Are you two sisters?

Visually, the new G2.2 is identical in size, shape and colour to the G2.1. Indeed, from the front, it’s nearly impossible to distinguish between them. The rugged build quality and durable high-quality finish remain unchanged. However, take a look at the rear panel, and you’ll notice quite a number of changes.

The exceptionally solid housing of the ALTAIR G2.2 protects its delicate, sensitive innards. Four support feet contain five decoupling springs to isolate the chassis from outside vibration. Don’t put heavy things on the unit, as this will compress the springs.  

AURALiC’s ALTAIR G2.1 is a mature, highly capable product that remains competitive. But if a week is a long time in politics, three years is a lifetime in digital audio. Hence, the decision to update it. The goals were reduced noise, increased capacity, faster processing and improved sonics.

The maximum output voltage has been increased from 4.4V to 6V. This additional output will be beneficial when the G2.2 is utilised as a preamp in conjunction with low-sensitivity power amplifiers driving inefficient speakers. If 6V is too high, you can easily adjust it to a lower value.

The G2.2 now has Galvanic isolation between its Tesla G3 processing platform and balanced Class A ORFEO output modules. This protects the analogue circuits from noise and unwanted interference, resulting in 90% less noise and jitter than the ALTAIR G2.1.

Quad-core

The G2.2’s quad-core 64-bit processor (eight times faster than the one used in the G2.1) delivers superior performance that can cope with evolving digital streaming demands. AURALiC’s DMA (Direct Memory Access) technology allows direct connection to the processor’s Core.

AURALiC asserts that DMA is the reason for reductions in latency and jitter. With 4GB of system memory and data storage, the G2.2 provides rapid signal processing that better accommodates advanced high-resolution signals and enhances the unit’s futureproofing.

There’s space inside for a solid-state hard drive with a maximum internal capacity of 4TB for those wishing to rip their existing CD collections. As I already own an external stand-alone solid-state hard drive, I haven’t utilised this feature myself – but it’s available if you require it. 

Alongside USB and coaxial digital inputs, the G2.2 offers HDD USB and HDMI eARC inputs, as well as two TOSlink optical digital inputs—whereas the G2.1 only provided one. However, the G2.1’s AES Balanced XLR digital input has been omitted due to space constraints.

Mellow moods

A new feature is the option of a ‘Clear’ or ‘Mellow Tone’ setting. The latter adds harmonics to enhance the sound subjectively. Unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly impressed by ‘Mellow’, but it’s worth noting that this feature is still in Beta and may well be improved. More work is required, but the idea has potential. 

Hopefully, one day, ‘Mellow’ will provide a useful alternative for those who find ‘Clear’ too direct and rigid on certain recordings. Any future changes or updates will arrive through a firmware update.

One of the key features of the G2.1 was its lossless stepped analogue resistor volume control. The G2.2 retains this feature, and AURALiC asserts that it provides significant advantages over digital volume control systems. While the latter accurately reduce signal levels, they do not lower the noise floor. 

A true analogue volume control lowers signal levels and the noise floor while maintaining the full dynamic range. Eight coil-latch relays use no power, and no EMI noise is produced when the relays are inactive. 

The result is a noise- and distortion-free, lossless analogue volume control featuring 100 steps in 1dB increments. AURALiC asserts that its implementation consistently remains electronically transparent, ensuring no difference in sound quality between full and attenuated output.  

On balance 

It’s disappointing to lose the AES/EBU digital input. I frequently used this input when pairing my G2.1 with a CD transport, as it provided superior sound compared to coaxial. However, I now use a PS Audio PerfectWave SACD transport, which features an I²S output through an HDMI socket.  

I hoped this might work using the G2.2’s eARC HDMI input, but sadly, it didn’t! I encountered the same issue with Topping’s DX9 DAC. Alas, it seems the I²S output offered by PS Audio’s CD/SACD transport only functions when connected to the  I²S input of a PS Audio DAC. 

Does this matter? Probably not… With CDs in decline, it’s unlikely many will be particularly bothered. However, it’s a pity, as  I²S  maintains the various clock and signal data lines separately (instead of multiplexing them), which noticeably enhances CD sound quality compared to coaxial or AES/EBU. 

Vinyl and cans

The G2.2’s built-in MM phono stage is quite respectable, as is the headphone amp. Although a good outboard phono stage or dedicated headphone amp will undoubtedly sound even better, both options are perfectly acceptable and useful to have.

As a streamer, the G2.2 supports all the usual platforms: Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, Amazon Music, and AirPlay2. It is also Roon-ready. When using Qobuz through AURALiC’s Lightning app, you receive CD booklet notes and images for most classical music releases— a very useful feature in my opinion. 

I reviewed the original ALTAIR G2.1 in the summer of 2021, shortly after its introduction, and was so impressed with its performance that I went ahead and purchased one. Sound quality was a significant factor, but what truly clinched the deal was AURALiC’s IOS Lightning App. 

Lightning’s slick user interface was a revelation when partnered with an Apple iPad. Alas, Android users are less well served. AURALiC abandoned the development of its dedicated Android App due to variations and inconsistencies between different phones. 

However, although AURALiC lacks an Android app, you can utilise OpenHome-based control software such as BubbleUPnP and Linn Kazoo. My advice? Don’t waste your time! Beg, borrow, or steal an iPad to experience the superb user interface of AURALiC’s Lightning iOS app. You won’t regret it.

Setting up

The installation was relatively straightforward, and the G2.2 was soon operational via its balanced XLR outputs. These provide a slightly superior sound compared to the unbalanced RCAs, delivering a bigger, more dynamic audio experience with enhanced presence. Additionally, you receive a bit more gain. 

I switched the anti-aliasing filter from ‘Smooth’ to ‘Dynamic’ to align with my G2.1. While many DACs offer various anti-aliasing filters, the differences are often so subtle that they hardly justify the effort. However, AURALiC’s four filters — ‘Precise’, ‘Dynamic’, ‘Balance’ and ‘Smooth’ — produce a noticeable difference and are worth exploring. 

When comparing the G2.1 and G2.2 streamers for sound quality, it is clear that the G2.2 surpasses the former. Tonally, both are quite similar in terms of voicing, and each provides a natural and unexaggerated sound. However, with attentive listening, it soon becomes clear that they are not exactly the same.

Comparing the two

Beyond a few native similarities, the G2.2 delivers a smoother, more flowing musical presentation. It is cleaner, more refined, more fluid and more relaxed. The music sounds silkier, with improved purity on vocals and less harshness on bright percussive instruments like the harpsichord.  

In comparison, the G2.1 appears slightly grainier. It isn’t quite as clear and pure. A recital for violin and piano featuring Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labeque on Signum showcased a few key differences. Through the G2.2, their performance exhibited a clean, limpid transparency that was highly engaging.

The G2.1 also sounded good, but I noticed a slight tonal coarseness. The music didn’t flow as effortlessly, and the playing felt a touch less gracious. It wasn’t significantly worse, but the G2.2 was somewhat more persuasive and drew one deeper into the music (and performance).

The G2.2 sounds like a genuinely good analogue source rather than a digital one. The G2.1 isn’t quite as effortlessly neutral or fluid, as if there’s a slight noise component present that introduces a hint of glare. Why? I believe the G2.2’s cleaner sound is attributed to its galvanic isolation.

Listening to the G2.2 was easier and more comfortable. There is an innate rightness about its musical rendition that is very compelling. While the differences between a G2.1 and a G2.2 may appear superficial, once identified, they become surprisingly significant and difficult to overlook. 

Additional refinement

The additional refinement and clarity of the G2.2 makes it more tolerant of flaws and limitations in the source material. However, that’s not entirely accurate. The G2.2 is not so much ‘forgiving’ of flaws as it is less reactive to them. It doesn’t introduce any unpleasant artefacts of its own…

I noticed this while playing some historical albums by Sir John Barbirolli, including his pioneering 1950 account of Rubbra’s 5th symphony. The G2.2’s clarity and focus allowed me to hear deeply into the recording, and the result sounded surprisingly good.

Streaming Rubbra 5 through the G2.1, I noticed a slight glare that obscured low-level detail, rendering the limitations of EMI’s 1950 mono recording more apparent. The result remained very listenable, but there is no question that the G2.2 performed better. 

Using the PS Audio PerfectWave SACD Transport and DirectStream DAC as a reference, I compared various CD and SACD recordings with the streamed version via Qobuz. The PS Transport and DAC set a very high standard, yet the G2.2 effortlessly matched it in terms of clarity and tonality.

Indeed, CD and Streaming sounded very close most of the time, making it difficult to discern any meaningful difference or say which was better. Typically, a Hi-Rez stream from the G2.2 matched the equivalent SACD played on the PS Transport/DAC. 

Many brothers

Another album I compared was Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms, specifically the original first-press CD from 1985, the 1996 CD remaster, and the 2005 20th Anniversary SACD. How did these fare against the album streamed from Qobuz? Once again, it was a close-run thing.

I was surprised Brother in Arms was still in vanilla-plain 16-bit 44.1kHz rather than Hi-Rez. Is that because it’s an original digital recording? Nonetheless, it sounded very good—noticeably fuller and richer than my original 1985 CD, which seemed to have been transferred at a slightly lowish level.

The 1996 remastered CD represented a superior transfer and sounded better, comparing very favourably to the Qobuz stream via the G2.2. Indeed, once I had equalised the levels, it was difficult to discern a significant difference between the 1996 CD and the streamed album.

The SACD offered a slightly airier and more spacious sound, though the difference was minimal. The PS Audio combo excels with CD, making the perceived distinction between CD and SACD rather small. The higher frequencies tend to be generally freer and more open with SACD, although this effect is subtle. 

