Digital

Aurender, based in Korea, was the first company to turn heads and open ears with a handsome audiophile-grade music server optimized with its own custom software. Now available with an attractive, versatile, and easy-to-master Aurender Conductor control app for iPad, iPhone, and Android phones and tablets, Aurender’s high performance models include the N30SA High Definition Caching Music Server / Streamer with internal 8TB Solid-State Drive (SSD) and slot for an additional drive, N20 High Definition Caching Music Server / Streamer with two slots for user-added HDD or SSD drives, and ACS 10 Caching Music Server / Streamer / Player.

Berkeley Audio Design, LLC products are designed and manufactured entirely in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Berkeley Audio Design, LLC was founded by Michael “Pflash” Pflaumer and Michael Ritter, founders of Pacific Microsonics, Inc., developer of the HDCD process and the Pacific Microsonics Model One and Model Two, widely considered to be the highest quality professional ADC and DAC ever produced. “Pflash” Pflaumer, was co-architect/lead engineer and produced all of the digital algorithms. Michael Ritter was business leader and provided extensive experience in audio engineering, facilities design and product development. To their ears the Model One and Model Two created a new paradigm of audio fidelity, a level of fidelity “closer to the microphone feed” than even first generation open-reel analog tapes. Berkeley Audio Design was formed with the goal of making that level of fidelity available to music lovers and audiophiles everywhere. The Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3, the new Alpha DAC Series 3 and the Alpha USB are major achievements towards that goal.

Ideon Audio—to some the new company on the block—calls itself a Greek “boutique audio system manufacturer of extreme performance digital sound equipment.” In its quest to reveal ‘all of the music hidden within digital data,’ Ideon designs everything in-house ratrher than relying on off-the-shelf modules. The technology in Ideon Audio devices is designed to wage “war against electrical and phase inconsistencies,” and to maintain voltage and current stability under challenging circumstances. Persistent signal re-clocking is one of many factors that makes Ideon Audio products unique. We carry the top-of-the-line flagship The Absolute DAC, Absolute Stream, and Absolute Time (for ultimate USB & SPIDF reclocking).

MSB Technology’s DACs, which are hand assembled in the U.S., are the stuff of legend. The company has its own CNC shop, manufactures its own circuit boards, and pays careful attention to every aspect of sound reproduction. Its Discrete, Premier, Reference, and Select DACs incorporate modular design features that allow for easy upgrading and long-term use. Rather than list every single feature that makes MSB DACs unique, the company prefers to woo you to nirvana with a digital experience that defies expectations.

The SGM Extreme high end music server from Holland’s Taiko Audio pushes the boundaries of audio streaming. The company utilizes the best software available, and constantly strives to improve and innovate. The hefty SGM Extreme features an extremely fast dual CPU (central processing unit), twelve 4GB custom RAM modules (48GB total), a proprietary 400W multi-stage ultralinear power supply, and the greater bandwidth afforded by Intel’s latest VMD technology. Internal drives range in size from 2TB to 24TB, eliminating the need for playback from external drives such as a NAS. Extreme and then some.

Manufactured in Spain, the WADAX Atlantis Reference DAC sounds as striking as it looks. By greatly reducing noise and error levels through musIC feed-forward error correction technology, dual mono topology that includes “massively filtered” and ultra-quiet” left and right power supplies, ten independent purpose-wound power transformers, modular future-proof card-cage construction, and other innovations, WADAX claims “the most accurate and most satisfying DAC ever designed.”