ЦАПы — Imersiv D-1 HDR-A

The D-1 HDR-A converter comes from imersiv, a Millennia company from Diamond Springs, California, created by John La Grou, founder of the pro-audio maker Millennia Media. Millennia was founded in 1990, and its microphone preamplifiers have been used on more than 1,000 film scores and 10,000 classical recordings. The D-1 was introduced in autumn 2023 at the AES convention in New York after about a decade of development, at USD 12,000, and it is imersiv's only product.

Key specs that matter

Inputs are USB-B at 32 bit, AES on XLR, three S/PDIF on BNC and Toslink, with Dante as an option. Sample rates run from 32 to 384 kHz at up to 32 bit, and DSD is accepted at 1x, 2x and 4x. The balanced XLR output reaches +22 dBu, or 9.75 V RMS, with an output impedance of 1.8 ohm, and an RCA output serves utility use. The headphone output drives 32 to 600 ohm with up to 2.8 W on a 6.35 mm jack, and a balanced 4.4 mm jack can be fitted at the factory. Dynamic range is 168 dB, THD+N is 0.0002% at 1 kHz and 0.0005% at 20 kHz at +22 dBu, self-noise is -146 dBu, crosstalk is better than -120 dB and frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.1 dB. The half-rack 1.5U case measures about 218 x 414 x 81 mm and weighs 3.4 kg, with a choice of silver or black.

Engineering and use context

HDR-A is a triple-patented multi-path design with two converter chips under DSP control, one for high-level and one for low-level signals. When the signal falls below a threshold, conversion moves to the low-level path, which has much lower distortion and noise, so quiet passages avoid the rising distortion of a single converter working far below full scale. The unit calibrates itself whenever connections change, and the multi-path system works only on the XLR outputs. The output handles inter-sample peaks without overload. Six digital filters are selectable, and level is set in steps of 0.1 or 1.0 dB over a range of 154 dB, from -130 to +24 dB. A 256 x 64 monochrome OLED display and a 27-function remote operate it. Rack kits hold two or four units, and power comes from an external switch-mode supply for 90 to 240 V, consuming 15 W.

Pairing

Thanks to the level control, active monitors or a power amplifier can take the XLR signal with no preamplifier, in a studio or at home.

Alternatives

imersiv makes no other DAC, as the D-1 is the company's only product.