Esoteric K-03X VS Mcintosh D1100

[1KW]

Originally Posted by Charles

I agree with JBT. But you can always find a DAC that sounds "better" with your particular system with your particular ears. But this does not mean the DAC will sound better in mine. But 1KW you are convinced it will. But it does not mean it will, just that you are convinced of it.

So you say, "Audition it". But it takes weeks to months to truly evaluate a piece of gear with a lot of CD's and vinyl and then it's still personal preference.

But there are better sounding DAC's out there. They are also much more expensive. I have a system that would show up significant flaws in the D1100 very quickly. I prefer myself to maintain top line Mac sources pre's and amps because I believe you get synergism that way that a more expensive DAC would have to overcome in my system that is all Mac.

We all have the itch or we wouldn't be on AA.

When I was much younger, I devised an investing plan which I stuck with for 40 years. Never deviated. I wound up comfortably well off. In my retirement I have way more money than when I retired sticking to my plan. I approach the high end the exact same way. Have a well thought out plan. Have an approach that suits you and that you can afford. There's always that temptation to deviate. To me this is what makes the high end the greatest pure fun of all hobbies. I enjoy looking and appreciating beautiful well though out systems whether super expensive or much less so. It is possible to have extremely good sound by making your choices carefully over time.

The D1100 is an excellent example.

____________________
Charles Updated System
Most recent updates: AQ Diamond USB replaces AQ Coffee; Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx replaced by Wilson Audio Specialties XVX Chronosonic; new subwoofer crossover; coming very soon: new Galaxy Grey Thors Hammer to replace my 9 year old Thors Hammer
Amps: McIntosh 1.25KW’s (3) set on floor on custom made cultured marble slabs
Preamp and DAC: McIntosh D1100
Sources: McIntosh MCD1100 SACD player, MVP881 BR player, MVP851 DVD player, MR87 tuner, Marantz 510LV Laser Disc player, ASUS laptop USB (JRiver Media Center 23)
Speakers: Wilson Audio Specialties XVX Chronosonic
Sub-woofer: Wilson Audio Specialties Thor’s Hammer (1) horizontal lie and Wilson Watch Controller (abbr: WC)
Cables main system: Audioquest Wel Signature speaker cables and balanced IC (preamp to amps); Wel Signature AES/EBU balanced digital IC for CD playback; Audioquest Diamond optical (1) for tuner, (1) for BR player, and (1) for LD player for total of (3); Diamond USB cable; McIntosh MCT cable for SACD playback; Dragon power cords (5 HC cords and 3 source cords for total of 8); Thunder HC power cord for tuner; cables for DVD player not listed
Cables subwoofer system: Audioquest Redwood speaker cable (1); Wolf balanced subwoofer IC from WC to amp; Wind balanced IC from preamp to WC; Hurricane HC (2) and Dragon HC (1) power cords
Power conditioners: Audioquest Niagara 7000 (1) and Niagara 5000 (3); (4) dedicated 20-amp lines with no. 10 wire straight out of fuse box
Cabinet: Double Custom Woodwork & Design (CWD) solid walnut cabinet on large casters; holds all sources and preamp; also, Niagara 7000; 11 feet minimum distance from speakers
Acoustic Treatments: Room and Echo Tunes
AC: Dedicated to this room only, an ultra-high efficiency and quiet recently installed Ruud split system 3-ton heat pump.
Room (mancave): 40’L x 15.5’W A-frame; max ceiling height 8’ min 5’; wall within wall construction built of 2 x 6’s; built over garage with custom hardwood floor with gym seal with over 40 Lowes stiffened wooden I-beams supporting floor; complete isolation from rest of house

There is nothing wrong with a D1100 . The D1100 was a big upgrade to the MCD500 it replaced. It has terrific synergy with Mcintosh. The Directstream DAC came to me as part of a deal when I sold my Elipsa speakers to Lars after I upgraded to Strads. I agree their is no right or wrong . What I noticed for the first time was as Dan used to put it was more “Air” between the instruments in the sound stage with Directstream. The D1100 throws off a very forward sounding sound stage (which I liked) but lacked some of the depth and clarity you hear with DSD. PCM is converted to DSD with the Directstream so think SACD sound. Of course a crappy recording still will have flaws but well recorded tracks sound even better.
By the way I make changes infrequently , if you look at my systems they are “considered old now “ But I love the way they sound.. I waited a decade to find a minty barely played Strads which are still my favorite speaker for the size room I have up north. Down south Guarneri Mementos (also considered older now) coupled with a sub. Are in my tiny media room there. My next upgrade will be to update my home theater equipment but not until after I move up north as we are planning on downsizing .

[rob725]

Originally Posted by 1KW

There is nothing wrong with a D1100 . The D1100 was a big upgrade to the MCD500 it replaced. It has terrific synergy with Mcintosh. The Directstream DAC came to me as part of a deal when I sold my Elipsa speakers to Lars after I upgraded to Strads. I agree their is no right or wrong . What I noticed for the first time was as Dan used to put it was more “Air” between the instruments in the sound stage with Directstream. The D1100 throws off a very forward sounding sound stage (which I liked) but lacked some of the depth and clarity you hear with DSD. PCM is converted to DSD with the Directstream so think SACD sound. Of course a crappy recording still will have flaws but well recorded tracks sound even better.
By the way I make changes infrequently , if you look at my systems they are “considered old now “ But I love the way they sound.. I waited a decade to find a minty barely played Strads which are still my favorite speaker for the size room I have up north. Down south Guarneri Mementos (also considered older now) coupled with a sub. Are in my tiny media room there. My next upgrade will be to update my home theater equipment but not until after I move up north as we are planning on downsizing .

