Totaldac D1-Driver, the (pre)amplifier driver

I am not in the habit of starting threads unless I feel a product is of significant enough importance to do so. The Totaldac D1-Driver is such a product. The official product description states D1-Driver, the amplifier driver. I have deliberately added (pre) in the thread title.

The Totaldac website description reads:
The d1-driver is an analog driver. It is usually connected to the output of the DAC.
It is an answer to the endless question "is it better with or without preamp?".
The strength of preamps is there active stage more than their volume control. The active stage helps driving the power amp.

It was designed for directly driving a power (or integrated amplifier!) using the built in Totaldac digital volume control:
Its drive capability allows the d1-driver to improve the sound of a DAC, improving bass control, articulation, presence, soundstage and life. It has been tested when connected between a DAC and a power amplifier (transistor or tube), but also between a DAC and an integrated amplifier. The d1-driver has no volume control because it relies on the DAC volume control.

Around 6 weeks ago we travelled to Slovenia to deliver a SGM Extreme server to Matej Isak for a review. I ended up leaving being deeply impressed by the liveliness and dynamic range of Matej's reference system. Upon asking Matej told me something about the importance of proper gain matching. I did not give it much further thought until we visited forum member Mike Lavigne a few weeks later where he played a few tape cuts with a similarly shocking display of brute force dynamic range. Every since returning I have been searching for explanations for this particular phenomenon. Until I received a pair of Totaldac D1 drivers from Vincent last Friday.

I need to add a bit of history context to this now as I was not unfamiliar with the D1-driver. I have tested an older version before, the current D1-driver is in its second generation now. At that time I was impressed by its dynamic range and transparency, but found it lacking in refinement and micro detail rendering compared to my AudioNet Stern (Euro 35.000) preamplifier. If I remember correctly my commentary to Vincent was "a diamond in the rough". It also did not manage to match the Stern's sound staging abilities, upon which Vincent commented I would probably need a pair to get there. I shipped it back and did not give it much further thought, therefor the penny did not drop until Vincent told me he had a MK2 version of which he was confident it would solve my "issues" and if I would be interested in trying a pair of them. This turned out to be a totally different ballgame. Not only does it manage to match the Stern's sound staging abilities, refinement and micro detailing, it has also improved upon its previous strengths with even better dynamics, and an "Iron grip" control over the lower registers which sounds like it has doubled the already high damping factor of my AudioNet Heisenberg power amplifiers. It has incredible control and slam, at first I thought it was lacking low end extension, but after some back and forth switching it is just much better defined and controlled turning a mass of "1 tone bass" into a variation of cues and pitches. It does give me the eagerly desired dynamic range I found my system lacking of after hearing Matej's digital and Mike's tape. Therefor I consider it to be a substantial product worthy of its own thread.

Using both the Stern and D1 drivers in a DAC - Driver - Preamp configuration does preserve most of these qualities with just a slight decrease in overall transparency, clarity and a loss of ultimate "control". Inserting the Stern creates a slightly more distant, slightly more laid back perspective, where just the drivers give you a closer more direct perspective.

Matej Isak has reviewed the D1-direct and D1 driver here, worth a close read:

https://www.monoandstereo.com/2019/09/totaldac-d1-direct-d1-seven-d1-driver.html

I will copy a few relevant snippets:


d11.JPG

d12.JPG

d13.JPG

To summarize, this is a product to seriously consider, not just to combine with a Totaldac DAC, and not only to replace a preamplifier. But consider trying it with any brand DAC and/or any Pre-amplifier.
 
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The Heisenbergs are the first power amps I've wanted to own over the Bernings. If you fall in love with the Bernings speed, transparency, and tonal accuracy, they are a tough act to follow. For example, when the CH M1.1 monos left, I didn't miss them at all.
The Heisenbergs are almost as quick as the Bernings, are very transparent, and have some of the best tonal accuracy of any SS amp I've heard. Where they outperform the Bernings is in power / speaker control, and soundstaging. Where they differ (as opposed to better / worse) is having a more saturated sound that is a bit more bottom-up than the Bernings, and so has different system-matching criteria and may be why I prefer the Pacific with them, but preferred the Golden Gate with the Bernings.
The Stern / Heisenberg combination is very dynamic, and so every listening session grabs your attention (although not in a fatiguing way). This may not be to everyone's tastes, but with careful system matching is pretty addictive.
 
Agreed - 45 + Bernings was magical on some Leider we listened to. Highlights the one area / music style that Bernings may better the Heisenbergs, as there was a lightness and airiness to the performance which was captivating.
 
Imo the audionet was quite better but that could have been a better matching issue as it filled up the mids linearly and just sounded right. The saturation that Adam mentions was the right density. It was also transparent, yet musical. This is my first exposure but the audio net stuff is seriously impressive.
 
I tried the D1 Driver with the Stern pre in the system, trying it both before and after the pre. Neither worked particularly well - before the pre really emphasized the downsides noted above, particularly on the rushed feeling to the music, while after the pre it became too noisy.

