Totaldac D1-Direct dac and D1-Driver amp driver have arrived in Hong Kong

[BF38]

Hi, BF38
I found a great deal on ttldc12 mk1, should I go for it or go for a d1direct?
I own a d1 server that I m planning to sell in order to buy the twelve full combo.

Hi Samsoum,
Even if CKKeug has already answered you...
can you tell me a little bit more about this great TTD12 deal mk1... a really complete model used (of a french owner for example) ? means with all the cables between the 3 boxes, for me, the right TTD / Bibacord AES-EBU ?

and congrats ! in anycase, you will make the right choice, d1-direct and d1-twelve are just 2 of the best Dacs ever made !

 

[CKKeung]

A short update on Totaldac Direct dac :

I went to Volent HK showroom yesterday for a short listen, mainly for the new Innuos Statement server (I shall write about it on a new thread soon) and it was paired with Direct dac for a short period of time. After that, the Direct was paired with the SGMS EVO server.

Initially the Direct had much improved after being boiled for a few weeks but still quite far away from the Twelve dac UNTIL ... I asked Ben Lau of Volent to add a Totaldac Reclocker to the Direct.

The Direct then transformed into another animal!
It's now much much closer to a Twelve!

I am now deeply attracted by the Reclocker and is considering to buy one for myself too!
Will write more about it if I have time.



The Direct was at the back. The Reclocker was at the front :

 

[paul79]

Agreed. I have the 4 box Twelve, and the extra and separate reclocker adds that extra bit of refinement that once realized, is a must.

 

[Rob181]

Consider my naive - but why isn't the clock that's in the reclocker not on the DAC in the first place.

 

[paul79]

Dedicated. Not shared. Separate supply. Etc. I think technically it is, but it is another layer of, so to speak, and seems to me to be a very transparent way to do this. I do not think it is a reclocker in the rebuilding the signal sense, but a further helping hand to fix the stream that is there. My experience with the reclockers that rebuild, are that you gain something, but also lose something along the way.

I believe there surely must be compromises in every design with regards to real estate, budget, etc. Vincent chose the best way he knew how to do this extra reclocking with regards to sonics. I don't know, even rereading my post, if this makes sense, but I hope it does help.

 

[BF38]

Hi all,
that's why the d1-server integrate the Totaldac reclocker!
Great full set, d1-server-direct-driver and i'm just waiting for the new d1-player to achieve my "digital" source.
and no, no, no... Paul, i'm not thinking of the Twelve mk2, no... please !

This is the end... or not far.

Be well in music
Bruno

 

[paul79]

Lucky for you to have the D1 Player coming. I know that it is incredible. Congrats!

 

[BF38]

Thanks Paul... and sometimes, I'm a little be afraid to be a lucky man !

 

[cat6man]

A short update on Totaldac Direct dac :

I went to Volent HK showroom yesterday for a short listen, mainly for the new Innuos Statement server (I shall write about it on a new thread soon) and it was paired with Direct dac for a short period of time. After that, the Direct was paired with the SGMS EVO server.

Initially the Direct had much improved after being boiled for a few weeks but still quite far away from the Twelve dac UNTIL ... I asked Ben Lau of Volent to add a Totaldac Reclocker to the Direct.

The Direct then transformed into another animal!
It's now much much closer to a Twelve!

I am now deeply attracted by the Reclocker and is considering to buy one for myself too!
Will write more about it if I have time.



The Direct was at the back. The Reclocker was at the front :

That is very interesting to hear. I have always found that the digital feeding my TotalDAC (d1-dual, then d1-six, now d1-direct) is critical.
Just changing the power supply from an LPS-1 to a LPS-1.2 on an ultraRendu was very significant. I'm sure there is much more to be mined in my system upstream from the DAC.

One quick question: before the reclocker was added, were you also using the aes/ebu input?

 

[CKKeung]

One quick question: before the reclocker was added, were you also using the aes/ebu input?

Hello Cat6man,

Before adding the Reclocker, the SGMS EVO server was connected with the Direct dac directly by an Intona Ultimate usb cable.
After adding the Reclocker, an AES digital cable supplied by Vincent connected the Reclocker to the Direct dac.
This AES digital is not an expensive one. It is the AES cable included in the Totaldac Twelve dac package only.

