do you know what Blue58 had to do to burn in his SR Blue? Put it this way, he'd never wish that torture on anyone else. I don't think he has it in him to go thru it all again Lol.

 

[ketcham]

I just switch over three Beeswax Premier Fuses: Waversa Wcore (ROON server),. Wrouter and TotalDac. These fuses are new. I am enjoying what I am hearing, new. This all feeds into Allnic M311 PX25 (Osram 1937 production tubes and U52 rectifiers) to Daedalus Zeus.

As an aside, I really want to pay tribute to Vincent for being so kind, have patience with sometimes unrealistic customers, being direct, honest and sincere. Having worked with him for about one year now, I appreciate his insight as an engineer and consultant. I recommend his product line to anyone willing to listen. I have yet to witness a situation where Totaldac is not a good fit. I am certain this happens given our individual taste, but it is certainly rare.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ketcham, is the entry level TD a good solution? I can't easily justify a dac costing more than €5k, and there are some potentially excellent products at this price level, incl Chord, Denafrips, Schiit, Holo Springs and LessLoss.

 

[ketcham]

TotalDac, yes actually and others may chime in here too. What do you use now and what goals are you trying to attain with your system overall? The advantages I see for you, being somewhere in Europe is easy to access future upgrades which is a very reasonable process with Vincent. Humbly I wished I grew with TD over the last 8 years in place of buying then selling dacs at a steep loss and often left frustrated in the process. There are a few I felt very rewarded, but discussing those dacs are out of the scope of this conversation.

Looking at your system overall, I think you are looking for a very natural, organic presentation that instills emotion. TD will pair well in this system.

 

[cat6man]

I received upgraded livePower supplies, for my D1-direct and reclocker, from Vincent last week.
I've changed a couple of other things and haven't done any critical listening yet.

Any observations or recommendations for power supply cables or the sensitivity/benefits of any power cable with these units?

 

[CKKeung]

I received upgraded livePower supplies, for my D1-direct and reclocker, from Vincent last week.
I've changed a couple of other things and haven't done any critical listening yet.

Any observations or recommendations for power supply cables or the sensitivity/benefits of any power cable with these units?

Congratulations!

The Lverpower powersupplies shall give your Totaldac more richness and dynamics.
However its burn-in takes weeks to accomplish, so please be patient.

I have mentioned on #222 that the Ensemble Audio powercords are good partners of Totaldac :
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...k2-dac-in-hong-kong.26402/page-12#post-609678
I particularly like their Silinx Extrema powercord.

Enjoy!

 

[spiritofmusic]

TotalDac, yes actually and others may chime in here too. What do you use now and what goals are you trying to attain with your system overall? The advantages I see for you, being somewhere in Europe is easy to access future upgrades which is a very reasonable process with Vincent. Humbly I wished I grew with TD over the last 8 years in place of buying then selling dacs at a steep loss and often left frustrated in the process. There are a few I felt very rewarded, but discussing those dacs are out of the scope of this conversation.

Looking at your system overall, I think you are looking for a very natural, organic presentation that instills emotion. TD will pair well in this system.

Ketcham, I'm the ultimate procrastinator on streaming. Happy w my tt and cdp, but still circling the issue of running a server and dac. For the use I'd make of streaming, €5k really is the very most I could justify on a dac. And there are some v good dacs at €3-5k, plus the odd bargain at €1k. Certainly my tastes run to a tonally dense sound over one that is overly resolving but maybe tonally thinner.

 

[paul79]

I am really enjoying what the Zenwave Audio PSR-14 power cable does on the LivePower. It was a very clear and worthwhile upgrade, and that is what it takes for me to upgrade any audio component anymore. Dave offers trial and sometimes has demo cables to send out with no purchase or commitment.

 

[cat6man]

@paul79 and @CKKeung

thanks for the suggestions. i guess the first step is to give it a few weeks to burn in.

 

[PTCL]

TotalDac, yes actually and others may chime in here too. What do you use now and what goals are you trying to attain with your system overall? The advantages I see for you, being somewhere in Europe is easy to access future upgrades which is a very reasonable process with Vincent. Humbly I wished I grew with TD over the last 8 years in place of buying then selling dacs at a steep loss and often left frustrated in the process. There are a few I felt very rewarded, but discussing those dacs are out of the scope of this conversation.

