I once went fishing with John Mingo. A friend and I had traveled to Paradise Valley in southwestern Montana, known for having some of the world’s best streams, creeks, and rivers for catching trout. That Mingo, the founder and first designer of Baetis Audio products, lived there was no coincidence. In addition to a passion for good sound and two stints at the Federal Reserve in a leadership capacity (Mingo was a PhD economist), the lean septuagenarian was also an expert fly fisherman, publishing three books on the subject. Baetis, in case you didn’t know, is the genus of mayfly that trout like to eat. Mingo brought a lawn chair along to the remote stream that my buddy and I had reserved for the day and positioned himself in the shade about ten yards from the water.
I am not an especially capable angler. A stubbornly persistent deficiency is my back cast; too often, the line travels downwards on its rearward trajectory and gets snagged in the foliage behind. I just couldn’t stop my backward cast at the 12 o’clock position as is required to successfully launch the line forward into the stream. “Stop!” Mingo would roar with escalating ferocity, “Stop!—Stop!” he bellowed from the shore, his face flushed and the veins on his forehead increasingly prominent. “STOP! JUST STOP!”
Some months later, I received a Baetis server for review, as previously scheduled. One of John Mingo’s pet peeves—and, believe me, he had many—was that audiophiles would rush into setting up his players without waiting for the telephone assistance included in the price or even reading the owner’s manual. I folded back the flaps of the sturdy cardboard box to encounter an 8 ½” by 11″ sheet of paper taped to the server with one word printed on it in the largest font that would fit: “STOP.” I was transported back to Montana, my mouth dry and my heart racing.
John Mingo didn’t suffer fools (or computer-challenged audiophiles) and learned early on that this aspect of his personality was costing him sales. He hired Joe Makkerh in Montréal to take over training and customer service, and Baetis flourished, gaining a reputation not just for superb-sounding digital players but also for a level of technical support unsurpassed anywhere in the industry. Mingo retired in 2017 and sold the company to Makkerh, who now functions as its chief designer and CEO. Baetis Audio has maintained three levels of players, the Prodigy, Revolution, and Reference models. When John Mingo passed away in late 2022, it made perfect sense to name Baetis Audio’s most advanced product to date after the curmudgeonly audiophile/economist/fisherman.
Joe Makkerh knows quite a bit about the design and implementation of computer systems but works closely with two younger men having additional expertise. One is Padli Lumsden, a designer with a background in engineering physics, who conceives, builds, and refines many of the critical components found in Baetis computers. The other is Brian Williams, who actually began working for Makkerh at the age of 16. Williams builds all the Baetis systems—Joe Makkerh taught him how to do it—and is also charged with installing the software an individual user requires. In terms of the Baetis Reference 4 Mingo+ Edition music and media server, Williams is responsible for two of the new product’s most significant features, innovations that impact both sound quality and user-friendliness.
First, although Baetis will build you a Reference 4 Mingo+ with a Windows operating system, they’d rather manufacture one with a Linux OS. The advantages of Linux are well known and include its open-source nature: Developers can get at the basic code and make modifications that suit their exact requirements. Beyond that, Joe Makkerh proudly describes his Linux-based server as “lean and mean” and “more appliance-like.” It’s easier to use, with a more stable and secure functionality. A lot less can go wrong with the machine, and software updates are far simpler. Additionally, the Mingo+ operates in “headless” fashion—that is, without the need for a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Instead, the client controls the server with the Roon app and the Baetis Remote module for the Unified Remote mobile app. The module that is installed on a phone or tablet was developed by Williams, and is customized for a specific end-user.
Plenty of connectivity is provided. A high-quality AES/EBU input is standard, and Reference Mingo+ customers get the top USB output from JCAT in the form of the USB Card XE Evo. JCAT cards are typically manufactured in Canada for the Polish company, and it has impressed Joe Makkerh thoroughly. (For $1200 less, you can buy a plain Reference Mingo—no “plus”—that lacks any USB audio interface, which certainly makes sense if you’re using a DAC without a USB input.) HDMI out is provided for multichannel partisans and there are “various enhanced video options” for those who will be using their Baetis to watch movies as well as for critical listening, though this would require that the Mingo+ utilize a Windows operating system. The proprietary daughterboard that’s been a constant in Baetis servers since the company’s beginnings galvanically isolates and substantially reduces noise for both the SPDIF RCA and AES/EBU pathways. An audiophile-grade JCAT XE network card that, like the USB card, is externally powered via a DC cable and made for Baetis by Analysis Plus, is also standard. [See Sidebar.] Speaking of power, as with previous Reference models, a massive HDPLEX 300W linear power supply is included in the price, one with multiple taps to power the main computer as well as the USB and network cards. There’s a 4TB solid-state internal drive and 64 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM; internal wiring is with Revelation Audio Labs cryo-silver. An optical CD-ripping disk drive can be provided as a $100 add-on.