Outstandingly good

From this, I conclude that the ALTAIR G2.2 is outstandingly good—to all practical intents and purposes, nearly perfect. It extracts every last scrap of musical information from streamed digital files and delivers a rewarding and involving musical presentation that is coherent, refined, and precise. 

But who knows? Three years from now, AURALiC might launch a revamped ALTAIR G2.3 with even better specifications. However, unless some unforeseen major breakthrough takes place, I worry it won’t be easy to produce something that sounds significantly superior to today’s G2.2. Here’s why…

We’ve reached a point of diminishing returns where improvements are becoming increasingly minimal. A future upgrade might well deliver an astonishing 80% reduction in noise. But – so what? If that noise is already at vanishingly low levels, having 80% less is unlikely to seem particularly significant subjectively. 

For those looking to buy their first streamer or upgrade from something older and more basic, investing in AURALiC’s ALTAIR G2.2 will be pure delight. You’ll get a versatile unit with great sound quality and the matchless user interface of AURALiC’s Lightning App on an iPad. 

What more can I say? If the AURALiC ALTAIR G2.2 appeals to you, simply purchase one and live happily ever after…

Specs & Pricing

Manufacturer AURALiC
www.auralic.com

How much of the Reference products’ performance has been incorporated into the Studio Player? That’s the question this review will explore. An enticing detail is that the Studio Player’s DAC circuit is identical to that of Wadax’s $175k Reference DAC, but with a less elaborate implementation. Fortunately, I’m able to directly compare the full suite of Reference products with the Studio Player. It should be interesting.

Three of us from The Absolute Sound heard the Studio Player at its introduction in Munich last year, and to a person we were greatly impressed. The Studio Player directly fed a pair of Audio Research’s new 330M monoblocks (watch for JV’s upcoming review), which drove Magico S3 2024 loudspeakers, all connected with Shunyata’s new affordable Theta interconnects and speaker cables. As someone with many hundreds of hours of listening time with the Wadax Reference components, I could hear the Wadax “DNA” in the sound. Tom Martin remarked that within seconds of hearing the first piece of music he had the impression that something was fundamentally right about the sound. Tom, Alan Taffel, and I singled out this room as one of the best-sounding in Munich, which is saying a lot in a show packed with vastly more expensive systems.

Description

The Studio Player’s casework is unmistakably Wadax, with a close family resemblance to the Reference products. The Studio Player, however, is more streamlined and conventional looking than the polarizing styling of the Reference components. The front panel is dominated by a 5″ color touchscreen that controls all functions. The Studio Player can also be controlled by the supplied ultra-slim remote control, although you’ll need to use the touchscreen for setup. Beneath the touchscreen is a disc drawer for CD and SACD playback, which glides in and out with silky smoothness.

The rear panel holds a pair of XLR analog output jacks. No RCA analog outputs are provided, although an option provides RCA outputs as well as a headphone jack. There are three digital output jacks in case you want to use the Studio Player as a streamer or disc transport (AES/EBU, RCA, BNC) as well as two clock inputs. The two clock inputs and optional power-supply jack allow the Studio Player to be upgraded as your budget permits.

The Studio Player can connect directly to Spotify, Qobuz, and Tidal through their native apps, with more streaming services on the way. The Studio Player is also one of the first streamers to support Tidal MAX, a new option that provides for up to 192kHz/24-bit playback through Tidal. Within the various streaming apps, you can see artwork, select music, and create playlists. Wadax has applied for Roon certification, but at press time the Studio Player is not yet a certified Roon Endpoint. The option of streaming from one of the streaming services directly is a feature that’s friendly to non-audiophiles in the household. Any user logged into the network can send music or playlists to the Studio Player through the native Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, or Qobuz Connect apps. MQA from both disc and streaming is supported, as is DSD streaming (DSD64, DSD128, DSD256). (Note that MQA decoding isn’t provided on the digital outputs because of digital rights restrictions.) The Studio Player is UPnP compliant and incorporates AirPlay. This latter capability allows you to stream from a TV to the Studio Player, with the Studio Player acting as the audio device to reproduce soundtracks from Netflix, Prime, and any other AirPlay device for improved sound quality. For example, if you have an AppleTV streaming box, you can select the Studio Player as the audio output device in the setup menu and enjoy movies and television shows in much greater fidelity through the Studio Player’s vastly superior DAC, power supplies, and clocking. The only requirement is that the Studio Player and AppleTV must be connected to the same network.

Qobuz, Spotify, and Tidal, in their “Connect” mode, as well as when used with a music-management app like Roon, are clocked by the master clock inside the DAC—a good thing. But AirPlay is the opposite; it wants to be the master clock to which the DAC locks, an arrangement that introduces jitter. This applies to any AirPlay device, from an iPhone to AppleTV, to Macs, and to iPads. To sync the DAC to the incoming data stream, the typical method is to use an asynchronous sample-rate converter (ASRC). The problem with an ASRC is that it resamples the incoming data so that it can output data at a known and precise sample rate to which the DAC can lock. That means that it changes the sample values, introducing small amplitude errors in the output signal. This was unacceptable to Wadax, so they designed a proprietary AirPlay implementation that allows the DAC to be the master clock without an ASRC. Wadax reports that in their listening tests, their method is significantly better sounding.

The front panel provides a wealth of set-up adjustments. One setting is whether the Studio Player has a fixed or variable output level. The former is for using the Studio Player with a preamplifier, the latter when driving a power amplifier directly. When in the variable-output mode, you can select the size of the steps in the volume adjustment. When I started using the Studio Player, I found the volume step sizes a little too big but easily reduced the step size, which made it easier to dial-in the precise volume I wanted. You can also set the nominal output level to 1V, 2V, or 4V (2V is the standard output level of DACs). Other adjustments include the player’s output impedance, polarity inversion, balance control, and the default playback layer of hybrid CD/SACD discs. When streaming, the display shows the album art and volume level. When playing a disc, the display shows track and time information.

Design

As with Wadax’s Reference products, the Studio Player is built to a very high standard of construction. It is made from more than 4500 discrete parts distributed over 40 separate printed circuit boards. The power supply is elaborate, with distributed regulators next to the circuits they supply. There are five stages of initial DC regulation followed by 30 local regulation stages.

A power supply regulator smooths out any fluctuations in the DC voltage that supplies a circuit. A large number of regulation stages better isolates the subsystems from each other as well as delivering cleaner DC to the audio circuits. Cascaded regulation, in which the output of one regulator feeds the input of another, results in smoother and quieter DC. Indeed, Wadax claims the total noise on the voltage rails is 0.5µV (1Hz–100kHz), an astonishingly low figure. This is a very sophisticated power supply by any measure.

The Studio Player benefits from Wadax’s proprietary “musIC 3” feed-forward error-correction system that operates in the time domain. According to Wadax, “by mapping the error mechanisms of a chosen DAC chip under load using Adaptive Delta Hilbert Mapping, we can develop an algorithm that examines the incoming signal and calculates the induced error (both linear and nonlinear) that will result. By applying an inverse signal at the input, we can real-time correct for the time and phase error that is so musically destructive in other, conventional decoding systems. This process requires a massive number of mathematical operations and a considerable data transfer rate of 12.8GBytes/s. Processing is done at 128-bit internal resolution to precisely render the output and generate the smallest feed-forward corrections.” This Wadax-developed technology has proven itself in the Reference DAC.

As I mentioned previously, the Studio Player’s DAC circuit is the same as that in the Reference DAC, but without the cost-no-object implementation. It is a fully balanced dual-mono design with complete physical separation of the left and right channels in both the analog and digital domains. The balanced DAC operation is why the Studio Player has only balanced outputs; the performance would be compromised by summing the two halves of the balance signal, or simply discarding one phase (which is sometimes done). The DAC stage benefits from the topology developed for the Reference DAC, as well as from the use of the same approach to clocking and power supply design but implemented within space and cost restrictions. The Studio Player’s DACs are on modular boards that can be replaced in the future as technology improves.

An unusual feature is the ability by the user to adjust the Studio Player’s output impedance. This feature, also found on the Reference DAC, allows you to better electrically match the Studio Player to the power amplifier it is driving. It’s a subtle difference but meaningful at this level of performance.

The Studio Player is solidly built, weighing 66 pounds out of the carton. The build-quality and fit ’n’ finish are exceptional. It’s also very easy and pleasant to use daily.

Listening

I auditioned the Studio Player primarily in its variable-output mode driving the CH Precision M10 amplifiers directly through AudioQuest Dragon interconnects. Being intimately familiar with the sound of Wadax’s cost-no-object Reference digital playback system, I was eager to hear its technical and spiritual descendent through the same playback system—Wilson Chronosonic XVX loudspeakers driven by the CH Precision amps.

It was immediately obvious that the Studio Player was cut from the same sonic cloth as its antecedent; the Studio Player shared a similar sonic signature to that of the Reference system.