Looking at your system overall, I think you are looking for a very natural, organic presentation that instills emotion. TD will pair well in this system.

Hello Ketcham,

Can you please highlight what DACs you have used before settling down on D1-12? Your experience should be informative. My ultimate goal is to reproduce a live orchestra in the listening room as closely as possible... about the highest bar to set.

Thanks.

 

[PTCL]

Ketcham, is the entry level TD a good solution? I can't easily justify a dac costing more than €5k, and there are some potentially excellent products at this price level, incl Chord, Denafrips, Schiit, Holo Springs and LessLoss.

You may want to refer to Post #16 by Caelin Gabriel, a fellow vinylphile, of Shunyata in the link below. Although he did not clarify, his positive comment was about a D1-Core, the basic model of Totaldac. As time goes by, you may convert it to something else.

https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=39240&page=2

 

[Kris]

I just switch over three Beeswax Premier Fuses: Waversa Wcore (ROON server),. Wrouter and TotalDac. These fuses are new. I am enjoying what I am hearing, new. This all feeds into Allnic M311 PX25 (Osram 1937 production tubes and U52 rectifiers) to Daedalus Zeus.

As an aside, I really want to pay tribute to Vincent for being so kind, have patience with sometimes unrealistic customers, being direct, honest and sincere. Having worked with him for about one year now, I appreciate his insight as an engineer and consultant. I recommend his product line to anyone willing to listen. I have yet to witness a situation where Totaldac is not a good fit. I am certain this happens given our individual taste, but it is certainly rare.

I am TotalDac customer for many years.
I was using their very early D1 dual bulid than adding reclocer , than turning it into TD Twelve
and after some time decided investing in his custom build TD 24 ( 8 box TD DAC).
I must say after so many years that my experience was always great.
Very similar to what you see from ketcham.

Now I decided to try the TD D1 Drivers for my amps.
I feel very comfortable because I can decide to return product if I dont like it.
Fortunatelly I never needed to return anything ! It always exceeded my expectations.
I am happy to invest in Vincent because whatwever I tried from him in the past
was always excellent.

 

[ketcham]

Regarding other dacs I have auditioned or owned, I feel this is somewhat out of the scope of the thread and I do not wish to distract from the focus here. I am happy to give my experience in a PM as long as it is not re-posted. From my personal journey, I have witnessed the evolution of a more insightful community today, and better access to equipment. (A note of gratitude of the moderators of this forum.) Wholeheartedly, it is your own personal audition, in your system, listening environment to your own ears that matters. Vincent, and others, allow this to happen. For this I am grateful.

On a side note, I just received my second D-1 Driver. This accomplishes complete separation of the channels with dedicated power supplies. I was skeptical and believed maybe a mild improvement at best. Depth, separation, imaging, dynamics all improved significantly and worth the investment.

 

[PTCL]

I received a 4 box D1-12 yesterday. They were converted from a D1-7 and a reclocker. Thanks to Vincent’s advice, I added a live power to the base 3 box configuration.

I heard many good things about the unbuffered output. That was the first to try with my amp supporting only balanced inputs and XLR cables. Using three symphonic tracks, I heard somewhat muted dynamics even at a decent volume. The music did not come alive. I was nervous and started to miss D1-7.

Then I anxiously switched over to the buffered output and lowered the volume by 7dB to match. Incidentally, that was how the HK importer connected the DAC in the pictures that started this thread. In the confine of a complete passage, it was clear that D1-12 was so special. I can include common descriptors for high fidelity, excellent musical qualities and liquidity together. That would be fitting of what I heard of the set with less than an hour of burn-in (at least the Live Power, 1 mono DAC, some ports and cables were new). My limited experience shows that the best components sound good from the start and only improve from there.

I had a dream (a.k.a. unreasonable expectation) to be able to reproduce a symphonic concert in my room. For many years coming back from a concert, I would be disappointed to listen at home. D1-12 finally closed the gap (chasm perhaps). I could feel the tension building in music and the simmering when instruments bloom out and up to fill a hall. It is not necessarily the most analog sounding digital by my account. It is better described as sounding very real. The sensation is hard to describe.

