Digital Processor Reviews

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Meridian 808.2/808i.2 Signature Reference CD player/preamplifier
CD Player/Transport Reviews, Audacious Audio, Digital Processor Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Apr 13, 2009  |  0 comments
It's been a while since I auditioned a Meridian CD player in my system. I had enthusiastically reviewed the English company's groundbreaking Pro-MCD player in early 1986, and over the years had kept up with the progress they were making in digital playback, either through my own reviews or by performing the measurements to accompany reviews by other Stereophile writers. The 508-24 player, reviewed by Wes Phillips in May 1998, was one of the finest digital products of the 1990s, I thought. But when Meridian began promoting surround sound and DVD-Audio at the turn of the century, their goals became somewhat incompatible with my own. Yes, I can appreciate what surround playback can do, but my own musical life is still solidly rooted in Two-Channel Land.
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Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic D/A converter
Budget Component Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
Sam Tellig  |  May 29, 2009  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2009  |  0 comments
In 1989, Cambridge Audio, then run by Stan Curtis—who is still active in hi-fi— introduced their DAC 1. At about the same time, within a few weeks of each other, Arcam introduced their Delta Black Box and Musical Fidelity their Digilog. I forget who was first among the three. Arcam, I think. But the DAC race was on, led by the British. (There was even a DAC called the Dacula.) US companies got into the DAC race, too—at higher prices, of course.
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Wadia Digital 170iTransport digital iPod dock
Budget Component Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews, Media Server Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Oct 09, 2008  |  0 comments
Last December, when Wadia Digital announced that it was releasing an iPod docking cradle that could access the digital signal before it had passed through the player's own D/A converter, many audiopundits were surprised. I was disbelieving, and nearly told Wadia's John Schaffer that he was shining me on. After all, Apple has tiptoed around the whole issue of consumers being able to digitally copy their iTunes files, going so far as to wrap its iTunes Music Store files in digital rights management (DRM) code.
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Benchmark DAC1 Pre USB D/A headphone amplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews, Budget Component Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews, Headphone Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
Sam Tellig  |  Dec 28, 2008  |  First Published: Oct 09, 2008  |  0 comments
Most of this column is dedicated to two hi-fi products for the masses—not from Lvov, via Vladimir Lamm, of Lamm Industries; or from Leningrad, via Victor Khomenko, of Balanced Audio Technologies; nor from any other Soviet-born audio hero. (Neither Vladimir nor Victor is on the list of "Name of Russia" contenders for greatest Russian of all time.) Nor from any consumer audio company, but from the world of professional audio. An Iron Curtain almost separates the two.
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Linn Klimax DS network D/A processor
Digital Processor Reviews, Media Server Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Mar 12, 2008  |  1 comments
Even the most savvy Stereophile reader might wonder what a "network music player" is. Linn rightly considers a music server to be a combination of 1) stored digital files, 2) music-management software, and 3) a device that uses #2 to transfer #1 to your hi-fi. What Linn's Klimax DS is is a high-quality digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that receives digital data through an Ethernet connection rather than optical or electrical S/PDIF or AES/EBU inputs.
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Musical Fidelity X-DACV8 Digital/Analog Processor
Digital Processor Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 21, 2008  |  0 comments
How do I get myself into these things? Knowing that I use a Musical Fidelity X-DACV3 D/A processor in my office system and had just auditioned the Bel Canto e.One DAC3 that he'd reviewed in November, John Atkinson asked me to give Musical Fidelity's X-DACV8 a try. I say "asked," but the man does authorize my paychecks, so I acceded, knowing I was painting a giant bull's-eye on my back.
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Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A processor & headphone amplifier
Budget Component Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews, Headphone Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Jan 18, 2008  |  0 comments
In his July 2003 "The Fifth Element" column, John Marks enthusiastically wrote about the Benchmark Media Systems DAC1 D/A processor and headphone amplifier. Comparing its sound playing CDs with that of a three-times-more-expensive Marantz SA-14 SACD player, he concluded that the DAC 1's "Red Book" performance was at least as good as that of the Marantz, being "slightly more articulate in the musical line, and slightly more detailed in spatial nuances, particularly the localization of individual images in space, and in soundstage depth."
