[deanorthk]

I just got myself a parasound halo P7 pre amp to put it in my system to optimise hifi listening, and I'm searching for a DAC also, to go behind my marantz NA7004 (great to listen to lossless files).
Never thought I'd look to mc intosh product, but this one look like a real good thing, and it got even 12v trigger to power it up, something I do miss in my DA160 burson audio DAC (closed cabinet,sigh )
 
thanks for that review, really

 

[madcat]

  I guess the SA-CD taint and paying royalties to Sony wore a bit thin after the CD royalty payment was still in progress. That's a commercial decision that's really come unglued and allowed different formats to be created, much to the detriment of the music listening public. Anyway, that's history, we have to deal with that. DSD remains strong in Japan where consensus among audiophiles is the best SA-CD (and extracted DSF/DFF ) sources of excellent recordings. It seems a great shame to ignore this segment added by the likes of Acoustic Sounds offering music in DSD format for out of print SA-CD's.
 
The D100 is not a cheap design, and given DSD's awareness at events such as RMAF, I would have thought the format would have being supported by Macintosh. You can convert DSD to 192/24 on the fly, but it's not quite the same as DSD native, those small details go missing. The D100 does have a great heritage behind it, give the device some time, then with the next model to add DSD. Or it is possible that there's provision already and due to production issues, it had to pulled. 
 
Yes, it is about the enjoyment of the music, so far DSD does it for me!

 
Given your reasoning is valid, would you go for an audition to see if this would change your view on this? I mean, like you said, D100 have a great heritage behind it, there must be a reason behind the scene why they did not implement DSD native in their DAC in the first place.

 

[Xcalibur255]

The D100 seems to have a twin brother:
 
http://wadia.com/en-us/products/321
 
It's pretty obvious both are the same product, yet the Wadia is $500 more expensive for some reason.

 

[musicinmymind]

My neighbor is selling his 3 months old Mcintosh D100 for 1500$, he got it new and rarely used it. His recording studio did not kick off as planned, it has 3 years transferable warranty.
 
If I buy it will replace bifrost -> lyr as dac+preamp for Emotiva UPA-200 -> HE-6. Problem is he is not allowing me check with Emotiva and HE-6, I did try with HD650 for a short time and it sounds as good bifrost->lyr->HD650, if not better.
 
Please suggest, using D100 as DAC+ Preamp would be substantial upgrade compared to Bifrost->Lyr on HE-6 setup. This would be my end game in DAC, will not be able to afford a replacement for long long time.  

 

[daerron]

You should be fine using the DAC as it sounds really great, but its headphone amp isn't going to be able to drive the HE-6 properly, so I'd definitely recommend getting a power amplifier (not the UPA-200 though) with it or use it with the Lyr, but with the Lyr I think your gains will be limited. Ideally I reckon the MHA100 will be far better suited to the HE-6.

 

[mikemercer]

  My neighbor is selling his 3 months old Mcintosh D100 for 1500$, he got it new and rarely used it. His recording studio did not kick off as planned, it has 3 years transferable warranty.
 
If I buy it will replace bifrost -> lyr as dac+preamp for Emotiva UPA-200 -> HE-6. Problem is he is not allowing me check with Emotiva and HE-6, I did try with HD650 for a short time and it sounds as good bifrost->lyr->HD650, if not better.
 
Please suggest, using D100 as DAC+ Preamp would be substantial upgrade compared to Bifrost->Lyr on HE-6 setup. This would be my end game in DAC, will not be able to afford a replacement for long long time.  

I'd GRAB THAT DEAL ASAP!

 

[zackzack]

 
Looks bare bones compared to Burson Audio Conductor
which emphasizes a pair of oversized power supplies
in the design.
 

 
Naim V1
 

 
Naim with its substantial torroidal transformer.

 

[music_man]

I like to get the one with the most goodies inside too. who cares how it sounds? the man with the most toys when he dies wins!

 

[musikaladin]

As much as I like the new MHA100, I'm not so sure about the internal speakers amp.  I hope McIntosh will make the MHA100 a true headphones amp and remove the speakers taps and amp.

