Digital Processor Reviews

Before proceeding, I asked Koulisakis which file source—a streaming service or USB stick—would sound superior. He replied, "Network playback via Qobuz or Tidal should be better. The problem with a USB stick is that it is designed as a convenience solution. There is minimal buffering, unlike the state-of-the-art servers which host Q or T. In addition, the USB stick user interface requires traditional file browsing (even though you are using the MiND app), as opposed to the much more enjoyable experience of a DLNA server which sorts and displays the music by utilizing all the handy metadata embedded in the music file (album artwork, title, artist, etc.)."

I also asked if it would be possible to separately evaluate the 891's DAC and analog sections, and if it made sense to do so. He replied, "It would not be a fair test. Given the complex and synergistic integration of these two major components of the 891, even if you set the outputs of the 891 to fixed, you cannot completely eliminate the preamplifier. The reverse also holds true for its analog preamplifier section, but to a lesser extent."

Nonetheless, one external component justified comparison. Rather than using the 891's internal streamer, which uses Moon's MiND control app (above), it was easy to change a few cables, bypass it, and stream audio data from my reference Innuos Statement Next-Gen music server with 4TB SSD internal storage ($26,200), fed by the Innuos PhoenixNet reclocking network switch ($4349) and controlled by the Innuos Sense app. Yes, this streaming/server combo costs more than the Moon 891 itself—far more than double the price if you add in the price of an additional top-line aftermarket power cable, Ethernet cable, and USB cable. But I could not resist learning the degree to which an external server would improve the 891's performance. Bypassing its streamer would also enable me to better evaluate the quality of its DAC/preamp section.

On with the show
As a subscriber to the two main British recording review rags, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, I was surprised to discover how many Editor's Choice commendations Gramophonehas published for recent recordings of Benjamin Britten's early Violin Concerto. Since I couldn't imagine that any violinist could possibly top Isabelle Faust's astounding live recording with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) under Jakub Hruša (24/96 FLAC, Harmonia Mundi/Qobuz)—a performance in which subtlety, virtuosity, tonal beauty, and emotional import carry equal weight, and which I seem not to have reviewed solely because I've reviewed so many of Faust's other superb recordings over the past few years—I was gratified to discover that it earned Gramophone's Concerto Recording of the Year Award.

Before those awards were announced, I decided to start my listening with this recording because, in addition to the music's compelling beauty and message, it's an excellent test of sonic accuracy. With the Moon 891 feeding my reference D'Agostino Momentum M400 MxV monoblocks, the sound was quite full, with requisite sweetness and bite. The sound, which poured forth effortlessly, pulled me in and compelled me to listen deeper.

"I want to listen to every note," I wrote. Dynamics and bass weren't as impressive as I expect with my far more expensive eight-piece reference front-end, but who would reasonably expect them to be?

Alas, in the MiND app, I couldn't find a way to locate the liner notes that accompany many Qobuz titles. Even though I could simultaneously open the Qobuz app and read them there, the extra step was time consuming and, to those addicted to instant gratification, a bit annoying. Balancing that out, MiND's search function worked extremely well. When I entered "Britten Violin Concerto Faust" in the MiND app's search function and looked for results under "album," Faust's recording immediately popped up in 24/96 FLAC on Qobuz or Tidal. (The Innuos search engine works equally well.) I could only search one service at a time (unless I used Roon—more on this below), but the MiND search engine located albums, tracks, artists, and more with an ease that escapes the search engines of some high-priced music servers.

At this point, I tried attaching a wire from a Nordost QKore 6 grounding unit to the 891's spare Ethernet port. After it widened the soundstage, rendering it more three-dimensional and transparent while maintaining the smoothness I'd already lauded, I resolved to continue using the QKore 6 with my reference system once the review ended. Then, I decided to switch amplifiers to the Accuphase A-300 monoblocks because I'm forever eager to explore sonic compatibilities, differences, and similarities. Curiosity may have killed more than one cat, but my feline nature remains such a recessive trait that, to this day, I have yet to crawl inside a paper bag, get stuck at the top of a tree, or be too afraid to say "hi" to almost every dog I meet.

