The first Totaldac D1-Twelve Mk2 DAC in Hong Kong

[totaldac]

Thank you PTCL.
Happy to have installed both a buffered and unbuffered output on the d1-twelve-mk2 to match all systems!

 

[totaldac]

A recording of a system using a d1-twelve-mk2 DAC in Korea:

Music Server : SGM Extreme (LeeNo Lab Synapse USB)
DAC : Total D1-Twelve mk2 (Siltech Crown Princess XLR)
Pre : Thrax Dionysos V3 Vcap (Vertere Pulse R XLR)
Power : Mark Levinson N0 20.6 (Vertere XS Reference speaker cable)
Speaker : Magico M6

 

[totaldac]

Audiostream says: "my current reference DAC" about the Totaldac d1-direct.

https://www.audiostream.com/content/pass-labs-totaldac-cambridge-audio-and-lescop

 

[totaldac]

Marja&Enke have tested the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme server for 6moons, using several DACs for the test. The best matching DAC, as predicted by Taiko, seems to be the Totaldac d1-direct. This combo allowed Marja&Henk to give a blue moon award to the server under test.
Thank you to Emile, and Marja&Henk and Srajan from 6moons.

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/taiko/7/

 

[Dthagerty@aol.com]

Toward the end of last year there was a growing gap between my vinyl and digital systems, so I decided to upgrade from a totaldac d1-seven to the d1-twelve dac. I’ve been listening to the system now for 4 months, so I thought I would share my experience.

First some historical perspective. For years I had been an analog guy, finding digital audio to be harsh and fatiguing, until I discovered totaldac. I was impressed that others who found digital fatiguing did not find that to be the case with totaldac dacs, and hoped that that would also be the case for me, so I initially purchased a d1-six dac.

For the first time I found digital sound to be non-fatiguing and immensely enjoyable. I went from rarely listening to digital, to predominantly listening to digital. Quite a change! I later upgraded to the totaldac d1-seven dac, added a d1-server, and purchased a d1-core dac for my second system.

My experience has been that all totaldac dacs have a family sound: musical, non-fatiguing, and detailed without being analytical. Having listened to all 3 dacs in the same system, I found it interesting that each time I moved up the totaldac product chain, there was a consistent pattern. There were never one or two aspects of the sound that were dramatically better than the lower model. Instead, each upgrade resulted in noticeable improvement across the board in virtually everything, which together added up to significant increases in musical enjoyment.

At that point, there was clearly room for improvement in my analog system! I had not made the same kind of investments in my analog system as I had with my digital system, so I eventually purchased a Constellation Andromeda phonostage, and later a Synergistic Research Galileo SX phono cable. All I can say is “WOW”. HUGE soundstage. Incredible separation of individual instruments from a complex mix. Stable images. Detailed but not analytical. BLACK backgrounds. Just amazing, engaging, musical, enjoyable sound.

So now the tables had again turned with a large gap that I wanted to narrow. I decided to upgrade from the totaldac d1-server and d1-seven dac to the d1-player, d1-streamer and d1-twelve dac. To power the streamer and dacs, I also purchased the totaldac Live Power power supply. The d1-twelve can be used with or without a buffer. All my listening was without engaging the additional buffer gain.

My experience with upgrading to the d1-twelve (and d1-player/d1-streamer) was unlike my previous experiences with moving from the d1-core to d1-six to d1-seven dacs. With those upgrades, it took me awhile to notice all of the areas of improvement, which were many. This time, it was easy to immediately notice HUGE differences across the board. One of the more striking improvements was that images were much more 3D with a real sense that live performers were in the room.

There was such a staggering degree of improvement, that I decided that if I really wanted to understand what the d1-twelve was capable of, I also needed to upgrade the stock cables which really are quite good. Addition of Synergistic Research Galileo SX ethernet and clock cables made further easily and immediately noticeable improvements. Addition of Synergistic Research Galileo SX XLR digital cables further elevated the performance but not to the degree of the ethernet cable.

At that point I felt that my digital system was now very competitive with my analog system, so I wanted to compare recordings for which I had both analog and digital versions. Doing this made me believe that my analog system has a coloration. It’s very slightly warm (which I like). The d1-twelve is more dead-center neutral. It never makes a recording sound bad but it doesn’t impose euphonic colorations, either. It has every bit of the natural detail, huge sound staging, instrument separation and most importantly, musical engagement of my analog system but in a slightly more neutral way.

