NY Audio & AV 2012

There was a nice stack of digital devices in the NYC dealer Ciamara room including the Weiss MAN301 Music Archive Network Player ($9,083 for standard version; $12,262 for the version with an on-board DAC), Weiss Medea+ DAC ($19,680 + $2,119 for the Firewire option), Bricasti M1 DAC ($7,995) which was in use while I was visiting, and the Lavry Gold DA2002 ($11,250). Also playing was the Viola Solo Preamp ($45,000), Viola Bravo II Power Amplifier ($59,000), and the TAD Compact Reference CR1s ($37,000 + $3,500 for the stands).

Since I haven't covered the Weiss gear on AudioStream, let's talk about these two pieces. The Weiss MAN301 is a purpose-built computer more or less with CD drive for ripping and without any internal storage (Weiss recommends connecting a NAS via the Ethernet input). Digital inputs include AES/EBU or S/PDIF on XLR, RCA, and Toslink and digital outputs consist of AES/EBU on XLR and RCA, FireWire, and USB. The MAN301 can handle up to 32-bit/192kHz on all inputs and is compatible with "all common audio file formats (uncompressed, losslessly compressed, lossy compressed)". There's also a Weiss iOS app which you use to control MAN301.

The Weiss Medea+ DAC can play back 24-bit/192kHz on all inputs including (3) AES/EBU inputs on XLR connectors, (1) Toslink (optical) and (4) S/PDIF (RCA) connectors. You can also get the optional FireWire and ST glass fiber inputs. There are pairs of single ended and balanced outputs.