When buddy Scott Campbell stopped by and asked to hear one of our favorite standbys, Grant Green's Idle Moments (24/192 FLAC, Blue Note/Qobuz), he praised the 891's depiction of the sound of cymbals. I, in turn, lauded its extremely balanced sound. As much as either of us could have focused on what was missing, the sound seemed so complete and all of one piece that we reveled in what was present. Scott summed things up quite well when he said, "I would bet the 891's preamp is fantastic, especially for the price."

Price? Did Scott say "price"? Cue Leontyne Price's marvelously (if not flawlessly) sung 1965 recording of Charpentier's "Depuis le jour" from Louise, an opera remembered mainly for this glorious, high-ranging soprano aria that climaxes on an ecstatic high-C before ending sensuously some two octaves lower. Price sounded gorgeous, every high note radiant with the changing colors then present in her thrilling, irresistibly seductive vibrato.

Without warning, the MiND app decided to play a previously cached track, William Corkine's "The Second Tuning: 1. Come liue with me, and be my love" from Jordi Savall's recently rereleased The Punckes Delight: Golden Age of English Music for Solo Viol (24/96 FLAC, Alia Vox/Qobuz). As thoughts turned to my late friend, stereophile.com/content/death-audiophile">Charles Grossman, who insisted that the best test of a sound system was a recording of a single lute or theorbo, I marveled at the beautiful sound of Savall's viola da gamba. After jumping ahead a mere five centuries, I found myself equally enamored of the sound on Roger Eno's maximally different "Breaking the Surface" from the September release, the skies: rarities (24/96 FLAC, DG/Qobuz), which features the strings of Scoring Berlin and the synthesizers/flute of Christian Badzura.

The Stereophile music show
Finally, I began to do something I've wanted to do for a long time. After switching to a pair of bridged Moon 861 stereo amplifiers—the 891's intended complement—I grabbed the November 2024 issue of this illustrious publication and began auditioning music tracks cited by other reviewers. Because vinyl figured prominently in their choices, I couldn't find all the digital equivalents in Qobuz or Tidal (footnote 5). When I did find them, they were often early CD-quality transfers replete with the deficiencies and limitations that current hi-rez digital has overcome. But at least I could begin to appreciate the superb musical choices of my colleagues.

First up, with gratitude to Herb Reichert, baritone Leslie Quinn singing Songs by Stephen Foster (16/44.1 MQA, Nonesuch/Tidal), on a two-volume set that also showcased the gone-too-soon mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani. Thanks to the 891's timbral accuracy, no one listening to this recording could ever mistake Gilbert Kalish's historic piano for a modern Steinway. I didn't remember Quinn's beautiful voice from the time I owned one volume of the two-volume project, but I did think that I already had a decent sense of what DeGaetani sounded like. Wrong. Her voice was far more beautiful and plaintive—so, so plaintive and touching—than what I recall hearing on the $200 Magnavox all-in-one record player my father let me take to Amherst College so many, many years ago. Thank you, Moon 891, for letting me hear what I was missing, even if I could not hear it on vinyl.

On to Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, Op.4 (Transfigured Night). After being wooed by the midrange on Isabelle Faust and Daniel Harding's chamber version with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (24/48 FLAC, Harmonia Mundi/Qobuz), I turned to Fabio Luisi and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra's recent, far more sonically compelling recording (24/96 FLAC, DG/Qobuz). The sparkling string interplay in the fourth movement was magical, luminous, radiant, glowing—jaw-droppingly exquisite. Even though some inner lines were a mite muddy in the big climax, the bass lacked firmness, and the soundstage was flatter than I experience through my far more expensive reference front-end, that did not stop me from loving what I heard or appreciating how glorious this music is.