Specifically, the Studio Player had fabulous bass—extended, full, warm, and rich. This tonal foundation set the stage for the Studio Player’s overall density of tone color and saturation of timbre. This is one quality I greatly appreciate in the Reference products, and now in the Studio Player; the Wadax products don’t have the characteristic thinness of tonal density and bleaching of tone color so common in digital. The weight and textural density in the bottom octaves through the lower midrange establish the player’s overall warmth. The Studio Player avoids a common shortcoming of digital—a threadbare character in the midbass that bleaches tone colors like an underexposed photograph,

The Studio Player avoided another drawback of digital—a bottom end that has weight but no textural detail. In many digital products, there’s plenty of energy in the bottom end, but the presentation sounds a bit mechanical, lacking the inner detail that reveals the mechanism that produced the sound. Two reference-quality tracks for assessing this attribute are the famous Ray Brown release Soular Energy, along with “Blue Bossa” from Brian Bromberg’s Wood II. On the Ray Brown album, the Studio Player not only reproduced the full weight and inner detail of Brown’s instrument; it also conveyed his unmatched sense of swing (you can also hear him swing hard on the terrific Duke’s Big 4). Bromberg’s solo acoustic bass performance covers an amazingly wide scale, revealing any anomalies between registers. The Studio Player’s highly resolved bottom end reveals nuances of expression in dynamics, timing, and timbre that add to the sense of hearing music-making. The acoustic trio album The Rite of Strings by Jean-Luc Ponty, Al Di Meola, and Stanley Clarke features some intricate unison passages between all three acoustic instruments (violin, guitar, bass). Through the Wadax Reference system, and now through the Studio Player, I could clearly hear the pitch and dynamics of Stanley Clarke’s acoustic bass rather than a slow and muddled blur. The Studio Player beautifully revealed the timing precision of these three superb musicians. This quality added to the sense of liveliness and musical energy.

The Studio Player’s midrange manages to sound rich, warm, and dense in tone color without being overly romantic. I attribute this quality to the Studio Player’s purity of timbre and its lack of grain, edge, and hardness. The Studio Player’s freedom from a hard and glassy edge on forte piano passages was evident on the beautiful solo by Rachel Z on the track “Inamorata” from her album Sensual. I can’t overstate how important the Studio Player’s smoothness and liquidity of timbre is to its overall sense of ease and ability to become absorbed in the music. Without the whitish grain and metallic edge overlaying timbres, music listening is so much more involving because one’s attention is on the performance without having to listen past the artifice. The rich density of timbre and lack of grain gave the music a natural and organic sound that promotes the experience of engaged relaxation, of slipping into musical immersion quickly and deeply. In fact, that’s perhaps the best barometer of a component’s quality—along with the urge to continue listening long past the planned time of the session.

Similarly, the treble is smooth and extended yet infused with detail. On the Rachel Z album, drummer Omar Hakim (Rachel Z’s husband) provides some delicate and sympathetic percussion that the Studio Player reproduced with gentle ease. Listen, for example, to the sensitive and perfectly balanced ride cymbal accents on the title track. The cymbal shimmers with a wealth of inner detail without a trace of hardness or glare. Moreover, the Studio Player resolves the cymbal’s inner detail as it decays. For another example of the Studio Player’s purity of timbre, check out Roy Hargrove’s trumpet on Jimmy Cobb’s Jazz in the Key of Blue on a Chesky SACD. This is perhaps the best-recorded trumpet sound I’ve heard, and the Studio Player reproduced it with a bell-like clarity and freedom from artifact that were breathtaking.

The Studio Player’s great achievement is delivering this smoothness and ease without sacrificing resolution. The resolution is presented not as sonic detail, but as musical expression. It’s not resolution that’s thrust at you and calls attention to itself. Rather, the resolution is in subtle details that reveal the inner character of an instrument’s timbre, the low-level decay of a cymbal, a vocalist’s unique turn of a phrase that adds poignancy to a lyric.

Although the Studio Player has a highly refined and sophisticated presentation, it doesn’t lack rhythmic drive and power. It can convey the high energy of a great band hitting on all cylinders. In addition to the fabulously weighty bass mentioned, the Studio Player has exceptional transient speed and dynamic agility. You can hear this in the way a bass guitar and kick drum work together to create a whole-body rhythmic flow. Listen to the track “Hands On” from Bob James’ Morning, Noon, and Night to hear the Studio Player’s dynamic prowess unleashed. Or how the Studio Player conveys the electric energy of Diana Krall’s first-rate band on Live in Paris, here played via SACD in the Studio Player’s disc transport.

Finally, we come to a quality that distinguishes Wadax from other digital products—dimensionality. The first time I heard the Reference DAC I was taken aback by the soundstage’s depth and three-dimensionality. The Studio Player continues that legacy, not just with depth and layering but also with a tangible sense of air between images. Images appear in the soundstage spatially distinct from other images, as separate entities rather than fused into the soundstage fabric. A recording with an amazing sense of space is The Astounding Eyes of Rita by the Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem. The unusual instrumentation combines this ancient Middle Eastern instrument with bass, percussion (the darbuka and bendir), and bass clarinet. This ECM recording is spectacular in its dimensionality, with tangible air and the instruments lighting up the surrounding acoustic. Through the Studio Player, the playback system completely disappears, with images detached from the speakers and precisely located in space. The fabulous bass clarinet solo on the nine-minute title track also exemplifies the Studio Player’s richness and density of tone color in the lower registers, conveying the delicious deep woody character of this instrument. This recording also revealed how the Studio Player makes images suddenly appear in the soundstage in a way that is sometime startling—the entrance of the percussion, for example. I attribute this to the Studio Player’s transient speed as well as the utterly silent background.

As great as the Studio Player sounds, it is unsurprisingly not at the same level as the Reference system. That $465k package has deeper and more precise bass, greater dimensionality, and even smoother textures. But I’ll share with you an experience I had on more than one occasion that puts the difference into perspective. Many times, I was in a listening session at night for pleasure (not critical listening) and would completely forget that I was listening to the Studio Player and not to the usual Reference System. That’s how musically involving it is. When reviewing a “lesser” component in place of your reference component, there’s the tendency to feel something is missing and to want to finish the evaluation so that you can go back to hearing the system at its maximum performance level. The greatest testament to the Studio Player’s fundamental musical rightness is that I spent many evenings completely immersed in the music and didn’t give a second thought to the Reference system sitting in my rack unused. And remember that this comparison was made within the context of an ultra-high-resolution system of the Wilson Chronosonic XVX driven by state-of-the-art CH Precision amplification.

Conclusion

I’m thrilled that Wadax has distilled the technology and “soul” of the Reference system into the convenient, easy-to-use, and relatively affordable Studio Player. It’s a wonder that they managed to combine a streamer, DAC, CD/SACD player, and volume control into a single chassis while retaining the virtues that have distinguished Wadax’s best efforts. The Studio Player is the ideal heart of a compact and user-friendly system—just add a control tablet, power amplifier, and speakers. I also like the fact that it can be upgraded in the future with the addition of an outboard power supply and external clock. Moreover, the DACs are on modular boards that can be swapped if new technologies come along, protecting your investment. Best of all is the Studio Player’s sound quality. It has a tonal warmth and body that comes from its rich full bass and midbass, coupled with a lack of metallic sheen in the upper midrange and treble that make for a relaxed and involving listening experience. This ease doesn’t come at the expense of resolution; the Studio Player’s resolution is the musical kind that doesn’t rely on sonic fireworks. And then there’s the outstanding dimensionality and expansive soundstage that better allows the speakers to disappear.

Although not a budget-priced component, the Wadax Studio Player is, nonetheless, a bargain that delivers fabulous sound, sophisticated technology, upgradability, and ease of use in a single chassis. I think of it as The One-Box Wonder.

Specs & Pricing

Disc formats: CD, SACD
Streaming: Tidal and Spotify (more streaming services coming)
Analog output: Balanced on XLR jacks, fixed or variable, selectable output levels
Digital outputs: AES/EBU, SPDIF on RCA jack, SPDIF on BNC jack
External clock inputs: 2 on BNC jacks
Other inputs: Optional external power supply
Display: Five-inch color touchscreen
Output level: Fixed level selectable,1V, 2V, 4V; variable output level from front panel or remote control
Dimensions: 18.9″ x 10.45″ x 17.1″
Weight: 66 lbs. net, 99 lbs. shipping
Price: $39,800

WADAX S.A.
Ulises 108, 2A
28043 Madrid
wadax.eu
info@wadax.eu

Associated Equipment

Analog source: Basis Audio A.J. Conti Transcendence turntable with SuperArm 12.5 tonearm; Air Tight Opus cartridge; Moon 810LP phonostage; DS Audio ST-50 stylus cleaner
Amplification: CH Precision L10 linestage, CH Precision M10 power amplifiers
AC Power: Shunyata Everest 8000 conditioner, Omega and Sigma NR V2 power cords; Shunyata AC outlets, five dedicated 20A lines wired with identical length 10AWG
Support: Critical Mass Systems Olympus equipment racks and Olympus amplifier stands; CenterStage² isolation, Arya Audio RevOpods isolation
Cables: AudioQuest Dragon interconnects and AudioQuest Dragon Zero and Dragon Bass loudspeaker cables
Acoustics: Acoustic Geometry Pro Room Pack 12
Room: Purpose-built; Acoustic Sciences Corporation Iso-Wall System

“Streaming may be the most popular way to listen to music, but there is still a thriving market in CD sales, not to mention the sizable existing base of audiophiles and casual listeners who own hundreds or thousands of discs they collected over the years,” says Roger Fortier, VP and Sales, Forte Distribution, U.S. distributor of Shanling Electronics. “The CR60 is custom tailored for music lovers who enjoy their CD collections and continue to buy new by their favorite artists.”

Shanling’s CR60 CD transport and ripper employs a user-friendly interface that allows even novice users to easily navigate the model’s extensive feature set. A compact 1.14” screen displays the core playback and ripping details with Shanling’s intuitive menu and icons. A simple switch on the back allows the user to easily shift from recording to playback mode.

Internally, the CR60 uses top-shelf parts for a seamless ripping and listening experience. The Phillips CD drive and Sanyo HD850 laser are considered some of the most reliable components in audio.

