Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/auralic-aries-g11-music-libraryserver

This lightness of touch is a hallmark of the Aries G1.1’s sound, or rather lack of sound, as it gets out of the way of the music, concentrating on serving it up conveniently and letting the rest of your system do its stuff. It does so as convincingly with the simple, airy sound of Third Reel’s Many More Days jazz set [ECM 2431] as it does with the mighty Christopher Jacobson/Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recording of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony [Pentatone PTC5186638].

Here the sheer power of the solo instrument is unleashed without restraint in the final movement. In other words, whatever you play, the Aries G1.1 delivers, and when you add in its storage flexibilities, it’s quite an all-rounder.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2023/5/3/dl8b6p1p0nk9xi7nywkbshspjq1kl1

My streaming (and CD) test track to end all tracks, “Dead Already” from Thomas Newman’s score to American Beauty, had life and super energy on the Personas, less so on the smaller Founder bookshelves. I was somewhat surprised considering comparison to my several super high-end frames of reference, the 222 had more air around all the whizzing and buzzing instruments; very impressive and immersive. Also, the bass from the recording via the 222 was monstrous and incredibly deep. Same on two of my favourite “electronic” albums (I’m so late to the party!), Boards of Canada Music Has The Right To Children (Trip Hop and mesmerically beautiful) and the raucous, fun debut album from Tranquility Bass, Let The Freak Flag Fly.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2022/11/15/lumin-u2-mini-streamer

Practically, “As with all Lumins, it offers a lossless digital volume control, allowing your DAC to be connected straight into power amps, no preamp needed if you don’t have multiple sources.” As our DAC was onboard the Hegel, I used the Hegel remote for volume and mute duties.

The volume could be cranked with no deleterious effects. The Paradigm Personas can handle just about anything but the sound the Lumin was making was so immersive and beautiful at all levels, I didn’t feel the need to boost the volume too much to feel the music’s full effect.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2022/11/15/lumin-u2-mini-streamer

The Lumin U2 Mini was a bit of a surprise. Yes, the buzz was strong about the company and the reviews have been stellar. But on first listen, I was disappointed (break in, break in break in!). As soon as the skies were blue, the U2 Mini made its presence felt very quickly. A very refined digital sound—there’s no way you’d confuse this with analog—and in the very best of the digital domain. I was also surprised at the very reasonable price of $2400. Sure, you have to buy a quality, well-matched DAC, but that’ll be fun research. Cables will be important, too. But while listening and making decisions, you’ll have great satisfaction knowing the all-important streamer brand new to your system is a little cracker. Very highly recommended.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/aurender-w20se-network-audio-library

Everything this server/digital player sends to a DAC, it does so with astounding presence, leaving the rest of the playback system nowhere to hide, and that’s in evidence with Mark Jenkin’s score for his new film Enys Men [Invada Bandcamp download], with its ethereal, unsettling soundscapes. The W20SE revealed huge amounts of detail here, making the music every bit as eerie as the movie it underpins. But that doesn’t mean it can’t turn on the snarl when required; there’s nothing polite or refined about the way it crashes out Rory Gallagher’s ‘Souped-Up Ford’ [UMC download], with both the voice and the guitar rough, ready and delicious.

TEAC’s UD-701N impressed me with its transparency, speed, and detail retrieval. Impressive with its black background and its ability to add pieces made this an easy recommendation. The ability to listen at this level and a product that competes with much more expensive gear make this a bargain. If you want musicality and finesse with a dead silent background that is future-proof you should audition the TEAC UD-701N. Big thumbs up to what will be my new endgame reference system. Purchasing the unit gives it my highest recommendation