For those who’ve followed my path meandering through digital audio, and streaming in particular with Tidal Hi-Fi, the name totaldac might be a familiar one. I’ve been hooked on Vincent Brient’s designs for more than a year now, and have been sharing the joy of computer-based high-fidelity with friends, and family since Brient sent me his d1-integral DAC/server/headphone amp for a long-term review. I’ve published two parts so far, with the third instalment coming up in the next edition of The Occasional magazine coming out later this month. That said, when I heard from Brient that he’d be back showing at High End in Munich again, I wanted to find out what he’d be showcasing there.
Brient said that totaldac DACs, and servers will be showing in several rooms, but that he will personally be on hand at the main totaldac demo which is located at the MOC in Hall 4, room W04 (which is to the right of the entrance, close to the Panasonic display area). The system this year will be comprised of the following:
- Totaldac RoonReady d1-server and reclocker
- Totaldac optimised server/NAS for Roon or for UPNP/DLNA
- Totaldac d1-twelve DAC
- Totaldac d1-driver, a volume-free preamp
- Totaldac/Bibacord AES-EBU cables
- Totaldac USB GIGAFILTER and ethernet cable/filters
- Totaldac d150 speakers and their subwoofers
- Absolare 845 push pull mono blocks with Elrog tubes
- Echole Limited Edition interconnect cables, speaker cables and power cords
- Shunyata Hydra Triton V3 power distributor and Sigma NR power cords
- Lab Gruppen FP7000 amplifier (made silent) for the subwoofers
Brient said that the last 30 minutes of each show day, the demo will switch things up to several Focal Utopia headphones being driven by totaldac/Bibacord headphone cable connected to Absolare 845 triode mono blocks, and has invited attendees to bring their own headphones (with 6.35mm – 1/4-inch) jacks for these exclusive sessions.