I wouldn’t claim that the d1-twelve is “the best”. Musical taste varies and I haven’t heard every dac. But to me, the d1-twelve is stunning in many ways. Stunningly musical. Stunningly detailed. Stunningly engaging. Stunningly able to put 3D images in the room. I have to congratulate Vincent Brient: the totaldac d1-twelve dac, d1-player and d1-streamer are stunning accomplishments that have greatly exceeded my all my expectations.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you for this interesting report of the evolution of your vinyl versus digital systems!

Which of your systems -- vinyl or digital -- presents your favorite music in the sonic ways most similar to what you hear in a live music venue?

 

[LL21]

Fantastic report, Dthagerty@aol.com! Congrats and thanks for posting that one. I have spoken with Arnie (Arrakis fame...along with a slew of CH mono amps, 6 REL subs to create 2 sub towers, etc)...and he is a big fan of what I believe is the same digital system as yours.

I have not had the chance to revisit SOTA digital since the Vivaldi stack which came out a number of years ago (and is excellent)...and would love to explore again. Playback Designs, MSB, Totaldac, Audio Note Fifth Element and Zanden's latest SOTA due to come out at Audio Exotics all come to mind though there are many.

 

[Kris]

Toward the end of last year there was a growing gap between my vinyl and digital systems, so I decided to upgrade from a totaldac d1-seven to the d1-twelve dac. I’ve been listening to the system now for 4 months, so I thought I would share my experience.

First some historical perspective. For years I had been an analog guy, finding digital audio to be harsh and fatiguing, until I discovered totaldac. I was impressed that others who found digital fatiguing did not find that to be the case with totaldac dacs, and hoped that that would also be the case for me, so I initially purchased a d1-six dac.

For the first time I found digital sound to be non-fatiguing and immensely enjoyable. I went from rarely listening to digital, to predominantly listening to digital. Quite a change! I later upgraded to the totaldac d1-seven dac, added a d1-server, and purchased a d1-core dac for my second system.

My experience has been that all totaldac dacs have a family sound: musical, non-fatiguing, and detailed without being analytical. Having listened to all 3 dacs in the same system, I found it interesting that each time I moved up the totaldac product chain, there was a consistent pattern. There were never one or two aspects of the sound that were dramatically better than the lower model. Instead, each upgrade resulted in noticeable improvement across the board in virtually everything, which together added up to significant increases in musical enjoyment.

At that point, there was clearly room for improvement in my analog system! I had not made the same kind of investments in my analog system as I had with my digital system, so I eventually purchased a Constellation Andromeda phonostage, and later a Synergistic Research Galileo SX phono cable. All I can say is “WOW”. HUGE soundstage. Incredible separation of individual instruments from a complex mix. Stable images. Detailed but not analytical. BLACK backgrounds. Just amazing, engaging, musical, enjoyable sound.

So now the tables had again turned with a large gap that I wanted to narrow. I decided to upgrade from the totaldac d1-server and d1-seven dac to the d1-player, d1-streamer and d1-twelve dac. To power the streamer and dacs, I also purchased the totaldac Live Power power supply. The d1-twelve can be used with or without a buffer. All my listening was without engaging the additional buffer gain.

My experience with upgrading to the d1-twelve (and d1-player/d1-streamer) was unlike my previous experiences with moving from the d1-core to d1-six to d1-seven dacs. With those upgrades, it took me awhile to notice all of the areas of improvement, which were many. This time, it was easy to immediately notice HUGE differences across the board. One of the more striking improvements was that images were much more 3D with a real sense that live performers were in the room.

There was such a staggering degree of improvement, that I decided that if I really wanted to understand what the d1-twelve was capable of, I also needed to upgrade the stock cables which really are quite good. Addition of Synergistic Research Galileo SX ethernet and clock cables made further easily and immediately noticeable improvements. Addition of Synergistic Research Galileo SX XLR digital cables further elevated the performance but not to the degree of the ethernet cable.

At that point I felt that my digital system was now very competitive with my analog system, so I wanted to compare recordings for which I had both analog and digital versions. Doing this made me believe that my analog system has a coloration. It’s very slightly warm (which I like). The d1-twelve is more dead-center neutral. It never makes a recording sound bad but it doesn’t impose euphonic colorations, either. It has every bit of the natural detail, huge sound staging, instrument separation and most importantly, musical engagement of my analog system but in a slightly more neutral way.

I wouldn’t claim that the d1-twelve is “the best”. Musical taste varies and I haven’t heard every dac. But to me, the d1-twelve is stunning in many ways. Stunningly musical. Stunningly detailed. Stunningly engaging. Stunningly able to put 3D images in the room. I have to congratulate Vincent Brient: the totaldac d1-twelve dac, d1-player and d1-streamer are stunning accomplishments that have greatly exceeded my all my expectations.