...actually I like the idea with the speaker amp. It could make up for a wonderful desktop system. Just imagine a combination with the KEF LS-50 and a LCD-X for instance... anyway, I am afraid until then I have to content myself with this...

 

[Androb]

I love the look of the Mcintosh gear

 

[zackzack]

  My neighbor is selling his 3 months old Mcintosh D100 for 1500$, he got it new and rarely used it. His recording studio did not kick off as planned, it has 3 years transferable warranty.
 
If I buy it will replace bifrost -> lyr as dac+preamp for Emotiva UPA-200 -> HE-6. Problem is he is not allowing me check with Emotiva and HE-6, I did try with HD650 for a short time and it sounds as good bifrost->lyr->HD650, if not better.
 
Please suggest, using D100 as DAC+ Preamp would be substantial upgrade compared to Bifrost->Lyr on HE-6 setup. This would be my end game in DAC, will not be able to afford a replacement for long long time.  

 
This is not a very flattering comment with regards to a $2.5K McIntosh gear as Bifrost/Lyr costs less than $1K with the new USB board. 

 

[mikemercer]

 
 
Looks bare bones compared to Burson Audio Conductor
which emphasizes a pair of oversized power supplies
in the design.
 

 
Naim V1
 

 
Naim with its substantial torroidal transformer.

Yeah it does - but its the sound of the music comin' out the box that matters right?
I have a Conductor, and I love it - but I'd take the D100 as a DAC/pre over the Conductor anyday.
 
However I do think the headphone amp/output of the D100 doesn't have the overall dynamic punch of
the Conductor - but I prefer to use another DAC ahead of the Conductor - I find it shines as a headphone amp only,
and does REALLY WELL as that!  
 
It's about compromise - The McIntosh D100, IMO, is a reference-level DAC/pre. I enjoy the headphone output with some
cans - but its primary function in my system is as a DAC now - and its fluid, musical, engaging, everything I need in a DAC!
 
 
and I bought our review unit I loved it so much - and BTW - I was NEVER a McIntosh fan - my cousins and grandfather used to rock all Mac gear - the only piece I've ever loved besides the D100 is my grandfathers MAC1700 that I inherited (from around 1971) - and the headphone amp section is killer on that thing is killer!!
 
I'd take advantage of that sale ASAP
 
and SORRY I been out of it fellas!!!!
I been battling pneumonia for the past five weeks!!
oooooh.....
 
but, back to bizness - the D100 has elevated the overall musicality of my system 5 fold:

 
AND, I'm pumped to review the MHA-100!!
that was my fav listening sesh at CES this year by FAR

my Audeze LCD-XC's and the MHA-100 were a wicked pairing!

 

[zackzack]

While everybody - including me - is super excited that McIntosh releases a relatively affordable DAC, we need to see more reviews and objective comparisons before we claim this is an excellent product worthy of the brand. Like I mentioned before, the company was bought over by a European owners. There's no guarantee of quality maintenance or quality improvement there.

 

[music_man]

I did think it was good but I don't get the price. it's like wadias baby line. it does not match the brand unless they start with a whole line of this stuff. then it starts locking up and stuff like the wadia perhaps. I am not saying it would. I actually cannot believe I am saying it is too inexpensive for McIntosh. id get it now before they start cutting corners.

 

[Xcalibur255]

I was cautioned by more than one person about software glitches and lock ups with the D100 while researching.  An interesting question is which company did the primary development work on the D100 and its twin, McIntosh or Wadia?
 
It's still an attractive product in many ways and has the right feature set for the most part, not very many products are really getting the digital pre amp thing right.  I feel like more companies are taking a stab at the whole pre-amp capability for DACs more as an excuse to add another bullet to their marketing sheet rather than have the product be capable of actually fulfilling that role without compromise.  The D100 feels like it was designed to be a pre-amp from the beginning rather than just a DAC, and it shows.
 
I'm particularly amazed that so few of today's DAC/pres have 12V trigger out ability, this should be a given on anything calling itself a pre-amp but I find this feature missing in most of the products I have looked at.