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- AMR has unveiled its elite Luna Ingenii DAC, as part of an official relaunch
- Meanwhile, iFi unveils yet another DAC, this one cheap and portable
- …thus proving that High End Vienna actually has something for all budgets
At first glance, you'd be forgiven for thinking a huge show full of audiophile-grade kit would be a little rich for the blood of most regular people — especially with a name like 'High End'.
But that's where the Vienna showrooms chock-full of hi-fi stacks have, at least in part, sold themselves a little short. Because, as I'm about to show you, it's not all sound systems you'd need to sell the car and remortgage the house for. No, while such products are certainly being unveiled at the shindig, some hi-res audio upgrades will set you back as little as $85 / £85 (or around AU$120).
Before we go budget though, let's go big, shall we? UK elite audio outfit AMR (Abbingdon Music Research) has unveiled its Luna Series to mark the brand’s official relaunch at High End — and the company is calling it its "most ambitious expression of British ultra-luxury audio design to date".
AMR says the range has been developed over more than seven years, in collaboration with noted engineer John Curl, and comprises the Luna Ingenii DAC, Luna Medii preamplifier and Luna Procellarum monoblock power amplifier, all "created without conventional cost constraints". Come on!
Think ultra-premium components, meticulous hand assembly and a multi-bit DAC Engine, called the AMR Luna Ingenii. Top of the bill for me is its proprietary 128-stage discrete Direct DSD ‘Stonehenge’ Engine. What is that? Well, AMR tells me standard DSD implementations use a single chip and fewer than 10 components. The Stonehenge engine uses 32 chips and over 300 components, in a 128-stage discrete architecture which the company says has "no commercial equivalent".
You also get AMR's proprietary 'ZeroBit-Gravity Harmonic Weighting', an industry-exclusive perk that promises user control over the fine-tuning and tonal character of your digital playback.
Apparently, every unit is meticulously hand-assembled, matched and calibrated by senior technicians, with production limited by craftsmanship (rather than manufacturing capacity). And because of this, only 176 Luna Ingenii DACs are being made, with AMR committing to lifetime service and support for every owner.
Pricing is "available on request to prospective customers, reviewers, and industry partners" only, which I think we can all agree means that if we have to ask, we can't afford one. Might it even exceed the asking fee of the most expensive DAC I've ever heard to date, the $4,499 (before tax) / £4,499 (around AU$8,997) iFi iDSD Phantom? Whisper it, but it seems likely…
And now, the pocketable option for those devoid of super-deep pockets
At the other end of the scale, the also-British audio brand iFi has revealed its iFi Go Link 2 Max DAC at the show. It's billed as "smaller, sharper and stronger" than the model it replaces, the five-star Go Link Max (not to be confused with the iFi Go Link 2, which also gained five stars from us under intense review recently).
What's changed? The Go Link 2 Max boasts significantly lower distortion than the model it supersedes, plus selectable digital filters and over-the-air updates via the iFi Nexis app, all in a smaller, lighter form factor than its previous generation. I own the original Max, and I love the way it levels up my phone's music, so I'd love to try this one.
And with the best wired headphones very much enjoying a vinyl-style comeback (iFi tells me that searches for wired headphones are up 88%) I reckon the Go Link 2 Max could be the relatively affordable upgrade Gen Z-ers might, ahem, Go for.
Add to all of this its humble pricing, at only $85 / £85 (or around AU$120) the Go Link 2 Max could be my pick of High End Vienna. That said, if anyone wants to buy me the AMR Luna Series so I can hear it, I'm very open to that too.
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➡️ Read our full guide to the best headphone DACs
1. Best budget USB-C portable DAC:
iFi GO Link Max
2. Best budget desktop DAC:
iFi Uno
3. Best premium portable DAC:
iFi xDSD Gryphon
4. Best wireless DAC:
Fiio BTR17