The CR60 is available in either black or silver. The aluminum alloy chassis is sleek and sturdy, and an aesthetic match for nearly any interior design. Its compact dimensions — 11.61” x 11.22 x 5.31” — make it easy to place the CR60 in a rack, on a desktop, or wherever the user prefers.

In addition to the CR60, the package includes a remote control and a USB-A to USB-C power cable.

Adds Mr. Fortier: “In November, Billboard reported more than 21 million CDs were sold in North America, and a large percentage were bought by the Gen-Z demographic. With its flexibility, affordable price, and unshakable reliability, the CR60 is the perfect transport and ripper for music fans in 2025.”

For further information about the Shanling CR60 transport and ripper, visit https://forte-distribution.com/product/shanling-cr60-digital-transport-cd-ripper.

DG’s engineers nailed the sound the day they recorded the Bartók, Salonen was on fire, and the orchestra was ablaze, playing as if possessed. Above all, what the recording captures is the sound in the tonal sense: I recognized the character of the orchestra and the character of the hall. Also, the dynamic window is rather awesome, an adjective I rarely reach for. The Miraculous Mandarin, about three thugs using a young prostitute to lure men from the street so they can rob them, is a riot of color and instrumental combinations. Just listen to the opening where Bartók paints a portrait in sound of the turbulence and chaos of a modern city: rushing strings, piercing woodwinds, and stabbing muted trumpets. In the First Decoy Game, the clarinet, who is the woman, is all teasing, cynical seductiveness, the trombone glissandi, representing the first victim, marvelously sleazy. In The Third Decoy Game, the mandarin appears, with muted trombones against shrieking winds and strings, one of the most bracingly dissonant sounds in music of the last century. This is a truly vicious, even violent score, rivaling The Rite of Spring in sheer abrasive power, and should sound it. The recording is close; like the hall itself, it allows you to hear everything in distinct and vivid colors, yet also as an integrated pattern, with the whole orchestra deployed across a wide and reasonably deep soundstage. Owing to the proximity of the miking, the appearance of depth is less than what I heard in situ, but this is typically the case with most closely miked orchestral recordings.

I have several recordings of this piece. For comparison, I chose Susanna Mälkki’s 2017 recording on BIS, like the Salonen also SACD. BIS’ sonics, no less dynamic, bring a less proximate setup, with more hall sound and greater blend and naturalness of timbre. This suits Mälkki’s interpretation, which tilts in the direction of Debussy as Salonen’s does toward early Stravinsky. I like them both equally, both benefit from state-of-the-art engineering albeit with technologically different approaches, and both were handled by the 07X with consummate ease, control, and evident fidelity.

I was not in the least surprised by this. The D-07X derives from Luxman’s flagship D-10X, which I reviewed in 2021 (Google “Seydor Luxman D-10X”). The X series replaces the U series, with the 07X bridging the gap between the D-03X at $4195 and the D-10X at $16,995. Priced closer to the 03X at $9995 but in features, performance, and overall design and engineering much closer to the 10X, think of 07X as a scaled-down 10X instead of a hot-rodded 03X. As with the 10X and many other Luxman products, the 07X uses mass to achieve the greatest possible stability, rigidity, damping, and resonance reduction, only less of it (e.g., 10X’s top plate is 5mm thick aluminum, side plates 8mm iron; 07X’s 1.6mm iron and 1.2mm iron), and the chassis is a little smaller (in depth and height, otherwise the appearance and styling are identical). Not to worry, by any standards other than those of the pricier model, the new player is no lightweight, tipping the scales at 37.5 pounds and boasting the same outstanding fit, finish, and engineering. (I’ve never seen a Luxman product at any price that makes you feel you’re sacrificing quality just because you spend less.) The power supply is smaller but, again, far from welterweight and 50 percent larger than the one in the U model it replaces.

According to Luxman of America’s CEO Jeffrey Sigmund, the change with the most sonic consequence is the output stage. Although both players are fully balanced, the 10X uses discrete circuits, the 07X op-amps with buffering. But three key areas of the circuit are shared. First, the onboard DAC is the BD34301EKV from ROHM Semiconductor, premiered in the 10X and retained here, still in dual-mono configuration with full soup-to-nuts MQA rendering and decoding. Second, the 07X’s transport is the same proprietary Lx DTM-I, with its superior disc-reading mechanism. And third, connectivity and useable formats remain unchanged. Excepting Blu-ray audio, the 07X will play virtually any audio-only two-channel or hybrid disc on the planet, including MQA CDs. Through the USB inputs it will handle PCM from 44.1kHz to 786kHz and DSD from 2.8MHz to 22.4MHz (i.e., 512). The coaxial and optical inputs are limited to PCM 44.1–192kHz, with one fewer optical port on the 07X.

Like the flagship model, the 07X has the same pair of filters for SACD playback.. According to Luxman, D-1 is the normal filter, with slow decay and slow roll-off of energy pulses, resulting in a sound that is smoother; D-2 is high attenuation, with steep decay and sharp roll-off of energy pulses, resulting in a “clear, precise” sound. The company recommends D-1 for most playback. While the differences twixt the two are not gross, rapid A/B comparisons confirmed the thumbnails: D1 warmer, D2 more neutral. But clearly, personal taste will figure into your choice: listeners drawn to acoustical music are likelier to prefer D1; enthusiasts of heavy metal, hard-driving rock, or some of the spikier, more aggressive forms of jazz will likelier go for D2. Associated equipment will affect choice, as well. Most modern loudspeakers with rising top ends (which, alas, means most modern loudspeakers) would suggest D1, but if you prefer a more Yang-like presentation, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Like every Luxman product I’ve ever reviewed, the 07X, performed flawlessly in use, but there are two functional oddities retained from the earlier model. First, while Luxman allows you to access the D1/D2 filtering from the remote handset, absolute-polarity selection is available only on the front panel, despite the fact that ideally you should be able to switch settings from the listening position. Second, and even more frustrating, the player does not allow fast forward and fast reverse across track breaks. This proved particularly annoying when trying to compare how different formats handle the acoustic fade-aways of music into ambience, which typically occur at the end of a selection. If I didn’t hit fast reverse quickly enough and the next track was engaged, I had to go back to the beginning of the previous track, fast forward to near the end, and hope I was quick enough on the trigger before the laser hit the track end. Rapid-fire comparisons were thus impossible. Offhand, I can’t think of another CD player that behaves this way. What is most puzzling is that this behavior isn’t the result of faulty operation or defect; rather, someone at Luxman actually seems to think this a desirable characteristic and designed it in. Whatever on earth for?

The 10X was barely released before rumors began to fly that Luxman would soon be bringing out a lower-priced model that comes very close in performance. How does the 07X compare to its older, bigger sibling? Here I’m afraid I’m going to be less helpful than I would like. Well over two years have passed since return of the 10X. As we all know, audio memory is notoriously unreliable. In the case of these two players, things are further complicated by the fact that they have been voiced to sound as much alike as possible. All Luxman products go through a final design stage during which they are voiced by a single individual: Masakazu Nagatsuma, head of the company’s Research and Development, who puts each model through a series of intensive listening sessions that involves such processes as substituting crucial parts of the circuitry, such as capacitors selected from a tray of same, or tweaking the screws and bolts that secure transformers and circuit boards. Luxman’s design goal is for every product to sound—the words originate with Luxman’s designers, as conveyed by Sigmund—“musical and natural, never strident or aggressive. They want you to be able to hear all sorts of detail, even at the micro level, yet without fatigue, for a rich, musical experience.”

During the review period, I played every source I referenced in my review of the 10X. On the basis of my notes and my memory, nothing I heard during the evaluation of the new model indicates it sounds different from the previous and more expensive one, which suggests that such differences as exist are too small to discern apart from A/B comparisons. Sigmund assures me they are there, notably as regards detail. One online reviewer suggested the larger model images better—bigger, wider, deeper—and that instruments sound more solid and real, easier to listen to, etc. This particular reviewer, like Sigmund, had both players side by side, as I did not, so I shall restrict my comments to what I heard from the 07X.

To begin with, while Luxman definitely tailors the sound to be musical, it remains within the bounds of what I call acceptable neutrality. Recently I had occasion to review Craft Recordings’  Super Deluxe edition of the complete remastered soundtrack of The Sound of Music. The new remastering is fresh, clean, super-transparent, and a little brightened up, as most remasterings in my experience tend to be. I auditioned the CDs over three different setups: an Oppo BD105 used as a CD player, a Benchmark DAC3 fed by the Oppo as transport, and the 07X used as a CD player. The setup that sounded most accurate was the Oppo/Benchmark pair, hardly unexpected; absolute neutrality and the highest possible accuracy and precision are at the core of Benchmark’s philosophy, with no tonal flavorings. By contrast, the 07X sounded slightly less bright, a little more natural and musical, a little easier to cozy up to, if you will.

These differences essentially held through all the evaluations. So this is not misunderstood, the 07X is in no way grossly, let alone coarsely, colored. It doesn’t slather butter or chocolate sauce over everything. As I’ve said, its presentation remains within the overall boundaries of neutrality, just that degree more inviting and easeful, a hint of warmth and smoothness, but applied with a commendably light and fastidious hand. As a general rule, it’s strings, violins in particular, where you tend to notice Luxman’s tonal shadings first. This is no surprise, as most of the time orchestras are recorded too close, and strings suffer the most. My latest favorite recording of strings is Vilde Frang’s all-Mozart Hyperion disc of the first and fifth violin concertos and the Sinfonia Concertante, for which she teams with the violist Maxim Rysanov, all accompanied by the splendid HIP ensemble Arcangelo, conducted by Jonathan Cohen. The string sound here is so beautifully captured, as is the ensemble as a whole, it doesn’t need the 07X’s ministrations to make it more musical, though I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the soupçon of sweetness it provided.

