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I've always been a city dweller and can't lay claim to having owned boats, riding mowers, shotguns, basement refrigerators, golf clubs, or even patio furniture. When I moved to a loft from an apartment with a tiny backyard some 13 years ago, I even had to give up my Weber grill. This geographical fact has kept my possessions streamlined. My favorites include a handful of old waxed cotton coats, a couple dozen leather boots and shoes, a few mechanical watches, my Garrard 301 turntable, a roomful of books, and rather a lot of art, much of it made by friends. But without a doubt my fondest…
After running Milton Nascimento's self-titled debut from 1967 (Som Livre 403.6152) through the Degritter, I listened to its most famous track, "Travessia." A poem about the end of a love affair, it established 24-year-old Nascimento as a vital songwriter whose singular tenor and unearthly falsetto would come to be described as "a voz do Deus" (the voice of God). The strings in Luiz Eça's orchestral arrangement can sometimes come across as a bit indistinct and murky, but after the ultrasonic cleaning, they sounded clearer and fuller than I'd heard them. And the chords Nascimento strummed…
I was at least 40' away when I spied my first dCS Lina stack at CanJam. It was black, sitting conspicuously on a table emitting a strong Space Odyssey Monolith vibe. I can't remember which headphones I used, but I do remember how good it felt to face the stack and experience its startling clarity, showing off the bass end of a piano keyboard with a force I could feel in my shoulders. That impactful piano bass plus the stack's matte-finish, neo-Brutalist façade, and feels-like-cashmere volume control, made a strong first impression.
We all know everything sounds like what it looks like—…
Close listening
My first night of close listening with the Lina was highlighted by a CD transported from my Onkyo C-7030 player, connected via S/PDIF on RCA: Walter Gieseking playing the Complete Piano Music of Maurice Ravel (NCA CD LC 12281). On page 546 in his Essential Canon of Classical Music (North Point Press), David Dubal described Ravel as "an elegant Apollonian" and an "exquisite jeweler," but for me Ravel is a more distinctly modernist extrapolation of Debussy's dreamier, more sensation-based creations. In Gaspard de la nuit, Ravel's three poems for piano, I experienced…
With every passing season, a new audiophile-grade network switch hits the market. These products, which can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, do the same basic thing as network switches bought at Best Buy for $30 or so (except, in some cases, slower), but their manufacturers claim they are built to a higher standard to achieve better sound.
As with all signal-conditioning devices that operate completely in the digital realm—especially those that work at packet level (more correctly referred to as "frame-level" on the local side of the router, but that's a distinction that even few…
The sound of networks switching
I have a relatively simple networking setup. One network supports my audio system and my other network activities—though when I'm listening intently, there's little nonmusical network activity beyond the occasional email (at which time my attention is diverted anyway). I'm tempted to turn off Wi-Fi when I listen seriously, but I usually keep it on, since it supports network-audio "remotes" such as Roon's. I'm not a tablet guy; my Mac laptop is my preferred "remote." I did turn off Wi-Fi briefly to compare, but I left it on most of the time (footnote 5).…
I have a relatively simple networking setup. One network supports my audio system and my other network activities—though when I'm listening intently, there's little nonmusical network activity beyond the occasional email (at which time my attention is diverted anyway). I'm tempted to turn off Wi-Fi when I listen seriously, but I usually keep it on, since it supports network-audio "remotes" such as Roon's. I'm not a tablet guy; my Mac laptop is my preferred "remote." I did turn off Wi-Fi briefly to compare, but I left it on most of the time (footnote 5).…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: 8-port, 100/1000Mbps Ethernet switch with gold-plated GbE RJ45 connections, 25MHz Word Clock input, grounding port, and TCXO clock module.
Dimensions: 17.3" (439mm) W × 2.5" (63mm) H × 10" (250mm) D. Weight: 14.3lb (6.4kg).
Finish: black, silver.
Serial number of unit reviewed: K230100001. Designed and manufactured in China.
Price: $3995. Approximate number of US dealers: 12. Warranty: 2 years, parts and labor.
Manufacturer: Silent Angel. Web: https://silentangel.com.
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Innuos Statement, Roon Nucleus+ server/streamers; Bel Canto Black, CH Precision C1.2 DACs.
Preamplifier: Pass Laboratories XP-32.
Power amplifiers: CH Precision M1.2, Pass Laboratories XA60.8.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx V.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Carbon & Cinnamon & Coffee (all USB); CAD USB Cable; Wireworld Platinum Starlight 8 (Ethernet). Interconnect: AudioQuest. Speaker: AudioQuest Thunderbird ZERO. Power: AudioQuest Tornado High-Current C13, NRG-X3, and Monsoon.
Accessories: PS Audio…
For music listening circa 2024, streaming is both the present and the future. Physical formats are still around, and they are still the best choice in some cases, as with deluxe reissues of beloved albums, which may add value with extra live performances, full-resolution surround sound, and other perks. The niche vinyl market continues to thrive, and that business model obviously works for releases of a few thousand copies. (It also works, apparently, for releases of hundreds of thousands of T-Swift platters to be displayed on shelves and hung on walls.)
But facts is facts: Streaming is…
StreamMagic is similar enough to dCS's Mosaic app, which I use all the time with my Bartók streaming DAC, that it didn't take long to figure out. The Library tab lists all the streaming sources, and the app connects transparently to MinimServer running on my NAS, same as Mosaic. I started playing files from my digital library, with the MXN10 connected to a McIntosh MA6500 integrated amplifier in my old-school office system; its only permanently connected digital component is a Rega Jupiter CD player. This system usually plays CDs and vinyl, but can also connect to my office computer via…