The DSM-520 is a neat little media streamer that not only uses a TV connection to present the user with a rich menu system for audio playback, it also uses the TV connection to stream video in 1080i HD quality. Connections include wired and wireless ethernet and digital audio and HDMI outputs and support for surround sound.
In terms of file format it includes Ogg-Vorbis support but not Flac.
Touting their Music player as “the audiophile music-player” indicates the target audience for this media player – people who care about sound.
The design is anonymous and non-intrusive but not exactly pretty. The feature set, however, is in another order of things. A special DAC design based on Burr-Brown converters should improve s/n-ratio, reduce jitter and improve channel separation. Of course, a DAC without a digital source makes little sense – and sources there are aplenty. It has an FM radio and can be extended with an optional DAB radio and a CD player. It connects via ethernet [cabled or wireless] to streaming audio sources, networked files and files on a USB device or on a CD-ROM.
Supported file formats include Flac and Ogg-Vorbis in addition to the mandatory MP3 and Windows Media Player formats. Flac uses lossless compression that does not degrade sound quality and Ogg-Vorbis is an alternative to MP3. Of course, bitrate still has a saying but that goes for all formats.
A very interesting piece of machinery, albeit in a rather high price class. Considering the components used, this is hardly surprising.
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Barebone device | |
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Cheap good featured | |
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Actual hi-fi device | |
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High end hi-fi | |
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Out of this world | |
 CD drive |
 Wifi |
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 Flac audio |
 Digital IO |
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 Ogg-Vorbis |
 uPnP support |
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 Video |
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Please note that the ratings are not objective in any way nor are they a measure for quality. They are a measure for what I think the target group for the device was intended to be; my expectations if you will.
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