If you don't have the Reclocker yet, I sincerely advise you to get one asap. The improvement is huge!

BTW if you are to upgrade your Direct to Twelve in future, Vincent can use your Reclocker to make the Twelve set and there will be a discount accordingly.

 

[cat6man]

Hello CKKeung

I very much enjoy reading your reports of the state of the art in HK. You have a wonderful set of systems available from your dealers.

My question around the reclocker is really a desire to understand which part of the reclocker is most most important.
We are learning every day now how important the upstream data source can be, with noise sources on the ethernet cable, on the power cable, the usb cable, etc.

Conceptually, I think of Vincent's reclocker as embodying two functions:
1. a reclocking of the input usb signal
2. a conversion from usb to aes/ebu

I have been using an SoTM dx-usbHD (with superclock upgrade) to convert usb (from ultraRendu in NAA mode, lps-1.2 power supply) to aes/ebu
and I have not found the usb to sound nearly as good. Therefore, I wondered if you or anyone else has had the opportunity to hear a TotalDAC with an alternate source of aes/ebu.

Vincent has been advising, since I first got my d1-dual, that the aes/ebu input sounds best and I certainly agree.
The dx-usbHD has both aes/ebu and usb outputs and the aes/ebu connection certainly sounds better to me, with both output options being "re-clocked" in the dx-usbHD. Those comparisons were done with a d1-dual and I should re-do them with the d1-direct (hopefully this month when I expect to get back my Ayon monoblock from the repairman.........I currently have 1/2 of a 50 year old ST-70 (!) providing the amplification on my left channel, so I'm not set up for any rigorous or clinical listening.

Cheers

 

[totaldac]

Cat6man, a reclocker is like a DAC or a preamp or a mains filter, many manufacturer give a box with that functionality, but all give a different result, even very different results. A reclocker is not a guarantee of any result, only a given brand and a given reference guarantees a result about the sound quality.

In clear, there are even reclockers which make the sound worst.

I have no opinion to give about the SoTM dx-usbHD.

There are also many USB to AES-EBU converters on the market, based on a xmos chip for example. The key part of the Totaldac reclocker is not the USB input but its custom FPGA based reclocking system. The Totaldac reclocker is also often used as a AES-EBU to AES-EBU reclocker.

 

[cat6man]

Bonjour Vincent (and bonne annee)

I absolutely agree with everything you said above, and I am still (as my signature suggests) always looking to upgrade my system (hence d1-dual to d1-six to d1-direct) when I hear a substantial improvement in sound.

Certainly functionality alone is insufficient to create a great product and implementation and synergy are crucial factors.

I just did a little forum search on SGM EVO and I see that someone on the forum was using it with aes/ebu out to a TotalDAC.
A interesting audition (perhaps someone in HK?) would be to feed the d1-twelveMK2 with the SGM EVO aes/ebu output for a comparison with the totaldac reclocker--then there would be one less variable.

If the 'reclocker' substantially outperforms the SGM EVO with aes/ebu (which I'm sure is better than my quite old dx-usbHD!!), I may have to plan on sending my DAC back to you for yet another upgrade..........and of course I have been absolutely delighted by each upgrade so far.

Marty

 

[CKKeung]

Bonjour Vincent (and bonne annee)
I absolutely agree with everything you said above, and I am still (as my signature suggests) always looking to upgrade my system (hence d1-dual to d1-six to d1-direct) when I hear a substantial improvement in sound.
Certainly functionality alone is insufficient to create a great product and implementation and synergy are crucial factors.
I just did a little forum search on SGM EVO and I see that someone on the forum was using it with aes/ebu out to a TotalDAC.
A interesting audition (perhaps someone in HK?) would be to feed the d1-twelveMK2 with the SGM EVO aes/ebu output for a comparison with the totaldac reclocker--then there would be one less variable.
If the 'reclocker' substantially outperforms the SGM EVO with aes/ebu (which I'm sure is better than my quite old dx-usbHD!!), I may have to plan on sending my DAC back to you for yet another upgrade..........and of course I have been absolutely delighted by each upgrade so far.
Marty

Hello Marty,
Please note that D1-Twelve dac has already got the reclocker circuit inside its unit which syn the left & right dac modules.

