Audiophilepure

https://www.headfonia.com/smsl-ds200-review/

The DS200 is one of the more striking budget units SMSL has put out. The cyberpunk look is a first for them, and it immediately sets the LIN.LIN.LIN line apart. It feels like SMSL wanted to aim this sub-brand a little closer to the gaming market. That said, the lack of USB 1.0 support means the DS200 can’t be used with consoles, which limits that angle somewhat.

The finish is classic SMSL with a twist. The sandblasted CNC aluminum chassis has that smooth, slightly grippy feel that reminds me of Apple Macbooks. The tempered-glass front panel adds to that impression, with its clean white LEDs that resemble the device as if it were warped out of a sci-fi movie. The orange accents work surprisingly well with the grey tones of the chassis, giving the DS200 a bit of contrasty personality.

On the front, the layout is tidy. The vertical volume slider is still, in my opinion, the standout, as it’s unusual; however, in practice, I found it fun and satisfying to use. The slider has no steps and feels smooth from bottom to top. I also didn’t encounter any channel imbalance.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/michell-apollomuse-mmmc-phono-preamp

Here’s the thing: during my audition of the Apollo I didn’t find one LP that came even close to unsettling its even-handed performance. This phono amp has an uncanny knack of finding the beauty buried in the murky depths of poor recordings, while affecting an ease in capturing absolutely everything to be found in higher-quality pressings.

Seldom have I heard the soft but insistent electronic percussion effects in Lanterns on the Lake’s ‘Lungs Quicken’ [Gracious Tide, Take Me Home; Bella Union BELLAV300] remain quite so prominent. Usually they are something that you hear and then tend to gloss over, but the Apollo refused to let this happen. It will have you rapt, relishing every detail within a recording, while never relaxing its grip on the overall musical message.

As much as I enjoyed playing around with filters to endlessly unravel music threads in hopes of discovering something new about old chestnuts, the Stellar DAC is not really made for such interrogations. This is a beautiful sounding DAC, by design. Playing Sasha Matson’s newest album, Fillmore Street, proved to be a splendid way to put the Stellar DAC to the test. This album is full of interesting twists and turns in composition, timing, and melodic themes. Flawlessly recorded, the title track opens the album to give you a taste of what’s to come—orchestral energy with competing instruments propelling the ascending melody line to create tension that ultimately resolves in a languorous swoon reminiscent of Gershwin. The Stellar DAC does an exceptional job of capturing the breadth and dimension of the orchestra, but more importantly, the tone and texture of the instruments sings naturally and without distracting emphasis. I played many, many other artists from a variety of genres, but the overall balance and tonal fulsomeness was sustained in excellent fashion.

https://www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/stereo-amplifiers/pathos-inpol-remix-mkii

This surprising low-end heft comes to the fore when we play Bob Marley’s Exodus. Bass is relatively taut and tuneful, underpinning the rest of the performance in a seamless manner. As we work through our music collection, it turns out that the Pathos is able to tick most boxes.

Tonally, it is smooth but has enough bite in its otherwise sweet top-end to satisfy. There is delicacy at those high frequencies that makes most non-valve alternatives sound a little mechanical and tonally grey in comparison.

This is one of the few valve/transistor hybrid amplifiers we’ve heard where we do feel like we are hearing the best of both technologies, yet the result remains cohesive and balanced.

The Master Tapes are based on newly created analogue masters, prepared from carefully selected high-resolution digital sources. The mastering process is conducted by Christoph Stickel (ECM, Deutsche Grammophon, Keith Jarrett), one of Europe’s most respected mastering engineers and a Grammy nominee. The aim is to transfer the source material to analogue tape with the highest possible fidelity and dynamic quality.

Product Variants:

• Start: ¼”, 2-track, NAB, 7.5 ips (19 cm/s), RTM LPR90, reference level 250 nWb/m, 1 metal reel, eco packaging
• Standard: ¼”, 2-track, CCIR, 15 ips (38 cm/s), RTM LPR90, reference level 320 nWb/m, 1 metal reel, eco packaging
• Studio: ¼”, 2-track, CCIR, 15 ips (38 cm/s), RTM SM900, reference level 510 nWb/m, 2 metal reels, deluxe packaging