JASON VICTOR SERINUS Antipodes Audio K50 MUSIC SERVER
Stereophile|October 2021
On the face of it, playing and streaming digital music files is a straightforward process.
JASON VICTOR SERINUS Antipodes Audio K50 MUSIC SERVER

You direct data from various sources—some local, some “in the cloud”— perhaps via a reclocker/ signal conditioner to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). “And the music comes out here.”

Not so simple. Bits, it seems, aren’t bits, or not only. A digital datastream is also an analog signal. Noise and other signal errors endemic to multifunction computers not designed primarily for music playback can affect how music sounds. And then there are the practical issues of setting up and connecting everything optimally, and then organizing music files correctly, which can be especially difficult when ripping files from multidisc sets.

These obstacles are why so many audiophiles have either switched to one-box music server solutions or even thrown up their hands and stuck with physical media.

Ever since I began using my Roon Nucleus+ music server, powered by an HDPlex 300 linear power supply rather than Roon’s supplied switching power supply wall wart, I’ve wondered about the quality of other server/ streamers that cost considerably more. I’ve listened to a few, including the Wolf Audio Systems Alpha 3 SX and the Innuos Statement. In June, I requested a review sample of my most expensive yet, the one-box, flagship server made by New Zealand company Antipodes Audio, the K50 ($15,000). My contacts at the company were Mark Jenkins, Antipodes’s CEO, and Mark Cole, the company’s head of service, sales and marketing. Which meant that, in addition to figuring out how to operate a unique device with multiple choices of inputs, outputs, servers, and players, I had to figure out which Mark was which.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2021-Ausgabe von Stereophile.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2021-Ausgabe von Stereophile.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS STEREOPHILEAlle anzeigen
INSTANTLY ICONIC
Stereophile

INSTANTLY ICONIC

AUDIO SALON HOST/ENTREPRENEUR/SYSTEM AND FASHION DESIGNER DEVON TURNBULL'S RECORD-BREAKING ART OF NOISE SHOWING AT SAN FRANCISCO MOMA.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
January 2025
Buckeye PURIFI EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA1
Stereophile

Buckeye PURIFI EIGENTAKT 1ET9040BA1

Back in 2016,' I documented the rise of class-D amps using the early Tripath technology. Used in the Bel Canto eVo 200.2, TriPath cracked open the door to the High End but was never admitted due to a dim and opaque treble.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
January 2025
Moon 891
Stereophile

Moon 891

No less than eight boxes, powered by six after-market power cables, comprise my current reference front-end.'

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
January 2025
Clearaudio Signature
Stereophile

Clearaudio Signature

The Clearaudio allowed each mix, each sonic artifact, to reveal its unique character.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
January 2025
Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333
Stereophile

Gryphon Audio Designs Diablo 333

What's in a name? Denmark-based Gryphon Audio Designs laid down a marker when company founder Flemming Rasmussen chose that name in 1985. Browsing through the current Stereophile Recommended Components list, I only found one other manufacturer that utilizes an animal moniker.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
January 2025
The Rega Naia Turntable. Add Lightness.
Stereophile

The Rega Naia Turntable. Add Lightness.

To watch as Rega very slowly expands its turntable offerings upmarket requires the patience of a Thomas Pynchon addict waiting for each new tome from the notoriously slow-working and reclusive author.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
January 2025
Phono Preamplifier Seduction
Stereophile

Phono Preamplifier Seduction

Give me the seduction, give me the pleasure,\" Ron Sutherland was nearly shouting into the phone. \"I want to turn off the analytical mind and just enjoy myself!\"

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
January 2025
Record Player Revelations
Stereophile

Record Player Revelations

Like romance or car racing, the act of playing records is tactile by design. Like drifting through curves or making out, spinning vinyl is a learned skill that requires users to touch everything with practiced assurance.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
January 2025
Taking Care of Business
Stereophile

Taking Care of Business

As Jim Austin wrote in this space in the December 2024 issue, following a medical procedure that he had in mid-October, he needed to take several weeks' leave to recuperate. He delegated the magazine's production to Managing Editor Mark Henninger, AVTech Editorial Director Paul Miller, and myself. The three of us worked with copy editor Linda Felaco and longtime art director Jeremy Moyler to produce the issue you hold in your hands.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
January 2025
Estelon X Diamond Mk II
Stereophile

Estelon X Diamond Mk II

Taste is a funny thing. Love cilantro? Millions swear it tastes like soap.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
January 2025