Nice Review of the D1100 at Computer Audiophile.

I wish they would stop feeling obligated to put meters on preamps.:thumbsdown: Clean and simple is where it's at for me.
 
Agreed. They should sell two standard width accessories in a D150 sized chassis:

Twin meter module
Octave Equalizer
 
The reviewer likes the blue meters and so do I! To each his own! I"m about to order one to go with my c1100
 
The meters on D1100 will show two things depending on how it is used. As a straight preamp the meters will show output levels in Db.

If the D1100 is connected to C1100 through the dedicated control cable interface, all 8 of the C1100 digital inputs will show up in the C1100 source menu and the C1100 will switch the inputs of the D1100. Since the output of this combination, C1100 + D1100 is controlled by the C1100 the meters on D1100 will now show bit level. If the 16 bit recording is placed at the top of the 24 bit delivery package the meters will show maximum level. If the recording is more thoughtfully made this level will be somewhat lower as a bit cushion is placed above and below the actual file size. Since the maximum resolution of digital music files is in the 20 to 21 bit range this should leave room for space above and below the file size.
D1100 sounds really good by the way.
Ron-C
 
If the D1100 is used purely as a DAC and connected to a preamp other than the C1100, then what do the meters show/do then? I like the meters :)
 
I just got confirmation that, to resolve compatibility issues with some pc running Windows 8.1 and 10, the D1100 will need to be upgraded as both hardware and firmware. And here we go again ... after 7 years we are in exactly the same situation of MCD1100. Now I wonder, since with this update resolves a crash of Windows pc, it's not that then you are creating problems with machines that use other operating systems like Linux? I'm finding it very well with the Cocktail Audio X 50 and am very puzzled and dubious if you bring the D1100 in assistance for this update. Ron, can you tell me something about it? Thank you.
 
Streaming MQA content for no other cost other than being a Tidal subscriber with an MQA compatible dac is a wonderful thing. I absolutely love MQA and look forward to seeing/hearing new releases. I still stream Pandora and Spotify when appropriate but there's no comparison in my mind. MQA always sounds better and certainly no worse to me.
 

Good review. To do home theater pass through the D1100 would need an analog stereo input and a built in ADC. Since D1100 is part of the McIntosh 1100 'System" consisting of C1100, MP1100 and D1100 it was never envisioned to be used in HT pass through. If the D1100 is connected to its' matching C1100 preamp then yes pass through will work.
The MP1100 phono section does have a stereo analog input with ultra high performance ADC since it can digitize records at 24/192 or the C1100 analog preamp control center has the actual pass through feature built in.
Ron-C
 
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I just got confirmation that, to resolve compatibility issues with some pc running Windows 8.1 and 10, the D1100 will need to be upgraded as both hardware and firmware. And here we go again ... after 7 years we are in exactly the same situation of MCD1100. Now I wonder, since with this update resolves a crash of Windows pc, it's not that then you are creating problems with machines that use other operating systems like Linux? I'm finding it very well with the Cocktail Audio X 50 and am very puzzled and dubious if you bring the D1100 in assistance for this update. Ron, can you tell me something about it? Thank you.

Only early D1100 need the cap change and only with some systems.
Ron-C
 
If the D1100 is used purely as a DAC and connected to a preamp other than the C1100, then what do the meters show/do then? I like the meters :)

in this case you would use the stereo Fixed outputs of the D1100 into your preamp. The meters will show the volume level you set on the D1100. this level will go up and down with the volume setting which is often used with the superb Headphone section of D1100. This 'high drive' headphone section also has the option for HXD crossfeed if you like speaker type imaging with your headphones.

Ron-C
 
I'm considering the D1100, the plan would be to use it as the preamp instead of a c47 through the men220. I have a couple concerns though before pulling the trigger:

a) Would the men220 actually reduce the audio quality coming out of the D1100? Would I not notice an improvement over the C47? When playing vinyl I thought the music lost a little magic, but the gains for digital in my funky room made the MEN220 worth it, and i can do without vinyl in this system.
b) Would it sound better than a C47 + MDA1000? I have an MDA1000 in storage (upcoming move), which when paired with the C47 it sounded better than the C47 alone, which sounded fuller than the MDA1000 alone. I'm splitting hairs here.
c) The MQA format. It seems a tad early to get hung up on the D1100 not supporting the extra folds through hardware, but it is a talking point. I do listen to a LOT of Tidal, but strangely I just heard of MQA yesterday. I always listened to Tidal through Audirvana and haven't had upgraditis in awhile, so I missed the buzz.
 
People who stream Tidal.



Said about a $7,000 DAC.

It doesn't seem unreasonable for someone to expect a newly released DAC, at this price point, to be able to hardware decode MQA.
I have to agree with this for the price tag it should cover pretty much every format and many people love Tidal.
 
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