Review and Measurements of Totaldac d1-six DAC

[SIY]

Oh, I'm sure you're right that a good square wave test would check for ringing (if that's the cause).

"Ringing" may or may not be present- it could even be the opposite, sluggish rise. Either way, those are just the time domain manifestations of frequency response variations. I can 100% guarantee that frequency responses between the two step-ups are different. And that's the audibility difference. Easy measurement, easy fix. But it requires a few basic tools, so I hope your "education" is that trying to determine differences by measurement requires tools for measurement, and when you don't use basic tools, the workarounds are not trivial and may not give good answers.

Try fixing a car's engine without socket wrenches.

 

[watchnerd]

"Ringing" may or may not be present- it could even be the opposite, sluggish rise. Either way, those are just the time domain manifestations of frequency response variations. I can 100% guarantee that frequency responses between the two step-ups are different. And that's the audibility difference. Easy measurement, easy fix. But it requires a few basic tools, so I hope your "education" is that trying to determine differences by measurement requires tools for measurement, and when you don't use basic tools, the workarounds are not trivial and may not give good answers.

Try fixing a car's engine without socket wrenches.

The lesson seems to be if you want analog stuff, you need analog testing gear: oscope, wow & flutter meter, etc.

But back to DACs.....

 

[jtwrace]

TotalPOS

 

[graz_lag]

As this thread has been surprisingly very quite over the past 24 hrs., here there is a fun reading:

https://audiobacon.net/2018/05/01/totaldac-d1-usb-gigafilter-cable-review/

To whom it feels that @ a price of around $2,000 this cable is too expensive ...

 

[watchnerd]

As this thread has been surprisingly very quite over the past 24 hrs., here there is a fun reading:

https://audiobacon.net/2018/05/01/totaldac-d1-usb-gigafilter-cable-review/

To whom it feels that @ a price of around $2,000 this cable is too expensive ...

What's inside the box?

 

[graz_lag]

What's inside the box?

That is not given as information among the literature I have access to, however the member @Patatorz tested it (subjectively) some time ago, hoping he reads this post giving us some follow up of his ...

 

[Dialectic]

Has anyone noticed that another TotalDac converter remains a Stereophile Class A+ recommended component?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/recommended-components-2019-edition-digital-processors

Not a good look for Stereophile...

 

[SmackDaddies]

As this thread has been surprisingly very quite over the past 24 hrs., here there is a fun reading:

https://audiobacon.net/2018/05/01/totaldac-d1-usb-gigafilter-cable-review/

To whom it feels that @ a price of around $2,000 this cable is too expensive ...

The Gigafilter has a distinct sound most Totaldac owners will be familiar with. It’s very relaxed, smooth, neutral-ish/warm and provides a very easy listening experience

The Totaldac d1 USB Gigafilter cable has a very relaxed and liquid sound. The mids are more forward and very well-contoured, which gives vocal recordings a pleasingly sultry and bloomy sound. It’s free of any digital harshness and has a very analog-sounding presentation. The best thing about this cable is its solidity in the mids. This makes listening to vocal recordings a sheer joy.

WTF?

 

[graz_lag]

Has anyone noticed that another TotalDac converter remains a Stereophile Class A+ recommended component?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/recommended-components-2019-edition-digital-processors

Not a good look for Stereophile...

Indeed, the shame is the complete omission of the ADI-2 from RME ...

 

[graz_lag]

The Gigafilter has a distinct sound most Totaldac owners will be familiar with. It’s very relaxed, smooth, neutral-ish/warm and provides a very easy listening experience

The Totaldac d1 USB Gigafilter cable has a very relaxed and liquid sound. The mids are more forward and very well-contoured, which gives vocal recordings a pleasingly sultry and bloomy sound. It’s free of any digital harshness and has a very analog-sounding presentation. The best thing about this cable is its solidity in the mids. This makes listening to vocal recordings a sheer joy.

WTF?

I prefer this: It can even be used to connect a CD-drive to a computer a rip CDs with a better sound.

U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E-!

 

[daftcombo]

I prefer this: It can even be used to connect a CD-drive to a computer a rip CDs with a better sound.

U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E-!

I already posted that link a few pages before but didn't notice that sentence.

Yes, unbelievable, unless they have the idea to somehow play the CD in the computer and record it via the stereo mixer, I don't know.
Crazy for sure.

 

[watchnerd]

I need to start a review site and just start making stuff up to see how audacious I can get.

 

[Thomas savage]

I need to start a review site and just start making stuff up to see how audacious I can get.

I'd quite like to make a Borat style film about audiophiles, it would be gold, pure gold.

