1st Edition
SOtM sMS-200 (more Buzz)
Korea's SOtM (Soul Of The Music) had their new sMS-200 mini network player (about $450) on silent display. The tiny sMS-200 (105 x 53 x 150mm) is RoonReady (trending) while you can also run Logitech Media Server, Squeezelite, MPD & DLNA audio Renderer (not trending).
Melco In Munich and The Buzz
When attending hi-fi shows, you sometimes come across a product in-use in a number of rooms, something sitting there silently doing its job largely unheralded because it's not part of the system being highlighted (i.e. the company did not necessarily pay to have it put there).
Playback Designs Sonoma Product Line
Playback Designs new Sonoma line consists of four products; Merlot DAC (euro6,500), Syrah Music Server (euro6,500), Pinot ADC (euro7,500), and the OpBox Modification Kit for the Oppo Player (euro1,050). As I tried to capture in images, the Sonoma line comes housed in a lovely, wavy-topped chassis and those waves were modeled from a photo of a mountain range inspired by the Sonoma mountains, i.e. wine country.
Fidata HFAS1-S10
One of things you encounter at High End Munich are companys looking to make connections. Japan's Fidata is one such company and they were showing their HFAS1-S10 network music server ($TBD) which houses a 1TB SSD (two 850EVO high-reliability SSDs from Samsung), a 25 Mhz low-phase-noise vacuum-type crystal oscillator, and USB or Ethernet out for connecting to your USB DAC or streamer of choice.
Ayre QX-5 Twenty
The only real piece of additional information I have on the Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty Digital Music Hub ($TBD) beyond my previous post/announcement, is this picture. Ayre exhibited in a booth in Munich, i.e. not a room, so the QX-5 Twenty sat and posed for this photo op. Ayre's Alex Brinkman will be reading a QX-5 for an in-barn audition in the near future.
MQA And Warner Music Enter Licensing Agreement
This announced should help ease some of the "Where's the MQA content" questions, but I'm beginning to think that with every MQA announcement that answers a question, more questions arise: When and how much, being two.
Brinkmann Audio Nyquist DAC
You mean Brinkmann of Brinkmann turntable fame? Yup (they actually made their first DAC back in 1986, the Zenith). The brandy new Nyquist DAC (euro12,000), which is RoonReady and MQA-enabled, currently processes PCM resolutions to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD128 but since the Nyquist is modular in design, future upgrades can be done in the field with a simple hardware/software swap.
The New Mytek Manhattan II
The new Mytek Manhattan II ($6,000, $1,000 for Manhattan owner upgrade) uses the same chasis as the Manhattan but changes have happened beneath the surface. The current Manhattan was designed and built before MQA rode into town, so it's not MQA ready (and will never be).
Resources for Buyers, Beginners, and the Curious:
Are you looking for advice on which DAC to buy? Or a new new server or streamer? A great place to being that search is our Greatest Bits.
How To pages for our guides to computer audio
New to Computer Audio and looking for some general advice? Check out our How To pages for our guides to computer audio.
Industry Voice blog
Our Industry Voice blog is where we interview the engineers and designers behind the products. Learn about computer audio from the people who make it.
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