A customer chooses either a silver or black finish for the faceplate of the black case, and there’s an option for a mid-size enclosure, 13.25″ in width instead of 17″, that saves $300. The signatures of John Mingo and Joe Makkerh are laser-etched into the rear aspect of the top plate, a nice touch, though it’s not visible unless the server is sitting on the top of your rack. The on/off switch for the player is hidden away on the right side of the chassis, a small button between the front plate and the first heat fin.
The process of acquiring a Baetis media player begins with a phone call or email to Joe Makkerh. Although there’s a small network of dealers/demonstrators in North America and elsewhere, currently at least 95% of Baetis purchases represent direct sales. Makkerh and the customer settle on the exact configuration for the unit; each machine is built to order with a typical turnaround time of three to four weeks from when the player is ordered until delivery. Usually, Roon music management software is pre-installed, but Baetis is happy to load in JRiver or some other program of the buyer’s choosing, so long as Makkerh is confident it will function reliably with his product. Two short videos, specific to what the customer has purchased, are sent to the owner before the player is shipped. The first covers “What’s-in-the-box,” and the second provides instructions regarding what the customer needs to do ahead of the online meeting that will get them up-and-running. This may represent a bit more coddling than even the most technophobic audiophile needs, but it is sort of reassuring to be addressed by name by the guy who designed your media computer.
When the customer does receive the player, a one-to-two-hour remote session is scheduled with Joe Makkerh to assure the owner can use his new component successfully. As directed by the set-up video, an “EDID video dongle,” about the size of a USB flash drive, is inserted into the HDMI or DisplayPort, allowing the team in Canada to remotely configure the Baetis in the customer’s music system. The client also allows the Montrealers temporary access to the tablet, or phone on which the Unified Remote app resides to be led through the remarkably straightforward procedure to play music. The Baetis can also be controlled from a computer—anything running Roon essentially. If technical problems arise or if additional instruction is needed, help is readily available, generally gratis or—if you’re a really slow learner—at a very reasonable cost. Not only is this level of client support very unusual, Makkerh is a gifted and patient teacher, efficiently and tactfully adjusting to his customer’s level of computer experience.
The Baetis Reference 4 Mingo+ was substituted for the Reference 3B that’s been my everyday digital file player for close to four years. For stereo playback, associated gear included a Tidal Audio Contros DAC/preamplifier, Tidal Ferios monoblocks powering Magico M2s, and a Magico S-Sub. Analog connections were with Siltech 880 series balanced interconnects and speaker cables; digital wires included Wireworld Platinum (AES/EBU) and Cableless (USB) products. For multichannel, the Mingo+ sent data via HDMI to an Anthem AVM 70 processor. Three Pass Labs XA 60.8 amplifiers, a Magico S3 MkII (center) and a pair of Magico S1 MkIIs (surrounds), hooked up with Transparent Audio Ultra cabling, complemented the 2-channel setup.
I’ve had one or another Baetis Audio product in my system pretty much continuously for over a decade, either to review or as my usual server/streamer. With models from both the Revolution and Reference lines, I’ve heard incremental improvements over time. The Reference 4 Mingo+ Edition is more than that, a significantly greater advance over an earlier design than I’ve encountered previously. Generally, I don’t find brief A/B comparisons to be the best way to judge the relative merits of two components, but they can be useful for suggesting why there might be a meaningful difference. Comparisons of the Reference 3B to the Reference 4 Mingo+ reminded me a lot of an examination to get new eyeglasses. The optometrist cycles through different lenses with a phoropter and asks which is clearer: “1 or 2? 2 or 3? 1 or 3?” At first, the difference with each binary choice often seems minimal, if it exists at all. But then you’re presented with an option that’s vastly better, which is the keeper. That’s what listening with the new Baetis seemed like compared to my trusty Ref 3—an obvious choice.
With my Reference 3B vs. Reference 4 Mingo + comparisons, resolution was the audio metric that set them apart. Not resolution in the sense of more musical detail (though that was certainly part of it) but an improved appreciation of the rhythmic vitality, spatiality, and the modulation of timbre and dynamics responsible for interpretive nuance, and that serve as reality triggers for critical listeners. There was a powerful sense of listening more deeply into the music. Making my way through my equipment review playlist, I noted many such instances. Some examples:
As rendered by the Reference 4 Mingo+, it’s obvious that Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche, performed by Christian Ivaldi and Noël Lee on an early-70s EMI recording, is played on two pianos as opposed to one instrument with two musicians sharing the same keyboard (“piano four-hands.”) As a consequence of this additional clarity, the final movement, “Brazileira” accrues more of the lurching syncopation that propels the music forward.
