170db?? Do you have an Imersiv D1 DAC?? I want to hear one.
Not yet. I need to see if it will be happy with the amps I am liking. It it supposed to be run DIRECT, and with the amps I like that could be a challenge.
The ones with issues may be my First Watt SIT-3, First Watt SIT-5, and the Sony VFET amp will be here Friday. All are single ended input. That is a challenge with that DAC. The 170db is at BALANCED. It specifically mentioned the RCA output is not the same performance as Balanced, out of that device. It's the way it's designed.
The Imersiv manual seems to mention I can make it work by adding balanced inputs electrically. I've asked Nelson Pass about it. See the "Advisory Board" on the Imeriv website.
The other issue is the Imersiv wants amps with >20dB gain, and preferably 30dB. It's so the volume level of the Imeriv runs in lower gain, which has better performance window. The SIT-5 are my best amps, and have 19dB gain. The SIT-3 is only 11.5db gain. Many of the other DIY amps are lower gain. Probably not an issue with my "best amps" SIT-5, but it's still single ended input too... have to solve Balanced input question. With "regular amps" and regular input gain, none of that is a problem - but it needs to be differentially balanced. Balanced "for real". We'll see.
This DAC... I mentioned that Advisory Board and there is also a User section. For any and all... go read the endless comments from recording industry Pros.
Here:
https://imersiv.com/user-comments/It's obvious that what jumps out is that they say how incredible it is, "never heard anything like it"... OVER THE TOP comments. And they go on and on and on.
But there were other comments sprinkled in that I think are very telling. Several of them mentioned that at the "top levels" of gear, there is very little difference... "they all sound the same".
THAT is why I want to hear that DAC. It's very likely to be very different.
And I think because so much stuff sounds the same, people keep buying and selling in search of "IT", only to hear the same old thing again... that the YouTube guy said was "IT". THAT is also why I am liking the First Watt stuff so much. It is DIFFERENT, on purpose, with a nice dose of Negative Phase 2nd Order Harmonic.
Reading thru the First Watt papers... if one spends time reading the First Watt amp manuals. Nelson explains the purpose of the amp, why it's different, and he tells a lot of the "Why?". Another thing you'll notice, starting with the first SIT-1, is he found people really seemed to like NEGATIVE PHASE 2nd order harmonics.
It seems to add very pleasing effects to Depth and Soundstage. Our brains seem to process 2nd Order Harmonic distortion that way. He also very proudly sez.... "the ASR crowd is gonna hate this amp, and it sounds great!".
And... that is why the .8 series came out with a little sprinkle of "that sound". However, some still like the .5 series.
It is really hard to parse words on a brand new, $12,000 DAC to make a decision whether to try it... because you have to listen.
