REPRODUCEDFROMHI-FICHOICE
experimentingwithsaidfilters,wewouldsuggestthe oneyouchoosewilbedowntoamaterofpersonal preference.Findtheoneyoulike–weendupwith ‘Smooth’,butyoumaydisagree–andthenforget aboutit.Dependingontheinputyouchoose,the AltairG2.1canhandledigitaldatastreamsatupto 32-bit/384kHz and DSD512, the higher limits achievableviabothnetworkandUSBconnectionfrom acomputer(forwhichWindowsuserswil,ofcourse, needtodownloadadriver)orUSBstorage–whether from aconnecteddriveoroptionalinternalstorage. The legacy digitalinputs– optical,coaxialand AES/EBU–topoutat24-bit/192kHz,butcanacept DSD64viaDoPifrequired. TheanaloguelineandMM phonoinputsbypas the digitalwizardryofAuralic’s‘Tesla’platformandcanbe configuredtofixedlevelina‘hometheatrebypas’ mode.These inputsalso go straightto Auralic’s ‘resistorladder’volumecontrolandtoitsproprietary ‘Orfeo’Clas Aoutputstagestoeitherunbalanced RCAsorbalanced XLRs.There’salso a 6.35mm headphoneoutputonthefrontpanel,alongwitha large,sharp and informativedisplayand asingle controlcoveringvolumeand‘pushandtwist’menu aces. Asisthecasewithalthecompany’sG2.1-series products, the latest Altair features Auralic’s interference-busting‘UnityChasis’design,itscopper innercasesupportedwithinasubstantialaluminium chasis mounted on sprung feetformechanical isolation.That’stheinsidestory:theouterimpresion isofaproducthidingitscomplexitybehindasimple
There’salsotheoptionofcontrolingtheunit usingtheLightningWebControlInterface: it’sjustamaterofreadingtheAltairG2.1’s IPaddresfromitssetingsmenu,typingthat intoawebbrowserandyou’reinbusines andreadytorol. Theappandthewebversioncoverbasic operationandmoredetailedsetings.You can, for example, enable the internal resampling system, upsampling or downsamplingacros a44.1kHzto384kHz range–althisrunningunderthecontrolof Auralic’scustom‘DualFemto’masterclocks. There’salsoabuilt-in–andveryflexible– parametricequaliser,andyoucaneventailor thesoundtosuityourloudspeakerpositions, with adjustable gain and distance parameters.It’snosubstituteforgeting yourspeakersplacedcorectly,ofcourse,but intherealworlditcouldproveveryhandy indeed. Digevendeeperandthere’sahugeraftof adjustmentavailablehere,includingsetinga fixedoutputshouldyouwanttousethe AltairG2.1 into a conventionalamp or preamp.Youcanalsosetthebrightnesand format of the display, the automatic power-onparametersandevenselectfroma range ofdiferentdigitalfilteroptions. Havingspentsomeserioustime
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