Fantastic. Great to notice you are happy with this.
I went the same way. D1 than ading reclocer , that update it to D1 Twelve, and finally 24.
Ended on 10 box solution from totaldac.
this is totaldac 24 ( 8 boxes DAC) and 2 mono D1 Drivers.
If you have balanced system ( not SE or RCA) and you get to much cash in the future update it to totaldac 24 and get 2 drivers.
Vincent is genious with his designs.

 

[Dthagerty@aol.com]

That is a VERY interesting question that I have thought a lot about over the years. I don’t think I have a definitive answer for you.

At one point in our lives we lived near Philly and had subscription tickets to the Philadelphia Orchestra. When the orchestra played at the Academy of Music, I had a hard time enjoying performances. You could hear each individual instrument but the sound was way too dry, lacking bass and warmth. The sound was totally different when they moved to Verizon Hall. Lost some detail but gloriously warm. So same orchestra but different halls made a BIG difference in sound.

To a large extent my preference depends on the recording. On some I prefer the digital. On some the analog. At this point the equipment sounds are very close and the recording itself seems to be the most significant variable.

 

[totaldac]

Thank you very much Dthagerty for this detailed review!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Fantastic. Great to notice you are happy with this.
I went the same way. D1 than ading reclocer , that update it to D1 Twelve, and finally 24.
Ended on 10 box solution from totaldac.
this is totaldac 24 ( 8 boxes DAC) and 2 mono D1 Drivers.
If you have balanced system ( not SE or RCA) and you get to much cash in the future update it to totaldac 24 and get 2 drivers.
Vincent is genious with his designs.

8 box dac? I'm still getting my head around 3 lol.
Function of 5 boxes on top of the 3 of TD-12?
What does the 8 box retail for?

 

[totaldac]

8 box dac? I'm still getting my head around 3 lol.
Function of 5 boxes on top of the 3 of TD-12?
What does the 8 box retail for?

The d1-24 is a very specific DAC, based on two d1-twelve-mk2 + one extra reclocker (or streamer) + one power supply, so it is a bit more expensive than the sum of components composing it. It is made on demand only, it is not a standard / high runner product like d1-twelve-mk2.

 

[sbo6]

Great review. Totaldac D1-12 is amongst my favorites with the Aqua Formula.

 

[CKKeung]

At one point in our lives we lived near Philly and had subscription tickets to the Philadelphia Orchestra. When the orchestra played at the Academy of Music, I had a hard time enjoying performances. You could hear each individual instrument but the sound was way too dry, lacking bass and warmth. The sound was totally different when they moved to Verizon Hall. Lost some detail but gloriously warm. So same orchestra but different halls made a BIG difference in sound.

Hello Dthagerty,
Ted Libbey got opinions on the Philadelphia Orchestra similar to yours.
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/a-love-letter-to-the-philadelphia-orchestra/

 

[Dthagerty@aol.com]

Hello Dthagerty,
Ted Libbey got opinions on the Philadelphia Orchestra similar to yours.
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/a-love-letter-to-the-philadelphia-orchestra/

I read the article, and it made me laugh. I think the Academy of Music is even worse than he indicated!

 

[microstrip]

Hello Dthagerty,
Ted Libbey got opinions on the Philadelphia Orchestra similar to yours.
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/a-love-letter-to-the-philadelphia-orchestra/

Great article on the Philadelphia Orchestra and their recordings, as on their recording style, many thanks for pointing it!

 

[BF38]

Toward the end of last year there was a growing gap between my vinyl and digital systems, so I decided to upgrade from a totaldac d1-seven to the d1-twelve dac. I’ve been listening to the system now for 4 months, so I thought I would share my experience.

First some historical perspective. For years I had been an analog guy, finding digital audio to be harsh and fatiguing, until I discovered totaldac. I was impressed that others who found digital fatiguing did not find that to be the case with totaldac dacs, and hoped that that would also be the case for me, so I initially purchased a d1-six dac.

For the first time I found digital sound to be non-fatiguing and immensely enjoyable. I went from rarely listening to digital, to predominantly listening to digital. Quite a change! I later upgraded to the totaldac d1-seven dac, added a d1-server, and purchased a d1-core dac for my second system.

My experience has been that all totaldac dacs have a family sound: musical, non-fatiguing, and detailed without being analytical. Having listened to all 3 dacs in the same system, I found it interesting that each time I moved up the totaldac product chain, there was a consistent pattern. There were never one or two aspects of the sound that were dramatically better than the lower model. Instead, each upgrade resulted in noticeable improvement across the board in virtually everything, which together added up to significant increases in musical enjoyment.

