I just saw this on the Simaudio site for the first time, but there don't appear to be any reviews of it yet. The price looks like it will fall roughly half way between the Benchmark and the Cambridge DAC's, both representing solid value at their respective price points. If anyone has actually heard the 100D, please post your experience.
I'm also interested in the 100D or 300D. Too bad Sim doesn't have a 200D right smack in between those two units. $1,000 is a nice price point.
Anyways, from all I've read there is a classic Simaudio house sound across many, if not all, of it's components. Well articulated bass, an open midrange, and extended highs. Something like that. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell me much.
The Simaudio sound is all about refinement. Clear, neutral, with very good imaging. Excellent build construction and warranties to go with that quality. Those who like it, like it a lot. It hasn't proven to me my cup of tea exactly, but I certainly respect the heck out of what they do.
The first time I saw inside a Sim amp, it pretty much sold me on the quality of products they build. That sort of thing matters more to some people than others, but I was very impressed with not only the components, but the apparent time spent designing the circuit traces and component layout.
It appears the D100 uses the BurrBrown 1793 chip, but I am not sure if this is a stripped down design from the CD-1, or if it's more akin to the CD-1 in a smaller case, without a transport. If it were the latter, it would seem to be a good value for the money.
As I haven't heard the CD-1 though, this does not help me out much. I have read however that it has well articulated bass, an open midrange, and extended highs. (=
I'll keep waiting until somebody else has some real world experience. Primarily I would like to know what sort of imaging capabilities the DAC has. It may very well just be a "me too" component designed to hit a certain price point, and if that is the case I'll just keep saving those pennies for something that offers a better value.
I am currently auditioning the Moon 300D and the Rega DAC in my system using both CD and Macbook as sources. My initial impressions are that both are very musical with a very, very slight edge in detail and musicality to the 300D. I could easily live with either one. If the 100D approaches the sound character of the 300 then it would be a very good bargain.