REPRODUCEDFROMHI-FI+
Fortunately,ithasthesustain,decay,andrelease partsofthewaveformwelsuitedtoo.Andifyouset asidevoltage-controledoscilatorsforstringsand soundboards,theALTAIRG1isthereforyoutoo. It’spretymuchthesoundofthefulAURALiCstack withjustsomeofthedetailandsoundstaging precisionsandeddown.Thedepth,articulationand eventhatremarkableabilitytosetoutthelayersin asoundstageofthebighitersarealmost
completely are almost completely unatenuated,though.Playsomethingdense andcomplicated–whateverthegenre–and theALTAIRG1portraysitcohesively,andwith goodbas depthandtexture.Andtoneand articulationareoutstanding,evenonfemale vocalslikethoseofJoyceDiDonato.I’dcite furthermusicalreferences,butI’verunoutof space!
“Toneandarticulationareoutstanding,evenon femalevocalslikethoseofJoyceDiDonato.”
AndroiduserscanuseanyOpenHomeapp (BubbleandKazoobeingpopularoptions)asa replacement,Ifeelyoumis outontheful AURALiC experience(inparticularinterface andaces speed).Roondoeseventhescore however.TheALTAIR/Androidpartnershipisn’t sohobbledthattheansweris‘buyaniPad’,but theALTAIR/Applepairingisoneheckofa bromance.Atthesametime,desktopusersare limited to set-up only..but I’m not as concernedbythat:theALTAIRG1isdesigned to end theneed foralaptop ordesktop computerin the audio system,so ifthe computer’s last act is to set up its replacement..sobeit! Thereisn’ta‘gamechanger’atthemoment becausesomanyaspectsofthegameofHi-Fi aretakingabitofarestrightnow.ButIfeel stronglythatthenearestwegettoagame changeristheAURALiCALTAIRG1.
AkeyelementintheALTAIRG1isitsCD-drive chummines.PlugaUSBCDdriveintotheALTAIR G1anditwilactasahigh-qualityCDplayer,orrip toaharddrive.Thisisnotasecentricasitfirst seems;IhaveanumberofCDsfromthedayswhen Iwasamajorinvestorinpolycarbonateandnotal ofthem arelikelytobeplayedenoughtojustify ripping,whileothersmightbecompilationswhere manyofthetracksarebestleftonthedisc.Indoing this,IusedtheexcelentMelcoD100opticaldisc drive,butyoucouldjustaseasilyhookupAstel& Kern’sownCD RipperMkIoranyoneofthe afordable USB CD drives designed for the computermarket. There’snotalottodislikehere.AURALiCusesits standardG1case,whichdoesn’thavethesame ‘hewnfromsolid’appealofthemoreexpensiveG2 casework,butgiventhatwouldaddsubstantialyto thepriceandtheG1caseisstilverysturdybyaudio standards,that’snottoobig aproblem.More importantly,LightningisaniOSappand,while
16 MUSICATHOME+
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker