(2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $2700
Website: www.aquahifi.com
Michael said: You’d easily need to spend at least $4000 or even $5000 to surpass the level of performance La Voce S2 achieves for $2700. In my book, that makes it great value for the money. With its solid build quality, full feature set, modular design with easy field support -- and, most important, high sound quality -- the Aqua - Acoustic Quality La Voce S2 DAC is easily and highly recommended.
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The gist: Your choice of DAC chips makes this product highly customizable.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $3495
Website: www.ayre.com
Colin said: When a component raises the bar as much as the QB-9DSD did in my system, I think I’d sell a kidney to keep it. So far that hasn’t proved necessary, and at the $700 upgrade price I won’t have to sell even an eyelash.
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The gist: One of the original USB DACs gets a makeover.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $699
Website: www.bluesound.com
Kevin said: The Powernode and Duo are simply a dedicated combo of receiver and speakers -- but this “receiver” is a dedicated streaming tuner, and the speakers are three diminutive wonders from Paul Barton. They are elegant reinventions of tried-and-true audio products.
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The gist: Streaming receiver with 50Wpc of NAD-like power.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $999
Website: www.calyx.kr
Rad said: The Calyx M is a great-sounding portable player that includes native DSD decoding and works with just about every other format and sampling rate. It has a beautiful OLED screen and an attractive copper finish
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The gist: Viable alternative to Astell&Kern.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $1799
Website: www.cambridgeaudio.com
Hans said: The Azur 851N’s DAC section is a real honey, producing the kind of dulcet sound that any audiophile should be able to appreciate. Combined with an intuitive user interface and a raft of digital inputs and outputs, this unassuming streaming DAC should have no shortage of admirers.
Read the SoundStage! Access review.
The gist: Incredibly full-featured digital front end.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $2695
Website: www.cocktailaudio.com
Sathyan said: I was, on the whole, very impressed with the Cocktail Audio X40. In the X40, one gets a ripper, a server, a renderer, a tuner of both Internet and FM radio, and an excellent DAC, all tied together with a well-thought-out user interface. What’s not to like about that?
Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.
The gist: Less-expensive alternative to the Aurenders of the world.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $7995
Website: www.ariamusicserver.com
Vade said: I’ve tried many other servers, and have never encountered one so easy to get up and running. But that would be of only academic interest if the Aria didn’t sound good, and it sounds splendid -- its built-in DAC is especially good. And the Aria looks as good as it sounds. For me, the Aria’s features easily justify its cost. It gets my highest recommendation, and is a Reviewers’ Choice.
Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.
The gist: In the top tier of today’s best music servers.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $80,000 (combined)
Website: www.esoteric-usa.com
Howard said: For now, the Grandioso P1 and D1 play on a field where the sign outside the stadium says “SOTA.” Remarkably, at this level you can spend even more. However, I’m not certain that, if you do, you’ll see a decent return on your money, if any. Highly recommended for those with deep audiophile pockets and the desire to go from 0 to 60 in 2.2 seconds now.
Read the SoundStage! Ultra review.
The gist: As far as the best digital, in the top three for sure.
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- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $2500
Website: www.exogal.com
Jeff said: Its sound is where the Comet really shines. My listening gave me the sense that the Comet’s designers didn’t try to balance trade-offs, or make sonic compromises here and there, to tailor the sound to a particular type of listener. The Comet seemed determined to let me hear everything that a recording contained, as if it cost ten times as much as it does. In short, the Comet needs no excuses made for it. It sounds great not only for its price, but regardless of price.
Read the SoundStage! Ultra review.
The gist: Some unique features and great sound set this DAC apart.
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $1400
Website: www.hegel.com
Jeff said: Hegel Music Systems’ HD12 digital-to-analog converter provides the best sound for the least money of any DAC I’ve had in my system. You might be surprised at just how good it is, and just how uncompromised its sound is on an absolute basis.
Read the SoundStage! Ultra review.
The gist: Strong little performer at exactly the right price point.
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $4800
Website: www.hegel.com
Doug said: The HD30’s big selling point is its sound -- and what a sound it is: Its world-class resolution, extreme clarity, and superb refinement let you listen very deeply into recordings, to hear precisely what the musicians and engineers laid down there. And it does so while adding no ill artifacts -- the HD30 sounded incredibly clean in my system, never bright, edgy, or off-putting.
Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.
The gist: Who knew SOTA digital only costs $4800?
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $2000; $3000 with optional DAC
Website: www.simaudio.com
Oliver said: I’d buy a Moon Neo 260D in a heartbeat. If you’re putting together an audition list for a combo CD player-DAC, Simaudio’s Moon Neo 260D belongs at the top of it.
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The gist: A really good transport for the disc spinners out there.
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $2200
Website: www.simaudio.com
Uday said: The Moon Neo 280D is a well-rounded DAC that handles all musical genres with finesse, but if your tastes lean more toward rock’n’roll and fusion, the Neo 280D may very well be the DAC for you. My default recommendation in this price range has been the Oppo HA-1, but the Neo 280D should be right up there for those looking for other options in that price range or higher.
Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.
The gist: Neo might be closer to Evolution than you think.
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $3495
Website: www.thinksrs.com
Howard said: The bottom line is that the PERF10 and its lower-priced siblings, the FS725 and PRS10, will virtually eliminate clock jitter at a price -- $3495 or less -- that is nothing short of revolutionary.
Read the SoundStage! Ultra review.
The gist: Like they say, timing is everything.
- Details
- Parent Category: 2015 SoundStage! Network Equipment Buying Guide
- Category: (2015) Stereo Digital Source Components
Price: $3500
Website: www.wadia.com
Jeff said: But the di322 wasn’t just a pretty face with nothing behind it. Its sound was full, big, and played deep -- deep bass, deep soundstage, wide dynamic range. It relished music that I like to play at high volumes with fist-pumping verve.
Read the SoundStage! Ultra review.
The gist: Jeff’s favorite DAC under $4k.