Next to strings, voices also seem to acquire subtly more dimensionality. The Sound of Music remastering demonstrates this handily, as does the Norwegian 2L label’s An Old Hall Ladymass, performed by the Trio Mediæval, a group of three singers reminiscent of the Anonymous Four. I played the SACD layer through the Oppo BD105 with excellent results in terms of definition, presence, and transparency, but when I switched over to the Luxman, a difficult-to-define but very subtly etched character disappeared in favor of a pleasing roundedness to the singers and a more relaxed and easeful presentation (I don’t mean “relaxed” in terms of the group’s performance, rather of the presentation in audio-reproductive terms).

This player does not, however, fall short when it comes to power, slam, dynamics, and the like. One of the reasons I began with The Miraculous Mandarin was to put paid to any fears the 07X is merely soft, laid-back, or lacking in detail and resolution. Still in doubt? Try the SACD of Saturday Night in San Francisco (Impex) or its streaming equivalent: three virtuoso guitarists, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia, at the peak of their artistry in sonics of hair-trigger transients, stunning resolution, and reach-out-and-touch-it transparency. As for detail and resolution in general, well, you will usually give up a little of those things when something sounds smoother and prettier. But since so many recordings, owing to the close miking, have far more detail than one ever hears in most live venues, that’s a sacrifice I make without a second thought. Further, the 07X passes my usual tests for detail and resolution with ease (e.g., Argerich’s fingernails on piano keys, the piano bleeding through Jacintha’s headphones on her Johnny Mercer album, countless instances of pages turning on ensemble recordings, etc.).

Speaking of streaming, I use an Aurender A10 (Google “Seydor Aurender TAS”) and a BluOS Node 2i, both of which have built in DACs with full MQA rendering and decoding. All the while I had the 07X, I used the Node 2i as a music server only, feeding the 07X’s DAC. Now, the Node 2i is an excellent player even without adding “for the money”; but the improvement substituting the DAC section of the Luxman made was impressive on both MQA and hi-res Qobuz, the music emerging with more life, vitality, and visceral immediacy.

Like the 10X, the 07X joins that small number of digital disc players that handle full playback of MQA discs. I continue to find this whole area of audio a study in uncertainty and confusion. For U.S. and European consumers, I’m wondering how much of a draw this is, given the limited number of such discs available, most of them pricey, the imported ones (mostly from Japan) pricier still. Then too, not long ago, MQA went into “administration,” more or less the UK equivalent to our Title 11, and was soon after acquired by Lenbrook, parent company to NAD, PSB, and BluOS, but as of this writing it remains unclear as to how Lenbrook plans to market its new acquisition. (Tidal, the only streaming service that offers MQA, has recently begun streaming hi-res FLAC files, hardly the most reassuring vote of confidence for MQA.) One of my issues with MQA is that when I corresponded with a spokesperson from the company a few years ago and told him I thought MQA at its best could rival SACD, he was thrilled, saying that’s something for which they were aiming. But since we have SACD, why do we need MQA? Well, of course, the answer is that MQA can presumably improve upon older digital recordings, but therein consists the basis of the controversy. Are the improvements really improvements; how much are the originals being altered; etc., etc., etc.?

I’m hardly going to settle those questions here. When Tidal offers the option of streaming in MQA, I use it. When I find it superior to the other formats, I stick with it; when I don’t, I see if there’s a hi-res option on Qobuz. If neither, then I enjoy standard CD perfectly well. Trying to compare SACD, CD, and MQA discs is fraught with technical impediments such as levels, having to stop and start the players again, inasmuch as no transports I’m aware of, including Luxman’s, allow switching on the fly, and so on. I described much of this at length and in detail in the D10X review, to which I refer you. I performed most of the same evaluations with most of the same sources and the sonic conclusions I came to there apply here as well.

For the purposes of this review, I acquired a number of additional releases from the already mentioned 2L label out of Norway, which seems to be the lone label that is most committed to using MQA for new recordings, most of which are issued in 2-disc packages that include SACD, MQA, and Blu-ray discs in both two-channel and multichannel. The repertoire is for the most part esoteric, even obscure, but the recordings are startingly, breathtakingly beautiful, engineered according to a recording technique and philosophy rather different from those of most U.S. and European labels: the miking more distant, the venues various churches with richly reverberant acoustics that really allow you to hear the air and ambient characteristics of the venues, and the overall sound in both the tonal and imaging/soundstaging senses exceptionally natural and truthful. I use the last adjective rhetorically, not literally. Obviously, as I’ve never been to the recording sites, all I can say is that the recordings capture an ambience consistent with that of similarly sized and appointed churches I’ve heard in the U.S. and Europe.

Inasmuch as the one online review made a point about imaging, I was careful to play my current reference for state-of-the-art recording when it comes to natural tonal balance, truthful sounding imaging and soundstaging, and microphone placement: John Wilson’s magnificent recording on Chandos (SACD and vinyl) of the complete score to Oklahoma! This was recorded in an actual theater with superb acoustics where musicals are regularly performed, the venue personally chosen by Wilson himself because he wanted a recording that would be as faithful as possible to the Robert Russell Bennet’s orchestrations without the usual interventions of spot- and multi-miking. Chandos’ producer and engineer Jonathan Allen has outdone himself here, realizing Wilson’s ideas essentially to perfection.

When I reviewed this release for Tracking Angle, I used the 07X. Here is a summary of my findings. The dynamic range is deceptively wide, so I advise resisting the temptation to ride levels with a remote handset. Start with the thrilling overture and set a maximum loudness you’re happy with, then put the remote aside and surrender yourself to the performance. Never once in this recording did I feel I was hearing levels manipulated after the fact at the mixing board. Meanwhile, the imaging and soundstaging appear thoroughly realistic. When the singers move toward the rear, they actually move in that direction, and you hear it as movement in spatial depth. At the very beginning, when Curly sings “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” he is way off in the distance—literally off-mic, which means that you hear more of the acoustics of the venue and when he moves forward he doesn’t come so close to the mic he’s in your face, and, once again, you register the change in level as movement in space, not an artifact of level manipulation at the mixing board. That is exactly as it should be, because it perfectly establishes from the outset an aural equivalent to the wide-open prairie space that is the first scene. In the “Out of My Dreams” scene between Laurey and her friends that precedes the “Dream Ballet,” the recording is so truthful it resolves depth between the singers to within a foot or two.

By way of summary, I find myself scratching my head about the D-07X for the same reason I did about the D-10X. At a time when CD sales are reportedly dropping while streaming and downloading are proliferating, why has Luxman released this splendid and splendidly versatile disc player? Is it possible that hard digital media might be on the cusp of what happened to vinyl in the CD area: a niche market for those music lovers like myself, and countless others like me, who want to have a non-virtual, as in real or actual or authentic, physical connection to the music they buy, that is, an actual object in their hands, with a nicely designed cover and informative liner notes, and the experience of taking it down off a shelf, opening it, and putting it into a transport?

Whatever the answer, the D-07X, like its more expensive predecessor, occupies a special niche in today’s high-end audio marketplace. It’s got a state-of-the-art transport and about as good a DAC as any I’ve personally had long experience with; it plays all the two-channel digital discs I own (excepting Blu-ray) to extremely high standards, likewise all the streaming and download formats; and of course its engineering and build-quality are second to none. Although it can scarcely be called a bargain, in view of all it has on offer it’s hard to complain about the near-ten-thousand dollar asking price. It’s a really great design and as persuasive an ambassador as could be desired for the continuing viability of the compact disc, the Super Audio Compact Disc, and MQA discs as music reproducing formats.

Specs & Pricing

Supported disc formats: SACD, CD (CD-R, CD-RW, MQA-CD)
Supported sampling frequencies:
USB input (PCM): 44.1 kHz–768kHz (16-, 24-, 32-bit);
USB input (DSD): 2.8MHz–22.4MHz (1-bit); coaxial/optical input: 44.1kHz–192kHz (16-, 20-, 24-bit)
Analog output: Unbalanced on RCA jacks (2.4V, 300 ohms); balanced on XLR jacks (2.4V, 600 ohms)
Signal-to-noise ratio: CD: 125dB; SACD: 121dB; USB: 125dB
DAC: ROHM BD34301EKV 2x (pair operated in mono mode)
Dimensions: 17.3″ x 5.24″ x 16.14″
Weight: 37.5 lbs.
Price: $9995

LUXMAN AMERICA INC.
27 Kent Street, Suite 105A
Ballston Spa NY 12020
luxmanamerica.com

To further ensure audio purity, the Q5 is equipped with bespoke, dual in-house manufactured toroidal transformers that isolate digital and analog voltage supplies, significantly reducing noise and interference. The CD drive motor’s voltage and current supplies are also electrically isolated from the sensitive audio signals, preventing any potential motor noise from affecting the sound quality. The classic Michi meticulous attention to detail results in a listening experience that is both immersive and true to the original recording.

Beyond its superior CD playback capabilities, the Michi Q5 is a versatile digital music hub. It supports a wide range of additional audio inputs, including PC-USB (up to 32-bit / 384kHz) with MQA and DSD 4X support, plus 24-bit / 192kHz coaxial and optical inputs. These features make the Q5 compatible with all your favorite digital sources, as an ultra-high-performance DAC for your entire audio system.

