AURALIC ARIES G2 WIRELESS STREAMING TRANSPORTER REVIEW
May 7, 2018 Comments Off on AURALIC ARIES G2 WIRELESS STREAMING TRANSPORTER REVIEW
“As the ARIES G2 is a streaming transporter, matching it with a good DAC is the key to unleash its performance. As far as USB DAC functionality, I found the ALTAIR was up to the task in channeling high-resolution streaming capability of the ARIES G2 (higher than 44.1 or 48 kHz sampling rates). The ALTAIR, however, has a limitation in processing such signals through its coax/optical/AES inputs. The ARIES G2 is capable of outputting up to 24 bit/192 kHz signal through its non-USB digital outputs, but the ALTAIR will not process these high-sampling-rate signals at their native rates. Hence, the results will not be optimum. Pairing the digital outputs of the ARIES G2 with the Bel Canto DAC3.7, which is capable of processing up to 24 bit /192 kHz signals, yielded a better sonic results. Therefore, if you are planning on using the non-USB digital outputs of the ARIES G2, make sure you pair it with a DAC that can properly process the high-sampling-rate signals to get optimum sonic performance.”
NAIM ND5 XS 2, NDX 2, ND 555 STREAMERS REVIEW
April 9, 2018 Comments Off on NAIM ND5 XS 2, NDX 2, ND 555 STREAMERS REVIEW
“We then moved from the NDX 2 to the ND 555 in the same system, this time moving over to Lyle Lovett. Once more, there was a greater sense of physical presence of singer and musicians, with at once more separation and – not as paradoxically as it sounds – more cohesion between the players in the band. After this we played a number of tracks (not just alt-country) through the ND 555, and it retained a sense of richness and organic depth to the sound, but not at the expense of the pace of the music (understandably, given the company it hails from). This was just a slice of how these players perform and the sound of the system wasn’t giving the kind of stereophony or bottom end definition I would necessarily seek on any of the tracks, but it did show up the good-better-best differences well. One for more investigation, I suspect.”
First Look: AirPlay 2 Multi-Room Streaming Audio in iOS 11.4 – Video
April 3, 2018 Comments Off on First Look: AirPlay 2 Multi-Room Streaming Audio in iOS 11.4 – Video
Mark Levinson № 519 Digital Audio Player Review
February 27, 2018 Comments Off on Mark Levinson № 519 Digital Audio Player Review
“The Mark Levinson № 519 represents the pinnacle of performance in streaming network players. It is a high-caliber all-in-one solution that caters to the most affluent consumers who care only about music from digital sources. All one needs to complement the № 519 is a license to TIDAL Hi-Fi, an iPad, an amplifier, and speakers, and you will have a knockout state-of-the-art system.”
Cambridge Audio CXN v2 streamer/DAC/pre-amp Review – video
February 27, 2018 Comments Off on Cambridge Audio CXN v2 streamer/DAC/pre-amp Review – video
Elac Discovery DS-S101-G Music Server $1,100 Review
February 24, 2018 § 1 Comment
“Wrapping up my take on Elac’s Discovery, I’m hard-pressed to find a good reason why someone seeking to add a networked music server to their system wouldn’t want one. The Discovery eliminates any need to use a dedicated computer to store music or operate your system (beyond your mobile device to run the app), and it works with both inexpensive USB and NAS storage options. Its compact form and minimalist design allow it to be integrated unobtrusively with an existing hi-fi rig. Also, you’ll get great sound quality from its built-in DAC, along with wired and wireless multiroom audio support, including installations that use AirPlay or Sonos speakers.”
Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) Network Streamer – Video
February 22, 2018 Comments Off on Cambridge Audio CXN (V2) Network Streamer – Video
TAD Evolution Series D1000MK2 Disc Player $14,995 Review
February 3, 2018 Comments Off on TAD Evolution Series D1000MK2 Disc Player $14,995 Review
‘The beautiful thing about owning a device like the TAD D1000MK2 Disc Player is you don’t have to worry, you just have to be happy. I did spin some shiny discs on the TAD’s disc spinner and they all sounded good. Really good. Better than the file? I wouldn’t say better but if you own lots of discs, CDs and perhaps more importantly SACDs that you don’t plan to turn into files, you can rest assured that the TAD will serve them very well. For my personal listening preferences, the TAD TAD-DA1000 DAC ($10,995) makes more sense because the physical music media I enjoy is of the vinyl variety but part of me really loves the sexy silent machined smooth beauty of the D1000MK2’s disc mechanism. It certainly plucks at my lover-of-lovely-things heartstrings.”
Bluesound Node Review
February 3, 2018 Comments Off on Bluesound Node Review
“A streaming DAC with a variety of inputs, outputs and features, all wrapped in a low profile package. No giant black boxes here! And even though the hardware has been on the hump for some years, Bluesound’s ongoing series of software updates slows the ageing process. And who doesn’t want that? It wasn’t so much the Node 2’s sound quality that led me to its purchase. Parent company Lenbrook’s pedigree with NAD and PSB means that was almost a given. It was Node 2’s broad feature set that tipped me over the line. Because function matters.”
NAIM AUDIO UNITI NOVA INTEGRATED STREAMING AMPLIFIER MUSIC SERVER REVIEW
January 31, 2018 Comments Off on NAIM AUDIO UNITI NOVA INTEGRATED STREAMING AMPLIFIER MUSIC SERVER REVIEW
“As we went to press on this, Naim served up a beta version of its Roon ready software for testing. This adds an order of magnitude more ‘awesome’ to an already bursting bag of superlatives. Part of the reason Naim’s servers are so robust is the file system is a rigid hierarchy, which you don’t futz around with because it works so well. However, for those who don’t think in quite the same linear way, it can be frustrating (I’ve been told – the truth is once you have used Naim’s hierarchy for as long as I have, other systems seem convoluted and disorganised). Roon allows you to remove such file structures to the ‘forget about it’ part of your brain, and integrate your music into Roon’s music-led jaunt through the catalogue, seamlessly blending TIDAL with your own collection in almost any way you can think of, should you so desire.”
Audiophilepure 
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