Moon 390 Network Player/Preamplifier $5,300 Review
March 16, 2019 Comments Off on Moon 390 Network Player/Preamplifier $5,300 Review
“While high-res audio is a selling point of the Moon 390, it didn’t exactly need to be fed high-res audio to sound great. Listening to a 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC stream of “Woodstock” by jazz supergroup Hudson, John Medeski’s acoustic piano solo had a solid, almost meaty, presence, while Larry Grenadier’s standup bass sounded sinewy and clean. The cymbals from drummer Jack DeJohnette’s kit also had a 3D-like quality that made them float realistically in space.
I wrapped up my assessment of the Moon 390’s digital chops by comparing the performance of its built-in DAC with the Pioneer universal disc player’s using a handful of reference CDs. In each case, the sound delivered by the 390’s DAC was more precise, layered, and clean. The performance of the Pioneer’s DAC, in comparison, was consistently more recessed and less engaging.
Aurender Content Server ACS10 Full Review
March 9, 2019 Comments Off on Aurender Content Server ACS10 Full Review
“In addition to the aforementioned features the ACS10 brings Aurender into the world of multi-zone audio with centralized music storage in an all-Aurender ecosystem. The ACS10 can host all one’s music and serve it out to other Aurender components throughout one’s network. But, don’t worry about typical network issues that arise with DLNA or UPnP because the Aurender ecosystem doesn’t touch that non-standard standard called UPnP.
The thing to remember about the ACS10 is simplicity. Usually when the number of features rise, so does complexity. Not so with the Content Server. In addition, Aurender has developed this platform to operate 100% of the time without requiring a traditional computer for setup, music management, or even loading music on the server. It can all be accomplished through the Aurender ACS Manager app for iOS. ”
PS Audio DirectStream Memory Player and DirectStream DAC Review
March 6, 2019 Comments Off on PS Audio DirectStream Memory Player and DirectStream DAC Review
“The Digital Lens imposes a small penalty on user experience. The interface to the Memory Player is the same symbols and functions we are accustomed to for CD and DVD playback – and for tape before that – except you engage with it via the touchscreen in place of physical buttons. But because the Digital Lens needs to accumulate the data before sending it along, the Memory Player is overall less responsive than CD and DVD players. Not agonizingly so, and certainly not a deal breaker for me, but having lived with CD players for decades, it’s something you notice and may find frustrating. We’re used to ever-increasing speed with our technology (among other things); it’s hard to go back.”
MOON 390 NETWORK PLAYER/PREAMPLIFIER REVIEW
February 27, 2019 Comments Off on MOON 390 NETWORK PLAYER/PREAMPLIFIER REVIEW
“It is worth noting that the 400M’s are no spring chickens; they have been around for at least the last seven years, they don’t seem to have been picked up by reviewers anywhere – they appear to occupy space below the radar. At £7,200 they are something of a bargain, and they seem to have a special affinity with the B&W802d2s. They have the power to grip the bass performance of the speakers and to drive them with aplomb. My turntable is an Inspire Monarch, with an SME V, and I’ve not heard such impressive bass performance as this on my system. Continuing with the vinyl odyssey, this time the Amadeus Quartet with Cecil Aronowitz playing Mozart’s early and utterly charming Bb Quintet op 174 on DG, the combination really captures the vitality of this world-class ensemble. The sound is packed with detail, lovely tonal nuance, and the colours of the players’ Strads (not all of them) finessed effortlessly. This is the opposite of many of the digital amps I’ve heard recently. The greyness and lack of tonal nuance kill them for me. None of that here! All this from the phono stage that comes from a preamp costing £4,750.”
BLUESOUND WIRELESS MUSIC SYSTEM REVIEW
February 24, 2019 Comments Off on BLUESOUND WIRELESS MUSIC SYSTEM REVIEW
“Did I find the Bluesound player better than my reliable and beloved Sonos system? The answer is a resounding yes. High resolution files sounded great, something the Sonos can’t play. Ripped CDs often sounded better than when they were playing back through the Sonos. Trying to describe the differences between the Sonos and the Bluesound system on the same equipment is a matter of subtleties. Instrument locations, especially acoustic instruments are more precise. Percussion instruments have more bite, and ‘liveness’. Switching between ripped CDs, it was almost always obvious which equipment was playing. That was true even when another person made the switches so I had no idea if I was listening to the Sonos or the Bluesound as a source. It could be a difference in DACs, the ripping into FLAC format, or something in the way the networking is architected. Whatever the reason, it sounded like a thin veil had been lifted when listening to the Bluesound.”
MOON 390 NETWORK PLAYER/PREAMPLIFIER
February 23, 2019 Comments Off on MOON 390 NETWORK PLAYER/PREAMPLIFIER
“Finally, I tried Leif Ove Andsnes playing Chopin Ballades and Nocturnes on Sony, as heard through Qobuz, a 96k/24 bit recording. The piano is a funny one for me. It’s tough to capture a keyboard well so that it sounds like a single instrument and not a series of drive units- so it’s more a speaker thing, but the amp and DAC also play a starring role in the success of good pianistic reproduction.
Chord’s DAVE is the master of the piano, but somehow what I’m hearing on this hi-res Qobuz recording makes me want to listen further and further. It’s a beautiful sound with no harsh edges, and the incredible subtlety of Andsnes’ phrasing spins the musical line in an arresting way. Not only is the timbre of the piano just right, but the micro-phrasing that you hear when you stand next to a great musical artist is all there. It is so often lost.”
Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) Network Streamer $899 Review
January 6, 2019 Comments Off on Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) Network Streamer $899 Review
“The biggest problem with Internet Radio is what psychologists call the paradox of choice: there are too many options. Organization of the thousands of channels available becomes critical. With the CXN (V2), stations can be searched for by stream name/call letter, or browsed by Location or Genre. “Location” means country of origin, and with more than 10,000 results for the US alone, subdivision by state and city would have been nice. Helpfully, you can drill down using combinations of genre, subgenre, and location — for example, Music, then Classical, then Opera, then Italy produced a more manageable list of Italian stations broadcasting opera. Nonetheless, I found it easier to identify streams on the web or using TuneIn, then search for the stream by name on the CXN (V2).
Having found a station, the CXN (V2) presents a list of streams, typically variable in quality, from which to select. Rather than go through the process every time, the CXN (V2) lets you store up to 20 presets, the first eight of which can be accessed with a single button press on the remote control. During playback, the display shows stream name, track name, bitrate, format, and, depending on the provider, station art and other metadata. While the streams of most Internet Radio stations have low bitrates, there are some better options including Linn Classical, Hi On Line Radio, and The New England Jazz Express. These stations are very listenable; I’ve taken to using Linn Classical’s 320kbps MP3 stream for background ambiance. Within the limitations of MP3, the Avison Ensemble’s rendition of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in E Major, Spring, from The Four Seasons, with Pavlo Beznosiuk as soloist and conductor (Linn CKD 365, Linn Classical Radio), was spacious and pleasant, with a good balance of instrument sounds.”
AudioStream Editor’s Choice Components from $500 to $2,500
January 4, 2019 Comments Off on AudioStream Editor’s Choice Components from $500 to $2,500
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“As I’ve said before, not everyone will agree with the picks and many will bemoan something not included on this list, but since this is subjective in its very nature, I can only write about what I’ve heard, not what you’ve heard. Regardless, variety is the spice of life and I hope you find either joy, interest or enlightenment in these, my humble choices.
Audiophilepure 
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