The elegant front panel of the Q5 is a testament to Michi’s minimalist design philosophy, featuring a full-color TFT display that showcases CD album artwork to enhance your listening enjoyment with visual appeal. The included Michi remote provides intuitive, seamless operation, while RS232 and Ethernet ports enable integration with popular automation systems, ensuring easy management of your audio setup.

The Michi Q5 Transport DAC is crafted for those who demand the best in both performance and aesthetics. Its premium construction, exceptional audio quality, versatile connectivity, and advanced control options make it the ultimate CD player for high-end audio systems.

The Michi Q5 Transport DAC will be available through authorized Michi dealers starting in November 2024.  For more information, please visit www.michi-hifi.com.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The new models are available in the global markets beginning in November 2024, retailing for $6,999 USD.

I was eager to explore the merits of these products as well as revisit an older DAC technology with which I had much experience in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. (I estimate that between 1989 and 2000, I reviewed about 100 DACs and CD players.) In addition, the Formula, LinQ, and La Diva M2 are packed with innovative design techniques rather than being just more “me-too” products.

The three components, all hand-made in Milan, Italy, are very nicely built but with casework that eschews the lavish execution that drives up a product’s price. Consequently, I thought that the prices of these products were eminently reasonable considering the technology inside—$17,600 for the DAC, $6500–$7850 for the LinQ (depending on configuration), and $9800 for the La Diva CD transport. The company also offers two lower-priced DACs.

LinQ Network Interface

The LinQ connects to the internet and allows you to stream music to the DAC. It is unlike any other streamer I know of in that its modular design allows you to configure the hardware according to your needs as well as upgrade to future technologies as they become available. This upgradability is realized with four slots on a motherboard, each of which can accept a streaming module or renderer. Each streaming module is powered by its own power supply.

The LinQ includes the third-party software HQPlayer embedded in one of the modules. HQPlayer is a high-quality music player that typically runs on a PC connected to the network but here runs internally on one of the LinQ’s modules. The software handles all the audio signal processing, which ranges from simply passing the signal to the output with the highest possible quality to a staggering array of upsampling and conversion options. In the LinQ, the embedded HQPlayer works in conjunction with Roon; HQPlayer handles the audio signal, while Roon functions only as the music-management interface. The presence of the HQPlayer is transparent to the user once the LinQ is set up. The HQPlayer license is incorporated in the LinQ’s module, saving you the purchase cost as well as obviating the need to hassle with downloading and configuring the software to work with the LinQ and Roon. You’ll still need to run the Roon Server (formerly called “Roon Core”) on a computer connected to the network. To recap, Roon Server is the part of Roon that does all the heavy lifting behind the scenes. Your tablet or phone runs only the interface (“Roon Remote”) controlling the Roon Server. If you’re not a Roon user, the LinQ’s modular nature allows you to order the unit with other plug-in modules including UPnP, Squeezelite, and Tidal Connect. Of course, you can change the configuration at any time simply by adding or swapping modules.

The LinQ offers all the conventional digital outputs you’d expect on a streamer (AES/EBU, SPDIF, etc.) but also provides its digital output signal on an I²S port via an RJ-45 jack. I²S (pronounced “I squared S”) is a bi-directional interface protocol originally developed for internal signals in CD players. It is a much better interface than AES/EBU, SPDIDF, optical, or USB (especially USB) for several reasons, most notably for its bi-directional ability. AES/EBU and SPDIF are uni-directional; a digital signal representing the audio data is embedded within the clock, with one-way transmission from the source to the DAC. The DAC then must generate a new clock based on the incoming clock, a process that, even when implemented with great precision, introduces timing errors (jitter) in that clock. By contrast, in a source and DAC connected via I²S, the DAC becomes the master clock to which the source must lock. The DAC generates its own high-precision clock that serves as the timing reference for the critical D/A conversion rather than a jittered clock transmitted down the interface. In addition, the clock and data travel on separate lines.

If you use the LinQ with a DAC lacking I²S input, the AES/EBU and SPDIF outputs are no afterthoughts; they have been implemented with a custom FPGA for improved performance.

Everything about the LinQ’s design is tweaky, from the separate power supplies for each module, to the custom-built internal LAN switch, to the galvanic isolation between sub-sections, to the FPGA digital output driver, to the modular construction, to the I²S output, to the inclusion of the HQPlayer software. Clearly, this is a machine built for sound quality.

La Diva M2 CD Transport

The Compact Disc is still an important format in many parts of the world. Moreover, some listeners claim that physical media sounds better than streaming (see Jonathan Valin’s review of the Kalista DreamPlay XC in Issue 345, for example). For those who want to spin silver discs, Aqua Acoustic Quality offers the La Diva M2, a top-loading transport. Although the La Diva M2 shares a name with its predecessor (La Diva), the La Diva M2 is no mere refresh; it is entirely new in every way. The transport mechanism is a modified Philips CD Pro-8S controlled by a digital servo system. La Diva is built with the same level of innovation as the other products, including galvanic isolation between subsections, a modular multi-board system to allow future upgrades, multi-stage voltage regulation, a mechanically isolated subchassis for the transport mechanism, and a FPGA running proprietary code to generate the output signals. These outputs not only include the usual formats but also AT&T ST-Type optical, an interface popular in the early 1990s but largely abandoned. La Diva also offers I²S, the interface of choice if you have a DAC with an I²S input.

Unusually, the transport controls are toggle switches rather than buttons. A large display shows track information. A metal door on the top pane slides open to reveal the transport mechanism. After placing a CD on the spindle, a small magnetic clamp secures the disc. A hefty and comprehensive remote control is included.

Formula xHD Rev.2 DAC

Now we come to the Formula DAC (actually, the Formula xHD Rev.2 DAC, but we’ll call it simply the Formula). The Formula features a custom 24-bit digital-to-analog conversion circuit based on an R/2R ladder architecture and built with discrete components rather than an off-the-shelf chip. But before we get into that, let’s look at the Formula in practice.

The DAC is housed in the same-sized chassis as the LinQ and La Diva M2. The front panel has no display, only LEDs that indicate the sample frequency being decoded, the input selected, power, and mute. All controls (power, mute, input) are toggle switches. The rear panel houses six input jacks, which include the usual types as well as two I²S inputs. The analog output appears on both RCA and XLR jacks. The DAC can decode PCM up to 768kHz and DSD up to DSD512.

Before the modern interest in R/2R ladder DACs, an R/2R DAC’s entire circuitry was incorporated in a chip. The “ladder” is a series of resistors that convert the digital input code into an analog value. Each “rung” on the ladder is formed by a resistor. A 16-bit converter has 16 of these “rungs.” These resistors—the precision of which is crucial—were created by a photolithographic process on a single piece of silicon along with the rest of the DAC circuitry. Consequently, the resistors exhibited wide tolerances in their resistance values, introducing linearity error in the analog output signal. Linearity error is a deviation between what the analog output voltage should be for a given digital input code and what it actually is (see the sidebar for details).

Incorporating the entire DAC circuitry on a chip and accepting the resulting linearity error was unavoidable given the technology of the day and the demand for mass-market-priced CD players. But what if a designer wasn’t bound by these constraints and was free to create a ladder DAC not from integrated circuits but from high-precision discrete resistors in a no-compromise implementation? That’s exactly what Aqua Acoustic Quality has done in the Formula. The company calls its DAC circuit Optologic, and it starts with processing the digital datastream with a field-programmable gate array. An FPGA is an integrated circuit that can be thought of as a blank canvas that is software-driven to perform a wide range of functions. Aqua Acoustic Quality has written this software specifically for the Formula, creating a pair of datastreams (per channel) from the FPGA that will drive an array of discrete high-precision resistors in the DAC’s 24-bit ladder.

The Formula DAC uses a technique called “sign magnitude” that was invented by Burr-Brown in 1992 and led to the near-instant adoption of the Burr-Brown PCM1704 chip by virtually every high-end manufacturer, starting around 1993. Sign-magnitude conversion is a technique that improves the performance of the R/2R ladder DAC as explained in the sidebar. But sign-magnitude conversion requires two separate ladder DACs per channel, which in the Formula are composed of very tiny, discrete, high-precision, metal-film surface-mount resistors. I popped the Formula DAC’s top panel for a peek and saw four separate identical DAC boards, each with rows of tiny resistors. Until recently, resistors of this size and precision simply didn’t exist.

A digital-to-analog converter requires a filter to remove unwanted energy above half the sample rate. With R/2R ladder DACs, this filtering is typically performed in the digital domain with an oversampling digital filter. The off-the-shelf digital filters in the 1980s and 1990s were typically 8x oversampling types. That is, they increased the sampling frequency by eight times before D-A conversion. No new information is created by oversampling; the technique simply shifts the spurious energy higher in frequency where it is more easily filtered.

Aqua Acoustic Quality has taken the opposite approach, eschewing the digital filter entirely in favor of a simple analog low-pass filter after D-A conversion. I describe the advantages and disadvantages of digital filters in the sidebar, but for now consider this: Aqua’s approach is the only way that the bits created by the analog-to-digital converter when the recording was made are exactly the same bits that are converted to analog by the DAC. All other methods process and manipulate the signal so that the bits being converted to analog are not exactly the same bits that were created by the analog-to-digital converter. Removing the digital filter has other benefits as described in the sidebar.

While looking inside the chassis, I saw how the Formula was built with a modular construction, allowing any of the sub-sections to be upgraded in the future. Two separate power transformers are dedicated to the analog and digital sections respectively, and except for the main electrolytic filter capacitors, all other caps are expensive esoteric types. The voltage regulators are all custom discrete circuits, not noisier IC-based regulators. Much effort went into isolating the subsections from each other to prevent noise coupling, including galvanic isolation realized with opto-couplers between the FPGA and DAC. This optical coupling led to the company naming their DAC conversion technology “Optologic.”