This is the reason why I said earlier that to compare Direct with Twelve, the comparison is fair only if the Direct is paired with a Reclocker.

 

[Taiko Audio]

I just did a little forum search on SGM EVO and I see that someone on the forum was using it with aes/ebu out to a TotalDAC.
A interesting audition (perhaps someone in HK?) would be to feed the d1-twelveMK2 with the SGM EVO aes/ebu output for a comparison with the totaldac reclocker--then there would be one less variable.

I can confirm that both the d1-12 and d1-12mk2 sound better over AES/EBU then over USB when using the SGM EVO. I will do the same comparison for the SGM Extreme to d1-12mk2 soon. I'm fairly sure this holds up for most servers and DAC's. Evidence is starting to point towards USB (and Ethernet) may only be advantageous on DAC's benefitting from higher source provided sampling rates.
EDIT: This hypothesis is solely based on A/B comparisons from me and clients on Totaldac d1-12, d1-12mk2 and the Aqua Formula. As the Totaldac reclocks both USB and AES/EBU input sources this may be expected behaviour.

 

[cat6man]

Hello Marty,
Please note that D1-Twelve dac has already got the reclocker circuit inside its unit which syn the left & right dac modules.

This is the reason why I said earlier that to compare Direct with Twelve, the comparison is fair only if the Direct is paired with a Reclocker.

Thank you CK! I had forgotten that the Twelve already had a reclocker circuit inside.

This morning I had a moment of stunning clarity, after spending the last week or so pondering my next steps.
The engineer in me has been playing around with various software and digital boxes and streamers and power supplies.
Why? At least partly because I am an engineer.
But as a wise man once said to me, "in the life of every development, there comes a time
when you have to shoot the engineer, put the product in manufacturing and start selling something."

When the combined facts of these points came together,
1. the twelve already has a reclocker
2. the direct plus reclocker gets close(r?) to the twelve
3. i'm not happy with the streamer/reclockers i have been using [a sad state of affairs as I was very happy with the sound of the D1-Dual setup I had a few years ago but over time added other stuff (wall warts? power cleaners? cables? firmware upgrades to streamers? servers?) that has clearly degraded the sound--a warning I hope to remember is "don't screw up once you achieve great sound"]. I remember posting back then that the sound was so wonderful that if it got any better, my head would explode.........oh well

I realized I should get a reclocker from Vincent, put this mix/match/upgrade nonsense aside and spend my time listening to music.

So, I emailed Vincent to see if there was any chance a reclocker could be put in the one box solution--------nope, so it comes down to another box.
But, I can get rid of a bunch of other stuff, so what the heck.

Next I googled 'totaldac reclocker' to get the price information and options but on my google search page I also see a reclocker for sale!
At a very good price! From a reputable dealer! And it is only a 45 minute drive from home! And it includes the server as well!
Clearly, the gods of music were talking to me directly today..........and I must obey.

So, I have just returned home with a TotalDAC server/reclocker which I will now begin to learn how to set up.

Thanks everyone for helping me clarify things in my mind.

 

[CKKeung]

Hello cat6man : Big congratuations!

 

[paul79]

Very nice score. I think you will be pleased!

 

[arnies]

Congratulations Cat6man! The D1-Direct with the D1-server/reclocker should be wonderful. Then when you are ready, talk to Vincent about his D1-Player product to complement what you already have.

 

[cat6man]

quick (and insufficient) update:

adding just the reclocker function after my ultraRendu/LPS-1.2 streamer in NAA mode with HQPlayer (no upscaling), the sound out of my right channel speaker is dramatically improved...........since my left channel monoblock is in the shop for repair and temporarily replaced by 1/2 of a 50 year old Dynaco ST-70, a fuller description awaits.

but even with this frankenstein-like amplification, i'm impressed!
(and very very happy)