Boiled down to its bare essentials, NAD’s M10 is a souped-up Bluesound Powernode that bolts Class D amplification to a BluOS network streamer and Dirac Live room correction. My review process is now in motion.
Inside the M10’s BluOS control app we see gateways to Deezer’s lossy and lossless tiers; Qobuz’s lossy and lossless tiers plus their smaller pool of hi-res titles (delivered natively); Tidal’s lossy and lossless tiers + a smaller pool of MQA-powered hi-res. Both Tidal and Qobuz can also be accessed via the M10’s (still to be certified) Roon Ready input.… Read the full article
High-End 2019 show coverage brought to you by Core Power Technologies
When I signed up to cover dCS at High End 2019, I was thinking BIG DIGITAL. You know, a very expensive system in a big room with one, or several, six-figure dCS stacks. That room existed, with Wilson Audio Sasha DAW loudspeakers and Dan D’Agostino amps, featuring a notably pure and clean sound that you would probably expect from such esteemed companies. I sat in that room, took notes, and I was duly impressed.… Read the full article
High-End 2019 show coverage brought to you by The LSA Group
Ayre (website) was one of the earliest to market with a good USB DAC. That’s how I remember seeing and interacting with them. The QB-9 did one thing (USB) and did that one thing well, and all the mags raved about it. But what I always wanted? Well, aside from anything in the the milled-block-of-aluminum R-Series, was the C5 CD player. Man, I wanted that thing in a bad way — “no point in USB, when CD is that good!” is what I remember thinking.… Read the full article
High-End 2019 show coverage brought to you by Core Power Technologies
My second full day of coverage for High End 2019 in Munich was a bit of a roller coaster, exacerbated by my inability to keep my phone on a network for more than a couple of minutes. I’d stop and try to find a new and willing network, get on wi-fi, receive tons of messages and texts, take a couple of steps and lose everything. People were trying to find me and that led to a few missed opportunities, but I still managed to have a few enlightening experiences when it came to new products in high-end audio.… Read the full article
dCS has a track record of continuing to invest in their products for years after they initially launch. They have quoted statistics stating that they only use around 60-70% of the capacity of a device at launch, giving them 10 years of headroom to innovate. This creates an experience where your device may sound the worst the day you bought it, as future updates refine performance and add capabilities. We’ve come to love their hardware and delicious analog sound, but haven’t always been the biggest fans of their iOS only control software across the Vivaldi 2.0, Vivaldi One, Rossini, Bartók, and Network Bridge. … Read the full article
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