For me the D1100 does not sound too forward, less so than the C53/DA2, broolyn bridge, or yggy in my system, however I'm sure there are some even more laid back. I listen to a lot of dsd from SACD/dsd64 to dsd256 and have incredible depth and clarity with an immense soundstage when the recording does.

I'm curious; when you had the D1100, what were you using as a streamer?

[Charles]

In my system the D1100 is not forward, in fact anything but. In a forward system the mids will burn your ears.

Mac has a very neutral sound and provides maybe a 10 rows back from the first row seat from the stage. I have a very smooth silky sound, yet with excellent resolution.

So much of a system's sound is in the cables. I use solid silver AQ Wel Signature in my main system. The D1100 provides absolutely superb resolution with zero harshness with the right cables and speaker.

____________________
Charles Updated System
Most recent updates: AQ Diamond USB replaces AQ Coffee; Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx replaced by Wilson Audio Specialties XVX Chronosonic; new subwoofer crossover; coming very soon: new Galaxy Grey Thors Hammer to replace my 9 year old Thors Hammer
Amps: McIntosh 1.25KW’s (3) set on floor on custom made cultured marble slabs
Preamp and DAC: McIntosh D1100
Sources: McIntosh MCD1100 SACD player, MVP881 BR player, MVP851 DVD player, MR87 tuner, Marantz 510LV Laser Disc player, ASUS laptop USB (JRiver Media Center 23)
Speakers: Wilson Audio Specialties XVX Chronosonic
Sub-woofer: Wilson Audio Specialties Thor’s Hammer (1) horizontal lie and Wilson Watch Controller (abbr: WC)
Cables main system: Audioquest Wel Signature speaker cables and balanced IC (preamp to amps); Wel Signature AES/EBU balanced digital IC for CD playback; Audioquest Diamond optical (1) for tuner, (1) for BR player, and (1) for LD player for total of (3); Diamond USB cable; McIntosh MCT cable for SACD playback; Dragon power cords (5 HC cords and 3 source cords for total of 8); Thunder HC power cord for tuner; cables for DVD player not listed
Cables subwoofer system: Audioquest Redwood speaker cable (1); Wolf balanced subwoofer IC from WC to amp; Wind balanced IC from preamp to WC; Hurricane HC (2) and Dragon HC (1) power cords
Power conditioners: Audioquest Niagara 7000 (1) and Niagara 5000 (3); (4) dedicated 20-amp lines with no. 10 wire straight out of fuse box
Cabinet: Double Custom Woodwork & Design (CWD) solid walnut cabinet on large casters; holds all sources and preamp; also, Niagara 7000; 11 feet minimum distance from speakers
Acoustic Treatments: Room and Echo Tunes
AC: Dedicated to this room only, an ultra-high efficiency and quiet recently installed Ruud split system 3-ton heat pump.
Room (mancave): 40’L x 15.5’W A-frame; max ceiling height 8’ min 5’; wall within wall construction built of 2 x 6’s; built over garage with custom hardwood floor with gym seal with over 40 Lowes stiffened wooden I-beams supporting floor; complete isolation from rest of house

[1KW]

Ok my definition of forward sounding is not derogatory it’s actually a complement. The sound stage was big with the D1100 , the midrange was anything but harsh rather to me forward means the sensation was as if I was in the front row at a concert. While it sounded excellent my point is that the sensation of listening “a few rows back” sort of speak is that you feel like there is more space between the instruments and sensation of depth . The D1100 is a terrific DAC. Baskin Robbins has many flavors of ice cream for a reason, same with DAC’s.

[1KW]

Originally Posted by rob725

.....

I'm curious; when you had the D1100, what were you using as a streamer?

I was using a Aurender N100H and I took a step back now to using a Mac mini running Roon Server software. I am open to replacing my Mac mini which is old but it does have 16 gig of ram USB out to my DAC

[rob725]

I asked because for me (after a lot of trying) to get the best quality from either the c53/da2 or the d1100, using roon, especially for dsd (meaning running native dsd), I had to use their windows drivers, which is why I'm using an intel nuc as my roon endpoint. Using the generic roon drivers, the zone configuration is not complete for those dacs. Once connected to the windows machine using roon server or roon bridge, the expanded configuration options show up. For me, the difference in sound is not subtle. It would be nice if MCIntosh and roon would get synced on drivers, so that one could get the best out of their dacs when using some of the nicer non-windows based streamers.

I had a similar issue with my sony headphone-amp/dac which I use as a sound interface for my desktop computer. In order to get full dsd support in roon, I had to load the windows drivers. I'm not real sure of the difference between sony's product, which is not "roon tested" and McIntosh's dacs, which are, as they behave pretty similarly as roon endpoints.

As long as roon supports your dac, the mac mini should be able to keep up fine unless your using it for a bunch of other things.

[gauchito]

I have a d150 and I want to change it and I have the option to buy a d1100 or Audio research dac9, I will greatly appreciate your opinions on these two dac
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Thank you very much, your opinions will be welcome.