AURALIC VEGA G1 NETWORK STREAMING DAC £3,299 REVIEW
June 12, 2019 Comments Off on AURALIC VEGA G1 NETWORK STREAMING DAC £3,299 REVIEW
“The G1 not being a G2 only manifests in comparison. In day-to-day use, the VEGA G1 is an ideal network streaming device that puts many really good rival products to shame. It’s extremely well built, sounds exceptionally good, and plays nice with most products it’s likely to be hooked to. I started this investigation to see what all the fuss was about, and now I’m reading from the AURALiC Fanatic’s Handbook. The company really does live up to the hype, as anyone who gives the VEGA (G2 or G1) a serious listen will attest. In fact, they might well say one of the notes I made while listening to the AURALiC VEGA G1 – Bloody hell… this thing’s good!”
Naim DAC-V1 Review
June 7, 2019 Comments Off on Naim DAC-V1 Review
“On the 24/96 Qobuz version of Kenyan-born J.S. Ondara’s Tales Of America the V1’s genealogical timing shone through with musical, yet metronomic precision in the drum work of Griffin Goldsmith and the basslines of Sebastian Steinberg and Jon Flower. The timbral bloom off Gabe Noel’s and Evgeny Tonkha’s cellos had the Naim not only capture the dimensional cues of their bow and fret work, it allowed for a constant demonstration of the DAC’s textural retrieval qualifications as well. Ondara’s voice, with all its comparisons to that of Tracy Chapman, shines through on its own merit via the V1 with the subtle – of what I can only assume are Nairobi – inflections of his birth place flavoring his lyrics on acoustically-dense tracks like “American Dream” and the a cappella “Turkish Bandana,” which is resonant with spatial reflections loaded back onto his voice beautifully capturing the studio space of the recording.”
Etalon Sound Dream DAC review
May 31, 2019 Comments Off on Etalon Sound Dream DAC review
“Classic R2R array has a flaw associated with the problem of signal conversion while virtual zero crossings. At this moment all logical circuits are switched simultaneously and even tiny non-synchronism causes an overshoot of stray impulses (the so-called glitches).
In Super R2R virtual zero crossing poses no problem because R2R arrays have balanced discrete sign-magnitude hybrid ladder topology. Positive and negative half-waves of the signal are processed independently, each by a separate array and are mixed only at the output. As a result, there’s no virtual zero crossing at all and no corresponding problems!”
Mytek BROOKLYN BRIDGE REVIEW
May 27, 2019 Comments Off on Mytek BROOKLYN BRIDGE REVIEW
“The converter supports PCM signals up to 32 bits and 384 kHz via the USB input, and thus a DXD signal as well as a DSD signal up to DSD256 (11.2 MHz). RCA inputs are also extremely “capacious”, because we can send PCM signal up to 24 bits and 384 kHz, as well as DSD (!) up to DSD128 (DoP) using them. And even the Toslink input supports PCM up to 24 bits and 176.4 kHz and DSD (DoP). In turn, the streamer supports PCM signal up to 24 bits and 192 kHz, and DSD – the USB input is intended for connecting external media and it supports files with the same parameters.
For each signal type, one can choose a digital filter – the ESS Technology DAC chip used in this device, offers up to seven different filters for the PCM signal, the most interesting of which is the “apodizing filter” once introduced into the audio by Meridian. For the DSD signal one can use one of three filters, defining the frequency at which the frequency response begins to roll off. We can also use the MQA module’s digital filter.”
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STAX SRM-D50 ELECTROSTATIC DRIVER AND DAC REVIEW
May 24, 2019 Comments Off on STAX SRM-D50 ELECTROSTATIC DRIVER AND DAC REVIEW
“In all my years as a headphone listening enthusiast, one thing has remained clear from the very start – there is nothing quite like listening to a Stax system. There’s a certain charm to it; the retro and unashamedly bulky styling of the earspeakers and the proprietary energiser system combine to create an unusual and very untraditional (in the modern world) Head-Fi encounter.
Listening to a Stax system always leads me on a listening journey. I start with my familiar test tracks and end up winding down an experimental path of music and genres I’ve never listened to before… just to experience it.”
Chord Electronics Qutest DAC Z $1895 Review
May 3, 2019 Comments Off on Chord Electronics Qutest DAC Z $1895 Review
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The Qutest spent most of its time tethered to my near-field desktop rig, which uses the latest-generation MacPro “titanium trashcan” desktop computer for its front end. The Qutest includes options for four different filters. First there’s the “incisive neutral” filter that according to Chord “has an ultra linear frequency response…includes a 16FS to 256FS WTA2 filter.” Qutest’s second filter is “warm” which according to Chord, “is designed to introduce a little warmth to recordings…with a 16FS WTA1 filter only.” The third filter set, “incisive neutral HF roll-off,” is similar to the first one except that it includes a high-frequency filter past 20kHz. The last filter in Qutest’s stable is “warm HR roll-off,” which is similar to the second option but with the addition of a high-frequency filter above 20kHz.”
Legacy Audio Valor speaker system and Wavelet DAC/preamp/crossover $80,000 Review
May 2, 2019 Comments Off on Legacy Audio Valor speaker system and Wavelet DAC/preamp/crossover $80,000 Review
“However, that does not indicate less power is recommended! Consistently, and keeping the relative ratio of power to efficiency of speakers, I find that higher clean power means better sound quality. All other things equal, I will normally prefer a 60-watt amp to a 30-watt amp. I have found through the years that if I can pair equipment (i.e. source, cables) with the Legacy Audio products the results will be more impressive with higher power. This should not be surprising, as it held true not only with Legacy, but also with other dynamic speakers such as the Vapor Audio Joule White and panel speakers such as the Magnepan .7 and the Kingsound King III electrostatic speaker.
I didn’t immediately see any changes to the Legacy remote control software (in my room the software remote is loaded onto a Samsung Tablet S3 and runs in conjunction with ROON). This is an intuitive, extensive remote that offers enough control to the user without overwhelming the novice with background functions. It strikes me as the perfect tool to allow the owner precise setup without having to know technical aspects of the speaker’s performance. It is user-friendly and calibrated finely enough to finesse the performance of the speaker in real time.
Playback Designs MPD-8 Dream DAC review
April 22, 2019 Comments Off on Playback Designs MPD-8 Dream DAC review
“Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC has delivered one of the best, if not the best remote response, volume handling and gain distribution one box solutions I’ve had the luxury to experience. The splendid preamplifier/DAC synergy delivered an abundance of super healthy gain. This let me to directly drive my Lamm M1.2 reference hybrid monoblocks with splendid lock and load performance. MPD-8 has provided an unmatched synergy with Lamms, something I’ve surely didn’t expect! At least nowhere near this scale. Then again… This is one of the real luxuries of so much product circulations. We all benefit from such endeavors…”
Mytek’s Brooklyn Bridge + AMP Review
March 29, 2019 Comments Off on Mytek’s Brooklyn Bridge + AMP Review
AURALiC VEGA G1 $3,999 Full Review
March 23, 2019 Comments Off on AURALiC VEGA G1 $3,999 Full Review
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The Auralic Vega G1 is a streamer, DAC, and preamp that can drive power amplifiers directly. This fact alone is enough to make one consider upgrading to the G1 because of the reduction of boxes and price associated with three separate components. The G1 has it all in a single chassis. Let me rephrase that, it doesn’t have it ALL because some features are better left to products like the Auralic Aries. Anyway, the G1 has all the traditional digital inputs and its most powerful input Ethernet. I call it powerful because it enables not only streaming from cloud or local network sources, but it also enables two-way communication for volume and playback control. ”
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