The output stage is single ended, with the balanced output created with a transformer. The output amplifier is based on a discrete circuit realized with JFETs and bi-polar transistors in a direct-coupled circuit. Overall, the Formula incorporates a host of design techniques and parts that signal its intention as a sound-quality-first product.

Listening

In one of the sidebars, I draw a broad conceptual analogy between R/2R ladder DACs and single-ended triode amplification. Both have the advantage of simplicity and very little signal manipulation, along with a reputation for delivering good sound despite their markedly inferior technical performance. I formed that analogy before listening to the Aqua products.

That analogy turned out to be surprisingly prescient in many ways. That’s because the Aqua stack has an unmistakable sonic characteristic that is very much like that of an SET amplifier—a directness of expression, a sense of vividness and presence through the midband, a naturalness of timbre, and the sense of a scrim being removed between you and the music. I heard this quality seconds into the first track; it’s not something you have to listen for attentively. Vocals simply had an immediacy and palpability, not just in the feeling of physical presence but also in how the Aqua system seemed to reveal nuances of expression and subtle inflections that more powerfully conveyed a lyric’s meaning, as well as the rich textural details that revealed the harmonic complexity and beauty of a vocalist’s timbre. The Aqua system fostered an immediate intimacy with the singer, as though she was revealing some part of herself only to you—and for the first time. In this way, the Aqua sounds different from other digital. The Aqua system sounds organic and natural, like tasting a lovingly grown tomato just picked from a garden compared to a store-bought tomato.

I had this impression over a wide range of performers and styles, from Samara Joy’s readings from the great American songbook to Madeleine Peyroux’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love,” to Diana Krall, to, well, just about everyone. I wouldn’t call the Aqua system overly forward through the midrange, a characteristic that can emphasize vocals. Rather, the midrange rendering was more subtle, richly detailed, and sophisticated. It was aided by a tangible bloom around image outlines, the vocalist existing in three-dimensional space with air around and behind the image. It was the kind of presentation that can’t help but draw you immediately into the performance. It reminded me of hearing vocals from a live microphone feed—high praise, indeed.

The textural realism heard on vocals extended to other instruments, which had a naturalness of timbre that eludes most digital. There was simply an immediacy and sense of life that were the antitheses of dark, closed-in, veiled, or thick. This vibrant quality gave the sound an “illuminated from within” character (Jonathan Valin’s evocative phrase) that produced a close approximation of instruments and voices appearing in the listening room. Listen to the gentle trumpet solo on Melody Gardot’s “If You Love Me” from her recent album Sunset in the Blue. The trumpet had a burnished golden character that one hears from the live instrument, almost sounding like a flugelhorn. The trumpet’s image was surrounded by a halo of air that expanded with each note’s dynamic envelope, further adding to the sense of realism.

The Aqua’s openness and air were especially evident, and welcome, on tracks with multiple Latin percussion instruments; music always sounded alive and upbeat. Try the beautiful composition “Ella Nunca Tiene Una Ventana” from Jimmy Haslip’s outstanding release Red Heat or “Corazón Espinado” from Carlos Santana’s Supernatural. The layers of Latin percussion were beautifully rendered in texture, transient fidelity, and spatial realism.

The tonal balance leaned slightly toward openness and transparency, adding a touch of upper harmonics to harmonic-rich instruments such as saxophone and slightly emphasizing vocal sibilance. The upper-midrange to lower-treble region had a bit of extra life and sparkle, which contributed to my impression of openness and immediacy. Although lively sounding, I wouldn’t characterize the sound as bright. Still, if you have bright speakers or electronics, the Aqua products won’t tilt the system back toward neutral.

The Aqua stack’s bass reproduction was fabulous—deep, powerful, and extended without a hint of bloat or thickness. It managed to sound full and weighty yet still be light on its feet dynamically. Big bass-drum whacks in orchestral music (The Arnold Overtures on Reference Recordings in 176/24) were reproduced with startling impact. But the bass quality went beyond the usual checklist; it had a density of tone color and warmth rarely heard from digital. Acoustic bass simply had a richness of timbre that conveyed a sense of realism, with resolution of the fine detail that transforms the reproduced sound from low-frequency energy to a convincing illusion of the instrument appearing between the loudspeakers. I also enjoyed the way the Aqua stack beautifully conveyed music’s rhythmic flow, whether the gentle loping of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” or the incomparable swinging of Ray Brown on Duke’s Big Four, or the high-octane fusion bass line on “Electric Man” from Billy Cobham’s Drums and Voice, Vol. 3. No matter the style of music, the Aqua system’s combination of bass weight, dynamic agility, pitch definition, and most importantly, timbral realism, never failed to deliver musical satisfaction.

Finally, I compared the sound of CDs with the same tracks streamed from Qobuz. It’s difficult to draw conclusions from such comparisons because one doesn’t know the provenance of the streamed file, specifically if it is identical to the file used to make the CD. Nonetheless, I found a few examples that appear to be from the same master. In all cases, the CD gets the nod for its slightly more natural and relaxed sound. The streamed file sounded just a bit drier, flatter, and with a very slight added glare in the upper midrange. The bass on the CD was also more tuneful and propulsive. Overall, the difference wasn’t significant, particularly in relation to streaming’s massive convenience factor. Plus, with streaming you can spend more time listening and less time looking for and loading CDs. The difference wasn’t enough to make me go back to buying CDs.

Conclusion

The Aqua Acoustic Quality LinQ Network Player, Diva 2 CD Transport, and Formula DAC possess a naturalness and realism that make them sound different, and in many ways better, than other digital. I speculate that these qualities are largely the result of the Formula DAC’s R/2R ladder architecture and analog filter in place of an oversampling digital filter—an architecture that was supplanted decades ago by delta-sigma DACs and powerful DSP. The Aqua products make a convincing argument that the simple R/2R ladder DAC, coupled with a non-oversampling filter, has many sonic merits despite its theoretical inferiority to modern conversion methods. I’m reminded of the great audio aphorism: “An audio signal is like a fine pastry; the less it is handled the better the result.”

The Aqua stack’s achievement is all the more remarkable considering the products’ reasonable prices. The Formula DAC, at under $20k, is a great bargain. It meshed synergistically with the LinQ and Diva 2, particularly because the three products can be connected via the superior I²S digital interface. I like the fact that the build budget went into parts that make a sonic difference, not elaborate chassis work. Moreover, the products’ design is very clever, with enlightened techniques and parts that improve sound quality while not costing a fortune. These products were designed not by throwing money at them but through innovative thinking.

If you’re in the market for a digital front end, these exceptional products from Italy should be on your shortlist. They made an indelible impression on me, and I suspect that they will on you, as well.    

Specs & Pricing

LinQ Network Interface
Type: Modular multi-processor network streamer
Input: RJ-45 Ethernet
Outputs: I²S on RJ-45 jack; dual-wire AES/EBU; AES/EBU; SPDIF on BNC; SPDIF on RCA
Display: 2×20 OLED
Dimensions: 450mm x 100mm x 370mm
Weight: 9kg
Price: $6500–$7850, depending on configuration

La Diva 2 CD Transport
Type: Top-loading CD transport
Outputs: I²S on RJ-45 jack; SPDIF on BNC; SPDIF on RCA; AES/EBU, AT&T ST-type glass fiber; word clock on BNC jack
Dimensions: 450mm x 100mm x 370mm
Weight: 10kg
Price: $9800

Formula xHD Rev.2 DAC
Type: Digital-to-analog converter
Formats: PCM up to 384kHz; native DSD to DSD512
Conversion: R/2R ladder DAC, no digital filtering, custom FPGA processor
Inputs: I²S on RJ-45 jack; dual-wire AES/EBU; AES/EBU; SPDIF on BNC; SPDIF on RCA; USB Type B
Outputs: Balanced on XLR jacks, unbalanced on RCA jacks
Dimensions: 450mm x 100mm x 370mm
Weight: 9kg
Price: $17,600

AQUA ACOUSTIC QUALITY
Via Luciano Manara
17 – 20122 Milano (MI)
Italy
aquahifi.com

ARCADIA AUDIO MARKETING (U.S. distributor)
Scott Wylde
(416) 994-5571
arcadiamarketing@gmail.com

Associated Equipment
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX, Vandersteen Audio Model Seven XTRM
Analog source: Basis Audio A.J. Conti Transcendence turntable with SuperArm 12.5 tonearm; Air Tight Opus cartridge; CH Precision P1 phonostage with X1 power supply; DS Audio ST-50 stylus cleaner, DS Audio ES-001 Eccentricity Detection Stabilzer, Levin record brush, Degritter ultrasonic LP cleaner
Amplification: CH Precision L10 Dual Monaural linestage; CH Precision M10 Dual Monaural power amplifiers
AC Power: Shunyata Everest 8000 conditioner, Shunyata Omega and Sigma NR V2 power cords; Shunyata AC outlets, five dedicated 20A lines wired with identical length 10AWG
Support: Critical Mass Systems Olympus equipment racks and Olympus amplifier stands; CenterStage2 isolation, Arya Audio RevOpods isolation
Cables: AudioQuest Dragon interconnects, AudioQuest Dragon Zero and Dragon Bass loudspeaker cables
Grounding: Shunyata Altaira grounding system
Accessories: The Chord Company GroundArray noise reduction
Acoustics: Acoustic Geometry Pro Room Pack 12, ASC 16″ Round Tube Traps
Room: Purpose-built; Acoustic Sciences Corporation Iso-Wall System

Listening Beyond Analog

The Technics unit is also typical of today’s best DACs in that its sound quality is far better than that of the better DACs using technology that is now several years old—and far, far better than the sound of earlier digital players I’m all too aware that “digital” can be a dirty word for some audiophiles, and a second choice for others. I have at least some sympathy for such attitudes. I do still make use of my turntable and LPs. Old friends are well worth keeping, even if they do age over the years.