From Alex Halberstadt: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' all-enveloping "Jubilee Street" from Push the Sky Away (24/44.1, Bad Seed Ltd./Qobuz). The 891 sorted the song's many layers of sound quite well. So well that I scribbled "Fabulous music" before cueing up another equally compelling track, "Soul Station," from the remastered version of Introducing Roland Kirk (16/44.1 FLAC, Vintage Pleasure/Tidal). The timbres of this music's different horns were beautifully differentiated, but the bass could have been tighter.

After tracks from Lou Reed and the Ray Brown Trio—again, bass wasn't entirely tight on Brown's "Exactly Like You" from Soular Energy (16/44.1 FLAC, Concord/Qobuz), and the higher-pitched instruments predominated over Brown's bass, which did not feel right—it was on to Copland's Rodeo, Rickie Lee Jones's "Under the Boardwalk," and Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night" from his eponymous album (24/192 FLAC, Reprise/Qobuz). At last, a true hi-rez remastering! Anyone who questions whether 24/192 makes a difference over 16/44.1, 24/44.1, or 24/96 needs to stream this album through the Moon 891. The music felt far more immediate and touchable than some of the tracks I'd previously auditioned, but bass remained a mite muddy.

Final tests
After switching cables and apps, I revisited some of the same tracks using the considerably more expensive Innuos Statement Next-Gen/PhoenixNet combo with the Innuos Sense app and InnuOS. The sound wasn't incrementally better; it was way better. Leaps and bounds better. Bass that had lacked firmness was now absolutely firm and clear. Fuller as well, and in correct proportion to instruments and voices higher in the range. Transparency and air notably increased, the soundstage grew dramatically in sound and depth, etc., etc. Amen. You know the story. Veteran review readers have heard it a thousand times. But that doesn't make it any less true.

This was anything but a case of "diminishing returns." It was a major improvement, albeit one costing well over double the price. (Hey, if you use cables as costly as mine, you're approaching triple the price.) An unfair comparison, to be sure. But it confirmed something friend Scott had said over 850 words ago: Given a better streaming source, the excellence of the 891's DAC and preamplifier stood out. Together, they reach into music's heart and soul, lay it out for all to hear, and do so with a transparency and truth that deserve copious praise.

Two final tests. Initially, differences in sound quality between Moon's MiND software and Roon seemed negligible. But repeated listens clarified that Roon sounded a little drier, flatter, grayer, and less filled with life. MiND's images were surrounded by more air and distinguished by rounder bass. On Luisi's wonderful Schoenberg recording, only MiND transmitted the music's magical luminous transfiguration. Said Scott, whom I invited over to hear what I'd already discovered, "Only MiND lets me hear the rear of the stage. Music also flows easier; it's more relaxing to listen to, with images better separated."

I also confirmed what Koulisakis had said about the sound of streaming vs playing the same file from a USB stick (even one with a solid state drive). On the Britten Violin Concerto with which I began this review, the USB source delivered sound that was a bit drier, grayer, and deficient in space. Streamed from Qobuz, the orchestral acoustic seemed far more convincing, and Faust's violin sounded fuller, with more saturated tone color.

Summing it up
Just as last month, I wrote that I have never reviewed an amplifier in the Moon 861's price range with sound as satisfying, I must now say the same about the Moon 891 network player/preamplifier. Complete with an up-to-date DAC that decodes high-resolution PCM, MQA, and DSD, it's a fine-sounding, easy-to-operate one-stop front-end that requires minimal cabling and setup acumen for it to shine.

Can you do better? Of course. To do so, will you, perhaps, have to run your finances into the ground, put a pot under the hole in your leaky roof, default on your mortgage, tell your kids it's community college or no college at all, or fail to leave enough in your will to pay for more than a shallow grave marked by a vase of plastic flowers? Quite possibly.

Better, then, to celebrate what the Moon 891 does provide: truthful full-range sound that is so satisfyingly complete that the forever-seeking Serinus kept focusing on what was present rather than what was lacking. The 891's performance is musical to the core. Highly recommended.

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Footnote 5: They, in turn, cannot find vinyl pressings of many of the new hi-rez digital recordings I review.