Over time the utilitarian aesthetic of Totaldac grew on me. I realized why Totaldac did not invest in exorbitant casing to pass on to customers. I started streaming local files with a Stereophile’s Class A+ DAC (nice CNC milled chassis) and still have it. When my D1-Dual went back to Vincent to become a D1-Six, I gingerly set it up as a substitute, but not for long. That DAC had been upgraded with an improved power supply, fuse elimination, digital sync, and DSD128 after the class award no less. I guess 16/44 on a D1-Dual was more compelling. This time when the D1-7 went back, I did not bother with a stand-in, knowing I would be discouraged.

For the people who have started with Totaldac, I think it is encouraging to aspire to Vincent’s creation and continued refinement. A reclocker or an all inclusive streamer is a significant boost. For the people sitting on the fence, I would suggest finding a current owner in a private setting to listen for yourself. Media reviews of competitors or even TD products are not really indicative. The setup and the taste may bear no relation to yours. I am thankful that Vincent took on this path as a business to give us much gratification. My favorite Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Ivan Fischer is coming to town this month. I am not going for a change. I can reproduce that experience for pennies.

CKKeung: You were not joking to tell it apart from another DAC in seconds. It is not hard.
sbo6: You have among the most transparent speakers on the market. Wait until you hear a D1-7, Direct or 12 on those. Mesmerizing!

 

[CKKeung]

I received a 4 box D1-12 yesterday. They were converted from a D1-7 and a reclocker. Thanks to Vincent’s advice, I added a live power to the basic 3 box configuration.

I heard many good things about the unbuffered output. That was the first to try with my amp supporting only balanced inputs and XLR cables. Using three symphonic tracks, I heard somewhat muted dynamics even with high volume. The music did not come alive. I was nervous and started to miss D1-7.

Then I anxiously switched over to the buffered output. Incidentally, that was how the HK importer connected the DAC in the pictures that started this thread. In the confine of a complete passage, it was clear that D1-12 was so special. I can include common descriptors for high fidelity plus excellent musical qualities together. That would be fitting of what I heard of the set with less than an hour of burn-in (at least the Live Power and 1 mono DAC were new). My limited experience shows that the best components sound good from the start and improve over time.

I had a dream to be able to reproduce a symphonic concert in my room. For many years coming back from a concert, I would be disappointed to listen at home. D1-12 finally closed the gap (chasm perhaps). I could feel the tension building in music and the simmering when instruments bloom out and up to fill a hall. It is not necessarily the most analog sounding digital by my account. It is better described as sounding real. The sensation is hard to describe.

Over time the aesthetic of Totaldac grew on me. I realized why Totaldac did not invest in exorbitant casing to pass on to customers. I started the journey with a Stereophile’s Class A+ DAC. When my D1-Daul went back to Vincent for a D1-Six, I gingerly set it up as a substitute, but not for long. That DAC had been upgraded to play DSD 128 no less. I guess I rather listen to 16/44 on D1-Daul. This time when D1-7 went back, I did not bother, knowing I would be discouraged.

For the people who have started with Totaldac, I think it is encouraging to aspire to Vincent’s creation and continued refinement. For the people sitting on the fence, I would suggest finding a current owner in a private setting to listen for yourself. Media reviews are not really relevant. The setup and the taste may bear no relation to yours. I am thankful that Vincent took on this path as a business to give us much gratification.

CKKeung: You were not joking to tell it apart from another DAC in seconds. It is not hard.
sbo6: You have among the most transparent speakers on the market. Wait until you hear D1-12 or 7 on those. Mesmerizing.

Hello PTCL,
Big congratulations!

Be patient, the Livepower EI transformers need a few weeks of burn-in.
You will be awed again for sure!
And please listen to the unbuffered outputs again then.

 

[PTCL]

Hello PTCL,
Big congratulations!

Be patient, the Livepower EI transformers need a few weeks of burn-in.
You will be awed again for sure!
And please listen to the unbuffered outputs again then.

CKkeung, thank you. Having gone through some fruitless pursuit with changes, I have realized it is hard to achieve a meaningful improvement. Concerning DAC, I consider D1-12 the endgame in DAC for my priority.

About Live Power, how do you improve on "real", more real? The set already sounds like a real event at no burn-in.

My amp is indeed balanced. It has a current mirror to convert single-ended signal to balanced signal. Input impedance is high, and unlikely to be the issue. I am not holding my breath to use the unbuffered outputs. However if you have experience from Volent in HK, I am all ears to give it a shot.