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Bel Canto e.One DAC3 D/A processor
Digital Processor Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Nov 15, 2007  |  0 comments
"You've got to hear it!"
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Chord Choral Blu CD transport & Choral DAC64 digital audio converter
CD Player/Transport Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Aug 11, 2007  |  0 comments
I was stumbling through the Denver Convention Center at CEDIA 2006 when I spotted John Franks, of Chord Electronics, and Jay Rein, of Chord's US importer, Bluebird Music, stranded in the basement purgatory for "niche" products. I couldn't resist asking, "What sin relegated you guys to this little hell?"
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Bryston B100-DA SST DAC/integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews
Larry Greenhill  |  Apr 22, 2007  |  0 comments
Over the years, I have used and enjoyed in my audio system large, single-purpose components. Each of these chassis has had but one role: preamplifier, amplifier, digital-to-audio converter (DAC), etc. I guess I've been just a little suspicious of products with multiple functions crammed into a single small chassis; I've figured that the designer may have cut a corner that could affect the sound.
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Slim Devices Transporter network music player
Digital Processor Reviews, Media Server Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Feb 11, 2007  |  3 comments
Is a high-end music server the audio equivalent of polishing a turd?
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Zanden 5000 Mk.IV/Signature D/A converter & 2000 Premium CD transport
CD Player/Transport Reviews, Audacious Audio, Digital Processor Reviews
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 26, 2006  |  0 comments
We were driving to a friend's house to celebrate her dad's 92nd birthday. Halfway there, a bright yellow, ground-hugging insect pulled in front of my car from across street. "Wow, that's a Lamborghini Countach!" I exclaimed. You don't often see one of those in my neighborhood—or in any neighborhood.
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Sonos ZP80 & ZP100 WiFi Music System
Budget Component Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews, Media Server Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Sep 17, 2006  |  First Published: Oct 17, 2006  |  0 comments
Don't get the wrong idea. I don't watch trash TV. I am not interested in the doings of people who are famous merely for being famous. I was probably the last to realize that Paris Hilton was not the name of a French hotel. But the kitchen TV just happened be tuned to Channel 4 when I switched it on while I was preparing dinner. No, I do not watch NBC's Extra, but as I was reaching for the remote I was stopped in my tracks by what I saw. The show was doing a segment on the new L.A. home of Jessica Aguilera, or Christina Simpson, or . . . well, it doesn't matter. What does matter was the host's mention of all the cool stuff the bimbette had had installed in her new pied-à-terre: "...and a Sonos audio system, of course."
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Slim Devices Squeezebox WiFi D/A processor
Budget Component Reviews, Digital Processor Reviews, Media Server Reviews, Computer Audio Reviews
John Atkinson  |  Sep 09, 2006  |  0 comments
As readers of the Stereophile eNewsletter will be aware, the twin subjects of distributing music around my home and integrating my iTunes library of recordings into my high-end system have occupied much of my attention the past year. I bought an inexpensive Mac mini to use as a music server, using an Airport Express as a WiFi hub, which worked quite well, but my big step forward was getting a Squeezebox. I described this slim device in the mid-March and mid-April eNewsletters; I urge readers to read those reports to get the full background on this impressive device. In addition, the forums and Wiki pages on the Slim Devices website offer a wealth of information on getting the most from a Squeezebox.
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HeadRoom Desktop D/A headphone amplifier
Digital Processor Reviews, Headphone Reviews
Wes Phillips  |  Apr 23, 2006  |  0 comments
Looking at all of the high-end headphones and headphone accessories available today, it's difficult to even remember how barren the head-fi landscape was in the early 1990s. Back then, headphones got no respect, except for exotic, expensive electrostatic models, yet most of the world listened to music through headphones all the time, mostly through crappy cans connected to portable players. (Well, maybe it wasn't that different a landscape.)
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