Anthony McGill’s readings of the two Brahms clarinet sonatas on the Cedille label are transcendent because of his subtle shadings of dynamics and tone color, features of his musicianship that have never seemed more evident than with playback of a Qobuz 96/24 stream by the Mingo+.
On Bonnie Raitt’s “Storm Warning” from her Longing in Their Hearts album, the thoroughly organic nature of the background vocals is manifest—it seems apparent that the luxuriant harmonies were worked out in the studio by the four singers as they responded to Raitt’s plaintive lead vocal and the general melancholia of the song.
The very first sound heard on Bernard Haitink’s 2010 performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.15 (RCO Live) is an E above the staff played on a set of orchestral bells. Eighteen bars later, there’s a B a fourth lower, and one can tell that the percussionist is striking a slightly bigger piece of metal to produce that note.
Via the Mingo+, there’s a profound sense of occasion experienced listening to James Levine’s performance of the Brahms Requiem, recorded live in the spacious acoustic of Symphony Hall by the Soundmirror team for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s house label. I was there and remember the feeling.
“Just a Little Lovin’,” the perennial audio show favorite crooned by Shelby Lynne, never sounded more salacious. There was an urgency to the vocal I’d not heard before that I’m sure comes through loud and clear in live performance. (Lynne opened a show with the old Dusty Springfield number as recently as January 2024.)
The explosive dynamics of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band firing on all cylinders are exhilarating yet fully contained on the title track from Act Your Age—with the new Reference model, it’s easier to suspend disbelief when faced with a musical effect that can only be faintly approximated by any stereo system.
It should be noted that the above observations were made utilizing an AES/EBU connection from Baetis to DAC, as that’s how I usually listen to 2-channel music—my Tidal Contros preamp/processor doesn’t have a USB input. There are definitely some advantages to USB, including the capacity to handle very high data rates and native DSD files, of which I have many. I borrowed a Bricasti M1 Series II DAC from Doug White, proprietor of The Voice That Is, which has both AES and USB inputs (as well as RCA SPDIF and TosLink). Further complicating an assessment was that Baetis will also provide, for its retail cost of about $300, the Signalyst software product HQPlayer, a very well-regarded upsampling filter suite. I spent time comparing the USB options—with and without HQPlayer—to AES and found that the former did deliver a touch more detail and transparency, especially with HQPlayer installed. But the difference between AES/EBU and USB was nowhere near as consequential as switching from Baetis Reference 3B AES to Reference 4 Mingo+ AES. The degree of improvement one gets with USB—if any—will be very much dependent on the DAC that’s utilized. If you happen to have a DAC that has both interfaces, such as the Bricasti and converters from Mytek or T+A, by all means make the appropriate comparisons and decide for yourself.
The benefits realized with stereo playback via AES (or USB) were also apparent with multichannel, utilizing a Transparent Audio HDMI cable to connect the Mingo+ to the Anthem and the 5.1 channel amplifier/loudspeaker system described above. As a spatial music enthusiast, I also asked about the possibility of rendering Dolby Atmos. Makkerh and Brian Williams worked out a way to deliver immersive MKV files stored on an external hard drive into my Anthem AVM 70 processor by way of the Mingo+. If you have a special requirement for your digital playback, you should definitely inquire.
Even at this late date, many audiophiles, especially those in middle age or beyond, find the very idea of “computer audio” unappealing. That’s understandable. Too often, there are wasted hours at our day jobs caused by IT glitches and failures, and there’s always a learning curve when a new technology is introduced. Baetis Audio has developed a product that, sonically, is second to none in the digital firmament, and Baetis offer an ease of operation as well as a level of customer support that assures, as much as possible, that a user can spend his precious free time enjoying Bartók, Billie, or Bruce and not staring at a frozen screen or a lonely flashing cursor. Could you just play music off your cellphone and be done with it? Theoretically, yes. But don’t do it. Don’t even think about it. Stop. Just Stop.
Specs & Pricing
Inputs/outputs: One proprietary BNC or RCA SPDIF, one proprietary AES/EBU, one audiophile USB (JCAT XE Evo) with USB 3.0 and 2.0 compatibility, one HDMI 2, one DisplayPort, four USB 3.0
Connectivity: Ethernet (externally powered JCAT), Wifi
Dimensions: 17″ x 4.625″ x 14.5″
Weight: 23 to 25 lbs., depending on options
Price: $14,500 (black or silver, full-size case), as reviewed
BAETIS AUDIO
27 Redpath Place
Montreal QC H3G1E2
Canada
(888) 357-0035
baetisaudio.com
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By Andrew Quint
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