How about an all totaldac digital front end for spinning CDs, serving, streaming, and D to A’ing? Why not!
DACs from France’s totaldac have been a Barn staple for nearly as long as there’s been a Barn. My current main squeeze is the d1-unity (review) fitted with the live clocking option and we’ve been listening to music together for more than 2 years. When I reached out to Vincent Brient, Mr. totaldac, about a possible review of something new, we settled on this d1-CD / d1-streamer-live combination as perfect partners for my d1-unity DAC. As you can see, the d1-unity has one AES input which I use to connect the Barn resident Grimm MU1 or any other so-equipped streamer that’s in for review. totaldac’s d1-CD has an AES out so where was that going to go? Enter the d1-streamer-live.
A perfect fit! Now I’ll have the d1-CD > AES > d2-streamer-live > AES > d1-unity. A digital chain of totaldacs for spinning, serving, and streaming.
The d1-streamer-live supports UPnP/DLNA, RoonReady (Roon RAAT), Squeezelite, NAA and AirPlay. The d1-streamer-live also houses totaldac’s latest reclocker implemented by attaching the included short USB microfilter cable as shown above and selecting “USB” from the included remote.
totaldac’s d1-CD transport uses the CD-Pro8 drive from Austria’s SUOS-Hifi, a company founded in 2006 by ex-Philips “CD-Gurus”.
The d1-CD is a top loader and it comes with a nice heavy custom cover to keep things dust-free and quiet.
As mentioned, the d1-CD offers AES out in addition to Coax as well as an RCA connector for Ground. Inside resides a mechanically isolated heavy copper plate for the mechanical bits along with a 40 femtosecond oscillator to keep the other bits running smoothly.
These d1s are housed in the same totaldac chassis as their DACs making for a nice uniform look and each comes with totaldac’s live-power external power supply. I look forward to spinning some discs and digging into a total totaldac front end. Stay tuned!
totaldac d1-CD CD Transport: 7500euros incl VAT in Europe, 6900euros excl VAT out of Europe
totaldac d1-streamer-live: 11000euros incl VAT in Europe, 10150euros excl VAT out of Europe
Company Website: totaldac
d1-CD Specifications
- RCA coaxial spdif and XLR AES-EBU outputs (avoid using both at the same time).
- 100% original Red Book signal, without any modification, pure 44.1KHz 16bits CD signal.
- can also read the CD layer of a hybrid SACD disc.
- 40 femtosecondes oscillator.
- CD-text functionality.
- Totaldac live-power external power supply.
- aluminium and PMMA enclosure with massive pure copper antivibration plate.
- power consumption 10W when playing a CD
- player dimensions: height 135mm,, width 360mm, depth 290mm.
- power supply dimensions: height 65mm, width 122mm, depth 180mm.
d1-streamer-live
Embedded reclocker interfaces:
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- 192KHz asynchronous Xmos USB, RCA, optical and AES-EBU digital inputs, selectable from a remote control.
- 44.1KHz, 48KHz, 88.2KHz, 96KHz, 176.4KHz and 192KHz, 16 to 24 bit formats supported on all inputs except 96KHz max for optical input.
- DSD (DoP standard) supported on the USB, AES-EBU and spdif inputs.
- AES-EBU digital output (and spdif RCA or BNC on order).
- embedded custom clock with anti-jitter FIFO memory.
- bit perfect signal path.
- display switched off by remote control or automatic.
- external power supply to minimize the noise.
- aluminium and PMMA enclosure.
- power consumption 15W.
- dimensions: height 110mm, width 360mm, depth 290mm.
- power supply dimensions: height 65mm, width 122mm, depth 180mm.
- weight: 4kg.
Computer type interfaces:
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- 1x ethernet port.
- 1x USB2 port as an audio output to the embedded reclocker.
Compatible applications:
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- RoonReady (RAAT certified by Roon)
- Jplay certified (ask Totaldac to get a free 2 month trial)
- plays with Audirvana (ask Totaldac to get a free 3 month trial)
- UPNP/DLNA/openhome, for example for Jplay IOS app, Minimserver, Audirvana, Mconnect Player HD, BubbleUPNP, Spoticast
- Airplay compatible, to listen to the sound of your Ipad/Iphone or from Itunes under Windows
Squeezelite, compatible with Roon - NAA for HQplayer
- Streaming such as Qobuz, Tidal or Spotify via Roon, Jplay, Mconnect, Audirvana or Airplay
- Totaldac and Qobuz are working on the integration of Qobuz Connect in a next version of software of the Totaldac d1-streamer and d1-total DAC/streamer.
- Qobuz Connect in development for a next software upgrade.