CE_SI_32_FINAL.pdf

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GUIDE to
DIGITAL SOURCE
COMPONENTS
STEREO • MUSIC
Turn Up the Fun!
Enjoy the full e ect of your music, video and movies.
B
EAUTIFUL
S
OUND
F
ROM
A
NY
C
OMPUTER
, A
NYWHERE
•
USB Stick-Size Digital-Audio Converter
•
Plays All Music Files: MP3 to High-Res
•
Drives Headphones Directly
•
Variable Output Drives Powered Speakers or Power Amp
•
Fixed Output Feeds Preamp or Receiver
•
Asynchronous Transfer Ensures Digital Timing Integrity
•
Dual Fixed-Frequency Master Clocks Enable Optimal
‘Clocking’ (Digital Timing) for All Sample Rates
Actual Size
USB DAC + Preamp + Headphone Amp
Now $199
AudioQuest also o ers truly exceptional
cables which carry the subtlety and
nuance of your favorite music from all
your sources.
www.AudioQuest.com
Go to:
Contents
|
on the Horizon
|
Feature
|
Disc Players
|
DACs
|
Music Servers & Accessories
|
Integrated Amps with USB DACs
|
Music Download Reviews
|
Buyer's Guide
CONTENTS
Disc
Features Players
• On the
Horizon: New
Digital Source
Components
from RMAF 2013
• Turn your
Macintosh into a
Music Server
• Esoteric K-01
• Oppo BDP-105
• dCS Vivaldi
System
DACs
SPoNSoRED BY:
Music Servers
and Accessories
• AudioQuest Diamond USB cable
• NAD C 446 Digital Media Tuner
• Pure Music software
• Naim SuperUniti
• Audivana music playback software
• PS Audio Perfect Wave
• Bel Canto USB Links
• Plinius Tiki server
• Astell & Kern AK100/AK120
• 3beez Waxbox server
Integrated amps
with USB DACs
• Micromega AS-400 integrated with
wireless DAC
• NuForce DDA-100
• Peachtree Grand Prix X1
• Peachtree Nova125
• Hegel H300
• EAR-Yoshino 192 DACute DAC
• AURALiC VEGA digital processor
• MSB Analog DAC
• Simaudio Moon 100D USB DAC
• Bryston BDA-2
• Berkeley Alpha DAC Series 2
• dCS Debussy DAC
• AudioQuest DragonFly
• Micromega MyDAC
• Four USB DACs compared: Models from
Channel Islands, Lindemann, NuForce,
and Synergistic
• Wadia 121 Decoding Computer
• iFi iCAN, iDAC, iUSB Power
• Meridian Explorer
• 3-DAC survey: Models from Mytek,
Benchmark, and Lynx
Music Reviews
• High Resolution Digital Download
Roundup
Buyer's Guide
• CD/SACD Players
• DACs
• Music Servers & Peripheral Products
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Contents
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on the Horizon
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Disc Players
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DACs
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Music Servers & Accessories
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Integrated Amps with USB DACs
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Music Download Reviews
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Buyer's Guide
DIGITAL SOURCE
COMPONENTS
publisher.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Hannon
editor-in-chief
. . . . . . . . . . . Robert Harley
executive editor
. . . . . . . . . Jonathan Valin
buyer's guide editor
. . . . . Chris Martens
acquisitions manager
and associate editor
. . . . . Neil Gader
music editor
. . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Lehman
creative director
. . . . . . . . Torquil Dewar
art director
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelley Lai
To sign up for Buyer’s Guides alerts, click here
Address letters to the Editor:
The Absolute Sound,
8868 Research Blvd., Austin, TX 78758 or
rharley@nextscreen.com
©2013 NextScreen, LLC
4
Digital Source Components
www.theabsolutesound.com
GUIDE to
STEREO • MUSIC
senior writers
. . . . . . . . . . . Anthony H.
Cordesmann
Wayne Garcia
Dick Olsher
Steven Stone
Alan Taffel
Andrew Quint
reviewers &
contributing writers
. . . . . Vade Forrester
Jacob Heilbrunn
Karl Schuster
nextscreen, LLC
chairman and ceo
. . . . . . . Tom Martin
vp/group publisher
. . . . . . Jim Hannon
advertising reps
. . . . . . . . Cheryl Smith
(512) 891-7775
Scott Constantine
(609) 275-3534
Marvin Lewis
MTM Sales
(718) 225-8803
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Go to:
Contents
|
on the Horizon
|
Feature
|
Disc Players
|
DACs
|
Music Servers & Accessories
|
Integrated Amps with USB DACs
|
Music Download Reviews
|
Buyer's Guide
FROM THE
Editor
Welcome to our latest Buyer’s guide, this one covering digital audio source components. The
guide includes full reviews of:
• 19 standalone DaCs,
• 3 combination disc player/DaCs,
• 5 combination integrated amplifier/DaCs, and
• 10 Music Servers and related digital audio accessories.
We also bring you our editorial team’s Buyer’s guide recommendations for digital source
components, plus reviews of high-resolution digital music downloads. Finally, we include an
illustrated report showing 26 of today’s most innovative new digital audio products as seen at
the recent Rocky Mountain audio Fest 2013.
We are experiencing a period of almost unprecedented growth and innovation in digital audio
and as a result music lovers can now access and enjoy their favorite music in ways that might
have seemed like science fiction only a few years ago. Just stop for a moment and think about the
magnitude of the changes unfolding all around us.
The Music:
We once bought our digital music primarily in the form of MP3 files or Compact Discs.
But those days have given way to a modern era where anyone with a passion for sound quality can
readily access extremely high-resolution digital audio files from a growing number of sources. CD-
resolution files, once considered a sonic “Holy Grail” of sorts, are now just the starting points from
which to explore even higher-quality file formats promising far greater resolution and sonic finesse.
Music Delivery and Storage Systems:
Once we thought either in
terms of acquiring music content either in the form of optical discs or of
downloaded files stored on our computers, but now our range of options
has grown. Entire music libraries can, for example, live on portable,
high-capacity USB drives or memory sticks, or they could reside on
NAS (network attached storage) devices, elsewhere on network or in the
cloud. Further, music delivery models are evolving, so that rather that
buying copies of content to own some listeners are instead subscribing to
high-res music services that charge monthly fees for access to high-res
material on demand (why own when you can stream?).
Digital audio Technology:
Digital audio playback technologies never
stand still for long, so that over time we see equipment offering improved
DACs, more powerful upsampling options, hyper-precise digital clocks,
expanding network and storage connectivity options, the ability to handle
ever higher resolution music files, and better analog output sections. In
short, digital audio source components sound great now and continue to
get even better.
We hope this Guide helps you better navigate the brave new world of
modern digital audio source components as you pursue
The Absolute
Sound.
Chris Martens
C li ck here to tu rn th e p ag e.
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