 

[invaderzim]

Has anyone noticed that another TotalDac converter remains a Stereophile Class A+ recommended component?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/recommended-components-2019-edition-digital-processors

Not a good look for Stereophile...

It was really hard to take them seriously after they put P.W.B. Electronics Cream Electret and P.W.B. Electronics Rainbow Electret Foil on the same recommended list.
The line of "No one with an open mind, a sense of whimsy, and $40 in his pocket should fail to try this tweak" drives me up the wall. It is an attitude seen in so many places when it comes to snake oil with saying it isn't expensive enough to think twice about. It is the gateway drug to the imagined improvement addiction.
They are telling people to throw away their critical thinking and join them on a ride of ever more expensive tweaks that can only make sense once you've embraced the absurd.

 

[Dialectic]

It was really hard to take them seriously after they put P.W.B. Electronics Cream Electret and P.W.B. Electronics Rainbow Electret Foil on the same recommended list.
The line of "No one with an open mind, a sense of whimsy, and $40 in his pocket should fail to try this tweak" drives me up the wall. It is an attitude seen in so many places when it comes to snake oil with saying it isn't expensive enough to think twice about. It is the gateway drug to the imagined improvement addiction.
They are telling people to throw away their critical thinking and join them on a ride of ever more expensive tweaks that can only make sense once you've embraced the absurd.

Where do you put the electret cream? Are you supposed to slather it all over yourself before you listen to your system?

 

[Shadrach]

I get completely bemused when I see these references to Stereophile. What are you lot doing there?
Reference ASR instead.
Stereophile says this, Stereophile says that....who in their right mind give a fuck what Stereophile write. It must surely be apparent to even the most ardent fans that it's a hype rag for the deluded.

Come on peeps, agree with amirm or not, he seems a lot more honest than most in this business.
Turn the tables if you are unfortunate enough to be a Stereophile subscriber and write on their website about the tests and discussions here.

 

[Xulonn]

Has anyone noticed that another TotalDac converter remains a Stereophile Class A+ recommended component?

https://www.stereophile.com/content/recommended-components-2019-edition-digital-processors

Not a good look for Stereophile...

Stereophile has two infamous Mikeys - both raging audio activists subjectivists who battle fiercely against objective auditioning and testing.

Of course, I am referring to the reviewer of the TotalDac - Michael Lavorgna, and vinyl-guy Michael Fremer - who Stereophile calls "the only one in the 80's and 90's who carried the vinyl flag".

Lavorgna is also known for being "the man who, when disagreed with on 'Computer Audiophile', sent the private message "Go f*** your mother" to the person who disagreed with him, a screed which was then published on that forum by its owner. However, in spite of that vulgarity, I do not think audio Michael Lavorgna is the same person as the actor referenced on the first page of hits when Google-searching his name.

Google search result: Michael LaVorgna is an actor, known for Milfs vs. Zombies

Both Stereophile reviewers are obviously intelligent, knowledgeable and articulate music lovers, but hard-core subjectivists and digiphobes. (Using the standard definition of digiphobe as "someone who fears or detests digital technology", and not the urban dictionary definition of "a fear of digisexuals, e.g., people who are attracted to sexbots).

(How's that for a couple of weird tangents? Maybe it's just going to be a weird day for me! Because of my age and a slowly declining memory which was never that good to begin with, I often use Google to verify things before I post my comments, and often copy and paste definitions to avoid misinformation - and foster better communication here where for many visitors, English is not the first language. And that "objectivist verification method" is how "sexbots" and "MILFs" entered the conversation...)

 

[Xulonn]

I'd quite like to make a Borat style film about audiophiles, it would be gold, pure gold.

Perhaps you could contact the other Michael Lavorgna - the zombie actor - to play the protagonist...

 

[PierreV]

Stereophile says this, Stereophile says that....who in their right mind give a fuck what Stereophile write. It must surely be apparent to even the most ardent fans that it's a hype rag for the deluded.

I wasn't totally satisfied with Stereophile at first, but on the advice of a friend, I re-read it with unmatched linen socks and it started to make sense. I took advantage of my partner's absence to keep wearing the socks round the clock for a couple of weeks to break them in and, suddenly, the printed words had more weight, the advertisements seemed more palpably attractive and, finally, the message of their most abstruse contributors became crystal clear. A revelation.

As a service to the great readership of this site, I am now happy to announce that I now have accumulated a small stock of pre-broken in socks that I am willing to offer to the discerning stereophile-phile for a fraction of totaldac's price.

 

[JJB70]

What's inside the box?

My analysis indicates that this box contains a mixture of approximately 78% nitrogen an 21% oxygen, with the residual content being largely argon and carbon dioxide.