THE REVIEWS

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ACCUSTIC ARTS PLAYER II - REVIEW
AMP, PRODUCT, DIAMOND AWARD, CD PLAYER, DAC K. E. Heartsong AMP, PRODUCT, DIAMOND AWARD, CD PLAYER, DAC K. E. Heartsong

ACCUSTIC ARTS PLAYER II - REVIEW

Formidable. The Accustic Arts Player II rendering of CDs bested its streaming counterparts and even higher resolution versions of the same CDs(!) time and time again, regardless of genre. And this came as quite the surprise. It is also preternaturally engaging and immersive, alive, dynamic, incredibly resolving, and, at the same time, the doppelgänger of analog.

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AUDIONET DNP/EPX -REVIEW

AUDIONET DNP/EPX -REVIEW

The Audionet EPX merged with the DNP in ways both commanding and rather spectacular that I would never have imagined. The pairing carried its weight and then some, in every system in which it was employed, with none of the earlier concerns. In fact, they had all become reversals—complete opposites of what they had been with just Audionet DNP. Meaning?

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BORDER PATROL SE-i DAC -REVIEW
PRODUCT, DAC, HIGH NINES K. E. Heartsong PRODUCT, DAC, HIGH NINES K. E. Heartsong

BORDER PATROL SE-i DAC -REVIEW

The simplest thing to say about the Border Patrol SE-i DAC is that it never disappointed or failed to amaze. However, to carry on about SE-i DAC is to speak to its whole-cloth coherency, its top to bottom frequency reach (dependent on system configuration/synergy), its natural and wholly transparent rendering of the music, and its beguiling, analog ease across the entirely of the frequency range.

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ifi NEO IDSD - REVIEW
PRODUCT, DAC, HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER, PREAMP/DAC K. E. Heartsong PRODUCT, DAC, HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER, PREAMP/DAC K. E. Heartsong

ifi NEO IDSD - REVIEW

The Neo iDSD is different than its siblings in the ways outline above, but it was still a lot of fun, a joy to listen to, and hard to believe what it gives for its price points ($699)—three-in-one functionality, fully balanced, MQA (full decoding), DSD515, 384bit/768kHz, bluetooth-everything(!), and quite good musicality, transparency, and engagement. Hazzah!

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