At that point, there was clearly room for improvement in my analog system! I had not made the same kind of investments in my analog system as I had with my digital system, so I eventually purchased a Constellation Andromeda phonostage, and later a Synergistic Research Galileo SX phono cable. All I can say is “WOW”. HUGE soundstage. Incredible separation of individual instruments from a complex mix. Stable images. Detailed but not analytical. BLACK backgrounds. Just amazing, engaging, musical, enjoyable sound.

So now the tables had again turned with a large gap that I wanted to narrow. I decided to upgrade from the totaldac d1-server and d1-seven dac to the d1-player, d1-streamer and d1-twelve dac. To power the streamer and dacs, I also purchased the totaldac Live Power power supply. The d1-twelve can be used with or without a buffer. All my listening was without engaging the additional buffer gain.

My experience with upgrading to the d1-twelve (and d1-player/d1-streamer) was unlike my previous experiences with moving from the d1-core to d1-six to d1-seven dacs. With those upgrades, it took me awhile to notice all of the areas of improvement, which were many. This time, it was easy to immediately notice HUGE differences across the board. One of the more striking improvements was that images were much more 3D with a real sense that live performers were in the room.

There was such a staggering degree of improvement, that I decided that if I really wanted to understand what the d1-twelve was capable of, I also needed to upgrade the stock cables which really are quite good. Addition of Synergistic Research Galileo SX ethernet and clock cables made further easily and immediately noticeable improvements. Addition of Synergistic Research Galileo SX XLR digital cables further elevated the performance but not to the degree of the ethernet cable.

At that point I felt that my digital system was now very competitive with my analog system, so I wanted to compare recordings for which I had both analog and digital versions. Doing this made me believe that my analog system has a coloration. It’s very slightly warm (which I like). The d1-twelve is more dead-center neutral. It never makes a recording sound bad but it doesn’t impose euphonic colorations, either. It has every bit of the natural detail, huge sound staging, instrument separation and most importantly, musical engagement of my analog system but in a slightly more neutral way.

I wouldn’t claim that the d1-twelve is “the best”. Musical taste varies and I haven’t heard every dac. But to me, the d1-twelve is stunning in many ways. Stunningly musical. Stunningly detailed. Stunningly engaging. Stunningly able to put 3D images in the room. I have to congratulate Vincent Brient: the totaldac d1-twelve dac, d1-player and d1-streamer are stunning accomplishments that have greatly exceeded my all my expectations.

Hi Dthagerty,
Owner of the Trium Virat Totaldac, d1-Player, Streamer and Direct, for almost 1 year, I can only understand and share your enthusiasm. This composition (which each brings his own stone to the musical building) also, offers me a stunning feeling that I could never imagined in its capacity to bring to life the musical event and its capacity to involve! ... Each listening becomes a very special moment.

Now, at home, a quadrilogy came, several months ago from the d1-driver that we could link depending on the perspective at source or amplification. In any case, it sealed my feeling with its ability to magnify the qualities of the whole system, even closer to the acoustic event.

Nice report that breathes musical passion, thank you for that.
it's nothing and everything

Music to all

PS: when I grow up I will have a Twelve MK2! hihi.

 

[CKKeung]

The d1-24 is a very specific DAC, based on two d1-twelve-mk2 + one extra reclocker (or streamer) + one power supply, so it is a bit more expensive than the sum of components composing it. It is made on demand only, it is not a standard / high runner product like d1-twelve-mk2.

Hi Vincent,
You mean within the d1-24 : Each of the d1-twelve handles one channel and then the extra reclocker synchronizes/merges the two channels together?

May you share with us what the resulting sonic benefit will be and why?

Many thanks!

 

[totaldac]

Hi Vincent,
You mean within the d1-24 : Each of the d1-twelve handles one channel and then the extra reclocker synchronizes/merges the two channels together?

May you share with us what the resulting sonic benefit will be and why?

Many thanks!

Hi CKKeung
The first reclocker attenuates the jitter and distributes the AES-EBU digital signal to two other reclockers. The second level of reclockers also attenuates the jitter again and distributes the AES-EBU signal to 4 DAC d1-twelve-mk2 monoblocs.
-one monobloc for left positive signal
-one monobloc for left negative signal
-one monobloc for right positive signal
-one monobloc for right negative signal

So this gives a balanced signal, for people who need a balanced signal for their preamp or amp (or for an active speaker in the case of Kris).

Having more ladders lowers the noise again and gives more dynamics again.

 

[totaldac]

Hello,
A new Totaldac AES-EBU cable has been released as an upgrade for the d1-twelve-mk2 DAC. Shipping has just started.
http://www.totaldac.com/cables-eng.htm