I also tried the D1 Driver with my MFA silver-wound passive. Again from a cost perspective (the MFA was an ebay purchase) this was a winner, but in performance terms would rank 3rd behind Stern, and VC + D1.

Hi heihei,

That is interesting, I would agree with you, the choice would be either D1 drivers or Stern. I do have 2 questions, do you know if this is a V1 or V2 version of the driver? And you compared using 1 stereo driver? I'm asking as I thought the V1 driver was not a match to the Stern, it really only did better in dynamics and transparency in my system. The V2 however is, but as a pair only, if I just use 1 the soundstage is smaller then the Stern and doesn't detach from my loudspeakers as a pair can. The V1 single driver was less sophisticated then the Stern for sure, for the V2 pair I did not feel it was lacking in that regard. I do still need to test it with my Bespoke silver, but I suspect it would need to be driver - bespoke - driver, and then I would need 2 more drivers!
 
Imo the audionet was quite better but that could have been a better matching issue as it filled up the mids linearly and just sounded right. The saturation that Adam mentions was the right density. It was also transparent, yet musical. This is my first exposure but the audio net stuff is seriously impressive.

The scientist series are much better then their other lines IMHO, I honestly don't care much for the sound of their (significantly cheaper) models.
 
Thanks for sharing Adam. I have been very impressed by the QuadZ and I know Emile is also big fan of the Heisenberg. You are fortunate to have both!
It's one or the other - Audionet are on demo, and I'd px the Bernings if I decided to buy. I'd be sad to see them go, but couldn't justify both!
 
Hi heihei,

That is interesting, I would agree with you, the choice would be either D1 drivers or Stern. I do have 2 questions, do you know if this is a V1 or V2 version of the driver? And you compared using 1 stereo driver? I'm asking as I thought the V1 driver was not a match to the Stern, it really only did better in dynamics and transparency in my system. The V2 however is, but as a pair only, if I just use 1 the soundstage is smaller then the Stern and doesn't detach from my loudspeakers as a pair can. The V1 single driver was less sophisticated then the Stern for sure, for the V2 pair I did not feel it was lacking in that regard. I do still need to test it with my Bespoke silver, but I suspect it would need to be driver - bespoke - driver, and then I would need 2 more drivers!

This is a brand new unit from Vincent, so I assume V2. It may not be fully run in though. I don't think the soundstage was much different (which in itself is very impressive as the Stern is amongst the best), was more around the musicality and flow. Clearly doubling up the D1 Driver will help, but then the cost difference starts to narrow rapidly.

I'm using unbalanced between Stern and Heisenberg. Audionet recommend this as makes for cleaner signal path. I've not tested to verify this though.
 
Maybe some tube rolling will close up the gap? Mine have some nice Valvo 12at drivers. Also presume you have played around with the feedback settings?
 
This is a brand new unit from Vincent, so I assume V2. It may not be fully run in though. I don't think the soundstage was much different (which in itself is very impressive as the Stern is amongst the best), was more around the musicality and flow. Clearly doubling up the D1 Driver will help, but then the cost difference starts to narrow rapidly.

I'm using unbalanced between Stern and Heisenberg. Audionet recommend this as makes for cleaner signal path. I've not tested to verify this though.

Thanks, I'm using unbalanced too, the Heisenbergs have a low input impedance of 7K on the balanced connections (50K unbalanced). It's actually quite hard to not have ground hum using the balanced connections, you need to run unconventional grounding schemes to get that to perform hum free which I'm not a fan of.
 
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Great news !
Congratulations Vincent.

I hope to get them for test in my system soon.
As always with Vincent products I am worried also
that 2 xlr drivers for test will need to stay for good once auditioned .....
 
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I have rerun a few comparisons, all in my opinion:

-The Stern outperforms a single D1-driver, while the single D1 driver is more transparent and slightly more dynamic, the Stern has more delicacy, slightly better detail retrieval, better midrange density and throws a larger soundstage. The Stern also detaches better from the loudspeakers.
-Dual D1-drivers are quite a bit better then a single, it matches the Stern for detail retrieval, it is significantly more transparent and dynamic and matches the Sterns soundstage size. The Stern may sound more likable as it's a bit softer and rounder, but the dual D1-drivers are so much clearer and alive it's impossible for me to go back.

Still have to test with the Bespoke silver.
 
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The driver we heard was much more colored, stern was transparent, the driver forcing its own signature.
 
The driver we heard was much more colored, stern was transparent, the driver forcing its own signature.

I really cannot reproduce that, and I've switched multiple times now. It has to be an unfavourable interaction with the Lampizator, it may just perform differently when driving the 1 Mohm input impedance of the D1-driver, but I'm just guessing here. I'm using them with the DAC direct outputs (no buffer) of the D1-12 mk2.
 
I am now using the D1-drivers with the Bespoke Audio Company Silver TVC. The Bespoke did not match as well with what I assumed to be the AudioNet Heisenbergs, however as it turns out this may have been a faulty line of reasoning as introducing the D1-drivers between the D1-12mk2 and the Bespoke produces a very different result.

IMG_4439.jpg
 
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