_Digital Reviews

Sometimes it’s nice to come across a hifi product that does what it’s supposed to do without trying to do extra. Just the bits, m’am.

The ability to flavor the sound of our hifi by swapping tubes is a beautiful thing. After all, the perfect hifi doesn’t exist because we use ‘em to listen to music, a deeply personal thing.

My friends at Harmonia Distribution sent me a little challenge package—2 Bluesound NODEs (N130), one stock and one with the Sbooster AIB Connection Kit and matching Sbooster ECO Power Supply.

Let’s make this easy—totaldac’s new Live Clocking Option offers a subtle yet clear improvement.

There’s part of me that wonders why all DACs aren’t streaming DACs—Ethernet in/analog out. Simple. Truth be told, I love a good streaming DAC.

Non-digital digital.

Q: Why do you have a Network Acoustics Muon Pro Ethernet filter in your hifi? A: Because it makes music sound better.

NOS or OS, the audiophile’s choice.

“Now, I’m not one to stand on ceremony or suggest that a given technology is inherently superior to another—it’s all in the implementation…”

If you want to hear the best digital music reproduction I’ve heard by an obvious and distinct margin, you’ll need to find a Grimm MU2 to listen through.

The two most important factors in HiFi performance are system effects and environment.

DACs are like dinner party guests: you don’t want loud and obnoxious but you also don’t want overly polite and boring.

The big question for me regarding the Auralic ARIES G2.2 was a simple one—is it better than the Auralic ARIES G1.1 and if so, how.

How much do we really know about a DAC we’ve never heard? The answer depends on who you ask.

Sometimes simple is all you need.

I spent about 7 years reviewing just digital gear as Editor of AudioStream. Streamers, servers, DACs, software, and cables filled my days, nights, and nightmares with the ever elusive goal of making digital music sound like just music, minus the digital part.

Swimming around in my sea of ever-expanding likes, the CD transport hunts with the big fish.

I’m warming up to CDs. There, I said it. And part of the reason for this newfound fondness is the Technics SL-G700M2.

The little DAC that could.

I’ve been living with DACs from France’s totaldac for the past ten years, giver or take, and the reason is simple—I love listening to music through them.

Streamer Check List: Easy setup, intuitive interface, free and user-friendly control app, native streaming support, Roon-Ready, multiple digital outputs including AES, DSP, solid build quality, color screen a plus, and most important of all—do no harm.

In Part One of my two-part Sonnet Pasithea review, I’m going to talk about how it performs as a DAC. Part Two will see it paired with the Kratos Mono Amplifiers and Hermes Streamer for a complete Sonnet system review.