At the same time, I suspect that if you haven’t made digital sound a key part of your system and listening habits, you either haven’t really listened to just how much better digital sound has gotten over the last few years or you have assembled a mix of analog components whose colorations give you the music you want in the form you want it, rather than seeking to get as accurate and objective a system as possible.

I have several audiophile friends whose system quality depends to a great degree on how well they have matched their phono cartridge—and in one case an analog tape deck—to their particular taste in sound, and to the character of their speaker and their particular listening room and listening conditions. The resulting synergy can be very good and deeply musically involving, although it can sometimes be a bit too personal and eccentric.

Analog can also impose some real limits on your musical options. Either you have to have a vast collection of analog recordings, or you have to ignore most of the recorded music now available. The issue isn’t just sound quality; it is also how you approach the world of music, and how willing you are to settle for a limited range of performances and musical choices. Streaming has opened access to a vast range of music that has never been available before and that the better new players like the Technics SL-G700M2 do a far better job of reproducing than even the best players available several years back.

I should also stress that the Technics SL-G700M2 is typical of the better and best current DACs in that does a great job of demonstrating that the hardness of the early digital players has vanished, unless it is on the original recording. The sound of the upper midrange and treble on good recordings is much cleaner, although miking the performance too closely and using a mike with a bit too much upper-octave energy is characteristic of too many modern recordings and will still be more apparent.

The same is true of the soundstage. For most audiophiles, the listening room and the speakers do a great deal to determine the soundstage. No change in a given DAC or any other part of your front end can alter that fact. The soundstage on the recording is, however, still very important, and today’s best DACs do make the musical details of the stage that are actually on the recording much clearer. The soundstage is more open, the imaging more precise, and depth is reproduced more naturally. Somewhat to my surprise, the lower midrange and upper bass of given instruments and voices are also sometimes warmer and better defined.

At the same time, I find that as digital players advance in sound quality, the value of higher sampling and frequency rates is less apparent. Nothing will ever make MP3 and AAC recordings compete for the best sound quality, but older 16-bit/44.1kHz and 16-bit/48kHz recordings now sound much better. Newer 16-bit/44.1kHz recordings also sound more competitive with higher bit and sampling rates.

This said, the best SACD and DSD recordings seem to sound consistently better than PCM recordings in direct proportion to how good, and often how recent, the player or DAC is. If you have the option, go for SACD or DSD version. (And incidentally the Technics SL-G700M2 does a very good job of automatically selecting such options and clearly displaying the format it is decoding.)

The situation is different with streaming. I find the sound quality of the streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz does improve with the quality of the player, and usually improves more when you select the higher frequency and bit rates than it does with hard-disc storage. I also notice that using different computers can slightly alter the sound quality and reduce low-level background noise levels, which are generally very faint, although this can vary slightly with computer and/or service provider.

A lot of my friends disagree, but I usually prefer the sound of CDs, SACDs, and DSDs to that of the sound of the same performances played back from streaming service, although they too are often being updated in ways that improve their sound over time.

Features and Ergonomics

All these sonic improvements are audible with the Technics SL-G700M2, and I’ll come to its sound quality shortly. I should, however, make it clear that its technology and ergonomics are equally well designed. It’s easy to set up and use and equally easy to operate.

I am not a digital engineer and can’t tell you just how far the technology in the Technics SL-G700M2 has advanced relative to its top competition in a world where new digital front ends keep emerging from so many manufacturers. I can tell you that this technology is audibly more advanced in today’s DACs and that Phillip’s claim that the first CD players were “pure, perfect sound, forever” now seems to be a bit of a sick joke. Digital technology is improving in sound quality at rates where “forever” in digital terms seems to be becoming shorter and shorter in analog time.

I can also tell you that the Technics SL-G700M2 has made a number of technological advances over an earlier version of this unit, and some of these advances are ones being advertised by the manufacturers of more expensive units. Technics has a pretty good summary of these improvements on its website (us.technics.com/products/network-super-audio-cd-player-sl-g700m2). It cites these advances as follows:

•Dual ESS ES9026PRO DAC chips with symmetrical placement of one L/R unit on each side and independent transmission structures.

•The filter circuit after the D/A conversion uses an amplifier circuit with a unique discrete configuration instead of an operational amplifier (op-amp) IC.

•Coherent processing technology improves the reproducibility of impulse signals by minimizing amplitude and phase deviations that occur throughout the D/A conversion process for signals up to 192kHz PCM via proprietary digital signal processing.

•A Multi-Stage Silent Power Supply that provides noise suppression in three stages: (1) high-speed switching power supply, (2) low-noise regulator, and (3) current-injection, active noise-canceling.

•Current-injection active noise-canceling removes unwanted noise components by applying an inverse-phase current to the detected noise

•A new USB-B port that allows constant connection to a network audio server or PC for playback of high-resolution sound sources from the connected device.

•A “Pure Disc Playback” mode for Super Audio CD/CD playback. This model also supports MQA and is capable of full decoding playback of MQA files and MQA-CDs. Various other high-resolution formats are also supported, including WAV/AIFF, FLAC/ALAC, and DSD.

•The disc drive adopts a three-layer chassis configuration. Powerful vibration-damping and quiet construction, including a disc tray made of die-cast aluminum, ensure high-precision disc playback.

I can’t tell you where this list places the Technics in the audio equivalent of a high-end technological arms race. I’m certain that any such ranking would be controversial, even if I were a digital engineer. Having read through the advertisements from other manufacturers of outstanding units, I can tell that other top units have similar lists. But if you’re the kind of audiophile who’s into bragging rights, I’d estimate no rival audiophile will know enough to challenge you over the list of advances in the Technics SL-G700M2.

Its ergonomics are also very good, and this is not true of many DACs. The Technics SL-G700M2 is unusually compact for a unit with all its functions, but it is very well built and notably heavy for its size. The front panel is unusually readable and informative. The remote, which also works on a matching Technics amp, is well labeled and works well at a distance. The disc tray is reliable and smooth, and the DAC has Chromecast to improve the ability to use streaming services. Rear connections are also clearly labeled, and the instruction manual is well designed. My only complaint, and this applies to virtually all DACs, is that the instructions are weak in helping to set it up for given streaming services. (A complaint that applies equally to most streaming services, which tend to assume you have a very simple home-computer setup.)

Sound Quality

I’ve already talked about most of the sonic advances you should expect from a modern digital front at this price level, and I heard them all from the Technics SL-G700M2. I really did enjoy listening to this unit. Like other the top-quality digital products I’ve auditioned recently, there were no sonic anomalies or areas where I heard a problem with its reproduction of recordings.

It also did very well for its price. It did not perfectly match the sound quality of a two-piece digital front end costing nearly four times as much, but the sonic differences between the SL-G700M2 and that new top-quality DAC were limited and audible only on the best recordings. They consisted of minor differences in low-level resolution and in soundstage width and depth. Many were also debatable in the sense that my judgments were a matter of personal taste. I had to listen long and carefully to hear such differences, and I suspect that they would seem very minor to any audiophiles comparing them to the sonic differences in phono cartridges or speakers.

It was also interesting to move the Technics SL-G700M2 around to listen in the different audio systems and listening rooms of my friends. Not only were the differences between the sound of the SL-G700M2 and other more expensive rivals relatively small, but it was also clear that the sonic nuances from the different speakers, listening rooms, and choices in music and recordings did far more to impose a sound character on the system the different digital players did. That’s damn good performance from the Technics SL-G700M2 for what was sometimes a $10,000 difference in price.

Summary Judgement

Highly recommended, this Technics unit makes it clear that we have to take the Japanese high end very seriously. The SL-G700M2 is also the kind of unit that might change the mind of even fan-       atic believers in analog; it is certainly one that every audiophile who has a digital front end that is several years old should audition. It makes it clear that there have been real advances in sound quality in recent years, ones you can really enjoy.

But as is the case with every component, make your choice a quest by listening to a range of such units at a friendly dealership. Listen to other expensive units with SACDs you really know, where you can objectively evaluate the sound of different front ends, even the ones you now believe you can’t afford. After all, an audio aristocrat like you doesn’t go fox hunting by reading the sports section and then asking Amazon to deliver the best-reviewed fox. (Well, hopefully!)

Specs & Pricing

Type: CD/SACD player and DAC with networking
Formats supported: CD, stereo SACD, DSD up to 5.6MHz, MQA, MQA-CD, WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, Chromecast, Google Assistant, Spotify Connect, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal, Qobuz, Internet Radio, Bluetooth, AirPlay2
Digital inputs: Coaxial (x1), TosLink optical (x1), USB-A (x2), USB-B (x1)
Analog output: Unbalanced on RCA jacks, balanced on XLR jacks (one stereo pair each), fixed or variable level
Digital outputs: Coaxial (x1), TosLink optical (x1)
Dimensions: 17″ x 3.9″ x 16.1″
Weight: 27.2 lbs.
Price: $3499

Technics (A brand name of hi-fi audio products owned by Panasonic Corporation)
2 Riverfront Plaza, 10th Floor
Newark, NJ 07102-5490
us.technics.com