Jack Roberts has posted a review of the Oppo BDP-105D USB DAC/Streaming Blu-ray player ($1299) at Dagogo. His conclusions: “The Oppo isn’t just for a home theater or secondary system. If you have a good library of SACDs or DSD files, then this unit brings you a long way toward a state-of-the-art player for...
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Michael Lavorgna has posted a review of the PS Audio DirectStream Junior DAC ($3999) at AudioStream. His conclusions: “I hope it’s obvious: I enjoyed my time with the DirectStream Junior. A lot. Once PS Audio turns on Roon Ready, the DSJ’s networking capabilities will grow in appeal many-times-fold, at least for me. If your...
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Alan Sircom has posted a review of the Moon Audio Neo ACE integrated amplifier-DAC ($3500) at Hi-Fi+. His conclusions: “This is the best bit because it retains all the characteristic Moon Neo performance parameters: a deeply unfatiguing yet remarkably satisfying sound, with an extremely large, walk-in-and-make-yourself-comfortable soundstage, excellent precision of dynamic range, image placement,...
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Alan Sircom has posted a review of the Burmester Phase 3 music system (£23,800) at Hi-Fi+. His conclusions: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Burmester Phase 3. It needs no excuses made for its performance, because it’s a true high-end system in a box (well, two crates actually). A lot of systems...
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Vince Hanada has posted aq review of the Cocktail Audio X12 music server-integrated amplifier ($699) at SoundStage! Access. His conclusions: “The small amp in its diminutive case makes the X12 best suited for use in smaller spaces, such as bedrooms or dorm rooms. In that context, and with the right speakers, the addition of...
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Ed Selley has posted a review of the Leema Acoustics Libra DAC (£5995) at Hi-Fi+. His conclusions: “Judged as a line-level DAC, it offers plentiful inputs, truck-like build, and a performance that delivers a wide variety of music without any signs of strain or issue. These are attributes that can be pinned to a...
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Nicholas Ripley has posted a review of the Opera Consonance Reference DSD1.1 DAC (£1595) at Hi-Fi+. His conclusions: “Ultimately, the Opera Consonance Reference DSD1.1 is an extremely good device, straddling as it does the old-school ‘add me to a CD player’ DAC and the new world of USB. It’s a refined performer, which is...
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Eric Neff has posted a review of the iFi Audio Micro iDAC2 DAC (£295) at Hi-Fi+. His conclusions: “One of the things that I most enjoy about the iFi Micro iDSD is that it is a great portable unit, giving me most of the qualities of a strong home system when I am on...
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John Grandberg has posted a review of the Cayin iDAC-6 DAC ($999) and iHA-6 headphone amplifier ($999) at InnerFidelity. His conclusions: “At $999 each, these two straddle some sort of line…I’m sure some would call them “affordable” while others would balk at that price as being way out of reach. Personally I think it’s...
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Richard Varey has posted a review of the T+A Elektroakustik E-Series music player (NZ$7499) at TNT Audio. His conclusions: “So, in summary, this is a fascinating one-stop alternative to discrete units, which sounds really very good and is easy to install and use. All digital sources are catered for, and when paired with the...
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Jan de Jeu has posted a review of the Metrum Acoustics Menuet DAC (£2535) at The Ear. His conclusions: “I am not saying anything new when I note that quite a lot of ‘old’ CD recordings can sound very good, but the Menuet is more capable than most in revealing this. One other thing...
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Chris Connaker has posted a review of the Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 2 ($19,500) at Computer Audiophile. His conclusions: “Listening to Kind of Blue, I had t remind myself that this album was recorded and originally released in 1959! How can a 1959 recording sound this good? Miles’ trumpet went from...
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Andre Marc has posted a review of the CLONES Audio Asher DAC ($) at Audio Video Revolution. His conclusions: “If you are searching for a smartly designed and implemented DAC, that decodes all known resolutions, with built in volume control and user selectable filters, the Asher DAC should be on your very short list....
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Bill Wells has posted a review of the Bel Canto Design DAC3.7 ($4495) at Stereo Times. His conclusions: “Through the innovative technologies designed into these products - the bar has been raised in terms of overall performance and increased listening pleasure. At the end of the day – these products collectively form a platform...
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Dan Worth has posted a review of the Wadia DI122 Digital Audio Decoder (£1499) at Hi-Fi Pig. His conclusions: “With a complimentary headphone amplifier, great style and a detail rich, natural and fluid sound, I can’t see what there’s not to like about the Wadia DI122 Digital Audio Decoder.” You can read the full...
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Marcusd has posted a review of the Opus #1 digital audio player ($599) at Headfonics. His conclusions: “Tonally The Bit have played things a bit safe with a very flat natural sound that doesn’t push the envelope in any specific direction but nevertheless remains very detailed with good levels of transparency and above average...
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Chris Martens has posted a review of the Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC (£1980) and Ragnarok headphone amplifier (£1580) at Hi-Fi+. His conclusions: “Rarely have I been as favourably impressed by a DAC and headphone amplifier as I have been by the Yggdrasil and Ragnarok. Though neither component comes anywhere near being the most expensive...
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Jim Austin has posted a review of the Meridian Explorer2 headphone amplifier-DAC ($299) at Stereophile. His conclusions: “Leave MQA out of the mix, and the Meridian Explorer2 is a fun, capable audio device at a cost that audiophiles—and anyone else who’s accustomed to audiophile prices—will likely find more than fair … But when you...
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Christiaan Punter has posted a review of the ASI Liveline speaker cables ($) at Hi-Fi Advices. His conclusions: “Of the setups I tried it in, the cable works best in the context of fuller sounding systems, such as my own main Jeff Rowland/Apogee Diva setup and a friend’s Ayon/AvantGarde setup (link not yet active...
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Dick Tan has posted a review of the Oppo BDP-101Ci Blu-ray player ($) at av2day.com. His conclusions: “Even in its scaled down form the BDP-101CI still offers key features such as 4K scaling, bitstream output for important lossless surround sound codec such as Dolby Atmos and DTS-X, high resolution USB ports and legacy digital...
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Vade Forrester has posted a review of the Aurender N100H music server ($2699) at SoundStage Hi-Fi. His conclusions: “Aurender’s N100H, like their S10 server I reviewed several years ago, sounds terrific. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a music server that sounds better, and maybe none as good. It stood out for its bass...
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Kriz Tan has posted a review of the AURALiC VEGA DAC ($3495) at Hi-Fi Senses. His conclusions: “I had tried several DAC in the past and Auralic Vega is considerably one of the most value for money (VFM) choice with respect to its various features. From filters, clocks settings, upsampling and many more that...
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Jez Ford has posted a review of the AURALiC Aries Mini wireless streaming node ($699) at AVHub. His conclusions: “We were astounded by the Auralic Aries Mini. From one simple box it played almost everything quickly, smoothly and glitch-free. It handles NAS drives, high-res files, Tidal, AirPlay, Bluetooth. You can add a hard drive...
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Greg Borrowman has posted a review of the NAD C 546BEE CD player (769) at AVHub. His conclusions: “The NAD C 546BEE is a fabulous CD player. It’s well-built, well-designed, sounds great using either filter setting (but for me, sounds better in the ‘Slow’ setting) and has a decent swathe of features including the...
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Dave Clark has posted a review of the Aurender N100H music streamer ($2699) at Positive Feedback. His conclusions: “At $2699 it offers you 2TB of audiophile-built storage in a simple and elegant box one-box solution and it takes up half the space of most components giving you some extra breathing room on the shelf....
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