3 posts were split to a new topic: AirLens Reviews
That’s what Paul said the other day in response on one of his posts.
Oh you’re right, in Paul’s posts he really said the following:
„ Yup. There are many ways to go but most designers shy away from it because it’s really hard.
You can use a simple optical isolator to achieve it but, that doesn’t work well at the sample rates we support nor does it work with the two-way communication we need. So we use something closer to a tiny RF signal.“
@Paul, do you really produce an RF radiation inside a unit (and near others) which is critically sensible to the same? So far I was busy fighting the same wherever possible.
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No; I have a DMP.
I tend to use the DMP to spin SACDs.
Does the Rossini solve this problem once and for all? 
Vince you are a genius. Rossini’s all around. You know what, with the Apex upgrade as well while we are at it.
We going to raid the warehouse? I’m in.
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Might as well grab the Master Clock while we are at it.
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…and we might as grab the Rossini Player while we are there.
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It’s all so expensive though!
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Until last summer (gulp, 1 year already!) I was exactly like you! Physical media was my preferred way to play music.
I was rarely using a MacMini + MK I to stream and I never liked it. Just buying hundreds of LPs and CDs. I was pretty sure that digital playback could never be my way.
Factors:
- I sometimes made researches on the web to complete my preferred artist discography but a lot of albums were not available in the format I wanted: LPs for 70’ and 90’ or “old” music in general and CDs for recent productions - or entire discography of an artist completely in LP format - or genres like jazz only in CD format. Often happened also that desired albums were not available at all. Very annoying!
- Roon/Qobuz started to offer me new artists to discover I never knew before. Often their “main” albums were not available “sealed” new, or needed to be imported with long waiting, or needed to be bought second hand (with risks about real condition), or simply wasn’t able to find them at all. Very annoying and disappointing!
- Thanks to @Paul and a few members here on the forum I pulled the trigger and accepted the challenge to UNDERSTAND better and deeper what digital music could mean. Bitrate, accessories, connectivity, network LAN, clocks, DDC, LPSs, boxes and cables. AES/EBU BNC I2S SPDIF were concepts totally out of my comprehension at that time. USB or Ethernet dilemma still offer food for thoughts, but this is another thread! I read a lot, I studied and it was just a theoretical approach. But it intrigued me more an more. The doubt I needed/wanted to dissipate was: could digital playback satisfy my tastes as much (or closer) as physical media? I still was very skeptical indeed.
- I started my journey into digital music, finally as soon as I found that SQ could be acceptable compared to my previous habits. So started my investments (the other side of the medal, unfortunately). Components more and more of higher level, cables, accessories and so on. I suddenly stopped buying new LPs or CDs, it wasn’t a forced choice, simply happened. Is the amount of money spent on gear comparable to that I used to spend for media yearly? I exercise my right not to answer unless my lawyer or Vince and Donald are present!
- I occasionally still listen to LPs or CDs, and I like them. But it’s more and more a rare event. After a few years, the amount of money that I’m not spending buying albums is becoming or is going to become consistent. On the other side the quality of digital playback in my system is now really impressive and absolutely comparable with CDs (no, LPs still are in another league and despite this, I find myself playing them less and less the same).
Long story short: from a sonic perspective you can go digital and, one step at a time improve the sound quality as much as you want; financially speaking, you might find that once arrived at the quality level you consider of your choice, month after month you could spend less (or nothing) for physical media. It is worth the investment (mainly if you use to buy a lot of music, like I did).
So the AirLens could be the right first step to start. Good luck for your journey.
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That’s “true” but a bit misleading as it would cause people to think there’s an actual transmitter spewing RF inside the unit. The high speed isolators we use do rely upon a type of “RF” to bridge the gap, but that signal is so tiny it cannot be measured even ¼ of an inch away from the source. They are readily accepted industry standards for 2-way high speed data transfer.
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Which is one reason we have separate power supplies for both.
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Airlens arrived yesterday…setup pretty easy…very pleased with sound, using Tidal Connect…curious if Tidal Connect, Roon and MConnect are only available ways to use Airlens, though I’m quite happy with Tidal Connect and have little interest in Roon…
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Since I also use JRiver Media Center I also use JRemote to connect to my AirLens
I don’t know for sure, but think JPlay will work as well. Going to try it on my DLNA (Sonore Signature Rendu - can switch from DLNA to RAAT) network eventually. Oh, as just mentioned JRiver too. I used JRiver with Bridge I and II for several years.
Here’s a nice article on JPlay. Can be used to stream from Qobuz too.
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I like Tidal Connect. If you are happy streaming, then I’d stick with it. I also have free Linn Kazoo that works fine with non-Linn equipment and a licensed BubbleUPnP on my phone. With these I can select music from UPnP servers… say running on a PC or a NAS or a WiFi router even… and send them to a streamer. Linn Kazoo is going away soon and there is a new Linn app that may be less open. So grab a copy of Linn Kazoo before it disappears from the app stores.
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I will essentially use the Airlens to stream Tidal, though primary source still CD ( PST and DS2) and LP…
I am using Roon; piggybacking Qobuz and Tidal subs. and JRiver Media Center.
So, no - not limited in that regard…
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A good point on physical media. Ever since the SQ on my streaming matches CDs (some SACDs still sound superior to hi-resol. streaming, but not always), I bought fewer CD/SACDs. Last year I bought over 250 CD/SACDs, and this year less than 50 so far. The rule is I will still buy CDs only if hi-resol. streaming is not available, and the hi-resol keeps expanding so I may buy even less in future.
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Dreaming about a service soon able to provide ALL the music in hi-res.
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