Country of Origin
This review first appeared in February 2025 on HifiKnights.com. By request of the manufacturer, it is hereby syndicated to reach a broader audience. All images contained in this piece are the property of HifiKnights. – Ed.
Reviewer: Dawid Grzyb
Transport: Innuos Statement, fidata HFAS1-S10U
DAC: LampizatOr Pacific (KR Audio T-100 / Living Voice 300B + KR Audio 5U4G Ltd. Ed.)
USB components: iFi audio Mercury3.0
Network: Fidelizer EtherStream, Linksys WRT160N
Preamplifier: Trilogy 915R, Thöress DFP
Amplifier: Trilogy 995R, FirstWatt F7, Enleum AMP-²3R
Speakers: Boenicke Audio W11 SE+, sound|kaos Vox 3afw
Headphones: HifiMan Susvara
Interconnects: LessLoss Entropic Process C-MARC, Boenicke Audio IC3 CG
Speaker cables: Boenicke Audio S3, LessLoss C-MARC
Speaker signal conditioning: LessLoss Firewall for Loudspeakers, Boenicke ComDev
Anti-vibration conditioning: 1²x Carbide Audio Carbide Base under DAC, preamp and speakers
Power delivery: Gigawatt PC-3 SE EVO+/LC-3 EVO, LessLoss C-MARC, LessLoss Entropic Process C-MARC, Boenicke Audio Power Gate, ISOL-8 Prometheus
Equipment rack: Franc Audio Accessories Wood Block Rack 1+3
Music: NativeDSD
Retail price of reviewed component in EU (incl. VAT): €20'700 as reviewed, €18'250 standard, add €800 for live-clock upgrade, €670 for live-power PSU upgrade, €350 for DSD over DoP
A while ago the TotalDAC converter range underwent major circuit surgery with the implementation of the new Unity architecture. Upon expressing interest in any of these refreshed models, the TotalDAC d1-biunity DAC came my way. Time to tell its story when time goes by fast. The most recent TotalDAC review we published here at HifiKnights dates August 2018. Although it's been 7 years, my memories of this French audio house and founder Vincent Brient are fond. While his work is excellent, personal reasons add to it. Prior to launching HifiKnights in March 2016, my track record as a reviewer was limited to the local Polish press and a few pieces here on 6moons. As a newcomer to the global scene with my own site hungry for content, I began as any wannabe reviewer does. Many emails with loaner requests go out, most remain unanswered, some elicit a polite no. But a few began a conversation which led somewhere. I mention this because Vincent was one of the very first who entrusted me with one of his exotic costly machines. Even today I remember our first interaction and how informative and quick his email responses were.
A short glimpse at the TotalDAC site tells us a lot about the company profile. Clean, factual, stripped clean of marketing fluff and with a full price list available, it's a rather unusual but wholly positive sight by today's standards. This brand launched in 2011 and Vincent is first and foremost an engineer with over a decade in the IT sector. In the audio industry he's still primarily known for his DACs. While this product group remains his core business, the TotalDAC roster significantly expanded since. Now it also contains power amps, speakers, active crossovers, network components, digital transports, reclockers, cables and add-ons. The master plan behind it all is plain. When Vincent exhibits at a show, he demoes a front-to-back system of his own, giving visitors a firm notion on the kind of sound he pursues. The man's horn-loaded high-efficiency speakers with large woofers communicate rather well what that is. As I was about to learn, today's DAC follows the same sonic aesthetic.
Vincent's DACs belong to a niche of converters built upon a discrete resistor network to convert incoming binary data into stepped voltages. Known as R-2R after the resistor values of either R or 2R, this method has been around for decades. In most cases such a resistor ladder nests on an integrated chip. Even today some legacy chips like the Philips TDA1541 or Burr-Brown PCM1704UK have quite the following. Vincent's resistor matrix instead is built upon costly denuded Vishay 0.01% bulk metal foil resistors for high S/NR and switching precision. The number of these parts determines each model's performance level and is the key aspect which sets them apart. The d1-core and d1-unity priced at €5'600/12'500 respectively feature 100 Vishays each while today's d1-biunity has 200 of them and €18'250 on its sticker. The catalogue's second best d1-triunity gets 300 resistors and sells for €24'000. The four-box d1-sublime flagship packs 600 and wants €50'000. No wonder. It comprises twin d1-triunity DACs in mono, a standalone reclocker for them and a large power supply with three spurs to feed the quad stack.
While Vincent's conversion method of choice hasn't changed since my first rodeo, not too long ago his roster underwent a major overhaul with the new Unity architecture promising superior performance from better clock distribution, lower jitter, lower power-plane impedance and a lower noise floor in the digital section. The new class-A output now is fully discrete. From the on-site description we also learn that about 200 parts were either upgraded or added. If you own a non-Unity TotalDAC, no worries. It can undergo a factory refresh to the latest version with an extra two years of new warranty.
