REPRODUCEDFROMHI-FICHOICE
ATECHNICALTOURDEFORCE Builtasa‘boxwithinabox’,andpromisingaslickeral-round performancethanever,Auralic’sG2.1seriesnowextendsto thefuly-fledgedAltairstreamingDAC/preamplifier
Altair’sG2.1costsaweebitmorethanits AriesG2.1(HFC469)‘Wireles Streaming Transporter’–4,600plays4,200–andyet thismodel,designated a‘DigitalAudio Streamer’,isafarmore comprehensive product.Itcomescompletewithonboard DAC,apreampthatalowsittodrivea poweramplifierorapairofactivespeakers directly,andthereareevenanalogueinputs –aline-levelandmoving-magnetphono–to furtherreinforcethatroleasacomplete systemhub. Ifyouchoosetodoso,youcangoeven furtherwiththeoptionofaninternalhard drivetoalowtheAltair G2.1tofunctionasanetworkmusicstoreas wel as acesing external storage. Specifyingitwitha2TBSSDinstaledadds 400 to the price,while looking around Auralic’sretailersfindsitwitha1TBSSD fitedfor4,700ora4TBdrivefor4,900.Al these are reasonable add-on costs considering the premium that’s usualy charged bysomecomputing brandsfor suchstorageupgrades.
Takeitasitcomes Purchased‘asitcomes’,withouttheinternalstorage options,thisisstilanextremelyflexibledevice.Leave asidetheanaloguecapabilityforamoment,andyou canplaymusicintoitviaoptical,coaxialandAES/EBU inputs;connectupacomputerviaitsasynchronous USB-BportoranexternalUSBstoragedeviceusing theUSB-A;orstreamtoitoverahomenetworkusing eitherwi-fi(forwhichtwinantennaeareprovided)or Ethernet.Itadditionaly hasboth Bluetooth and AirPlayconnectivityandisalsoRoon-ready,alowingit tobeusedasanendpointwithasystembuiltarounda RoonCore. Ifyoudon’tgodowntheRoonroute,theAltairG2.1 itselfsupportsarangeofonlinestreamingservices,as welasbeingabletoplaymusicfromtheuser’sown networklibrary.QobuzandTidalarebuilt-in,asis Internetradio,anditcanalsoworkwithSongcastand SpotifyConnect. MakingsenseofalthisisAuralic’sfamedLightningDS operatingsystem,whichworksinconjunctionwiththe wel-sortedappofthesamename,andisavailablefor AppleiOSdevices.
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