Sooner or later audiophiles come to the realizations that every component flavors the sound and that there isn't a single best flavor. Accepting these two facts eases us into the world of endless enjoyment provided by this wonderful hobby. Researching, selecting, and auditioning new components can be pleasurable when our sonic tastebuds are the only things that matter. When visiting a chocolatier we may ask for recommendations or for the most exotic or popular truffles. Tasting each type of truffle is a blissful experience that frequently leads us to prefer a specific flavor. Regardless of each ingredient's purity, source, or popularity the final decision is based on taste. Selecting audio components is no different from selecting fine chocolates. The colorful sights and sounds of my McIntosh MC275 may be equally as enjoyable as my impeccably engineered Spectral DMA-260 solid state amplifier. When I'm listening to music rather than equipment my audio system is comprised of components that best bring out an emotional response to my favorite albums. Over the last few weeks nothing in my listening room has been as essential to my musical enjoyment as the Luxman DA-06 digital to analog converter. The Luxman DA-06 DAC is as rich and smooth as a Diane Krön truffle yet as pure as water from France's Auvergne region. Like a good book the DA-06 had me hooked on its lush qualities from track one.
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Intro
ALO Audio along with a handful of other companies has been leading the charge on portable audio amplification. Their product lineup includes one of the largest and varied sections of both tube and solid-state portable headphone amplifiers. Sitting atop the mobile offerings is the ALO flagship Rx Mk3-b ($650). Offering both balanced and single-ended inputs and outputs, this battery-powered headphone amplifier is a reminder that head fi audio is slowly adapting the same principals as audiophile loudspeaker components. While close competitor Ray Samuels and budget brand Fiio provide even more illumination to the landscape, ALO pushes the performance (and price) of portable even further north with the Mk3 over previous amplifier-only incarnations. Even more recent than the Mk3, a new wave of amp+dac combinations is sweeping the countryside with the promise of everything you need for desktop listening in a compact package. This new arrangement however, doesn’t allow for the versatility that accompanies the Mk3. As I’m sure you know if you are reading this review, that DAC technologies and improvements are moving at a much faster clip than the rest of HiFi audio, especially in the portable realm. For the purpose of this endeavor, I paired the Mk3 with a wide variety of sources in an attempt to deliver the fullest viewpoint of applications. On both the giving and receiving ends the Mk3 is quite a flexible device.
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High end audio can be a polarizing hobby. Audiophiles like to select a product or technology and support it vigorously as if they have a large financial interest in its success. I was born an audiophile. I completely understand the desire for one's selection to be validated by the audiophile community. I also completely understand how unhealthy that desire for validation is and the neurosis it can cause. Audiophiles, myself included, must realize the products we select today will sound just as good in five years regardless of competing products, newer technologies, and others' opinions. One polarizing topic in computer audio is digital interfaces. Two digital interfaces that have strong vocal support from users are USB and Ethernet. Users of one technology frequently turn a blind eye to the merits of the other technology and won't even consider its use. Many users selected one technology a few years ago based on the information available at that time and refuse to update their own knowledge for any number of reasons. This leads to armchair engineer arguments based on half truths and old information. These discussions are a disservice to all readers. Based on my experience with both USB and Ethernet interfaces it's clear to me that both can sound excellent and both will have a strong presence in high end audio for the foreseeable future. One Ethernet interface that caught my attention a couple months ago is the UPnP AV 2.0 / DLNA compliant Simple Design Rendu Ethernet to S/PDIF Converter. Admittedly I was drawn in by the features and specs, notably its ability to play DSD, 24/192 PCM, and gapless audio streamed over Ethernet. I've since listened through the Rendu for countless hours and put it through a number of network audio tests. At first the Rendu was a bit picky and had some playback issues. Today using the newest firmware I'm happy to report the Rendu works very well and continues to sound very good. The Simple Design Rendu Ethernet to S/PDIF Converter is a product to watch in both two channel and whole house network audio.
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In this article, I independently adjust the amplitude (with digital eq) and bit-depth of a digital music file to identify at what threshold level I can start detecting a difference in sound quality compared to the original music file. In other words, how far away from bit-perfect can I detect an audible change in SQ. All music files are available for download. As a listening experience, feel free to participate to determine your own audibility threshold level. To correlate the listening tests with measurements, the differencing technique described in JRiver Mac versus JRiver Windows Sound Quality Comparison is being used.
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This story starts in July 2011 at the California Audio Show. That's where I was introduced to the Aurender music server team and where I had my first opportunity to use the server. I was immediately impressed by the product and the people. Everyone in the room knew their stuff. I asked question after question about the server's capabilities and the team's design decisions. I received polite and comprehensive answers to all my questions. I also asked if I could shoot photos of all the internal server components and was given the simple answer, "Yes, we have nothing to hide." I walked out of that room feeling refreshed. The people I'd just met weren't jaded from decades in the industry yet they had more music server knowledge than 99% of the exhibitors at the show. Fast forward to the end of February 2013. Days after Korea elected its first female President I touched down at Icheon Airport on a trip to speak at the Seoul International Audio Show and visit the headquarters of the Aurender team. I enjoyed meeting computer audiophiles at the show despite the language barrier. Furthermore I gained additional respect for the Aurender team, the company, and its products.
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