Can this HiFi MUSIC STREAMER Beat the others? The PS Audio Airlens is HERE and Compared!
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- čas přidán 28. 03. 2024
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Today I talk about the PS Audio Airlens streamer. This is a new streamer, made in the good old USA. It features things not seen in some streamers such as Galvanic Isolation to eliminate noise, digital hash and all of the bad stuff that invades our hifi stereo systems.
As a streamer it is rock solid and does well with Tidal Connect and Roon. Also can use M Connect app to stream Qobuz (along with Roon).
This does work with Spotify connect but I would not recommend it for this. I talk about it all in the video above as well as computer it to the Eversolo DMP-A6, HiFi Rose RS130 flagship and others!
Enjoy!
PS Audio Airlens Product Page: www.psaudio.com/products/airlens
Great Music Streamer for low cost: amzn.to/4acVupD
The best bang for the buck TUBE HiFi on Amazon Prime: amzn.to/43HM2se
Cheap Cables that sound FANTASTIC: amzn.to/43GRTh6
Media Contact/Review Contact: stevehuff1@icloud.com - Věda a technologie
How it is ver Lumin U2 ? thanks.
i have an Arlens. Very happy with it. It performs as you described. Connected to a Bricasti Design M21. I have auditioned a myriad of PS Audio products. This is one of their best.
I absolutely love my Airlens with my Denafrips Pontus 2 12th Anniversary. I use it with Tidal Connect.
Appreciate this, would love to know how this compares to Holo Audio Red
Holo audio and HQ-Player program. Maximum resolution analog available. Not everyone knows about this.
There are lots of comparisons on PS Audio Forum. Most say that the Air Lens sound a lot better than the Holo Red, but the Red has got lots of more features (like AirPlay and AES/EBU-out)
I have HQ-Player embedded running, but I prefer using Chord Mscaler. I ended up getting a Red and while it sounds fantastic, typical audio nervosa wants to know of Airlens sounds better.
Not Eye Two Squared. It's Eye Squared S.
Thanks for the review. I have an ifi Zen stream with a separate MCRU linear power supply into a Denafrips Iris D2D into a Denafrips Venus II DAC. Do you think this streamer, replacing the Zen Stream and Iris, would be an improvement?? I use Tidal Connect for all my streaming. Thanks!
I wonder if the galvanic isolation on the Airlens is necessary or beneficial if the DAC input that you are connecting to already has galvanic isolation?
probably
Any plans on reviewing Cabasse Abyss amp?
Thanks and I need to watch this again - trying to decide what to do with my Antelope Audio Zodiac....
I’ve been pretty impressed with the Denafrips Arce running as a Roon endpoint via I2S to the Ares 12th. Definitely a crowded streamer market at the moment, but for half the price of the AirLens it’s a contender worth some attention (especially given the popularity of the Ares and ideal pairing.)
Isnt everything galvanically isolated these days?
no, not much at all
That price of that coax cable is just insane 😳
It’s worth noting that updates should improve the sound quality and features. Both are fairly new and will have some improvements.
I like this company, and I love Paul's commitment to helping the industry - but the Airlens should be a as similar form factor to the rest of the line.
VS EVERSOLO DMP-A8 soundwise? Thanks
I believe "I2S" is pronounced "I SQUARED S" , not I 2 Squared... :)
You can only fully benefit from the Hdmi 12S cable and its benefits if you understand how to use the technology made possible by the HQ-player program with either a PC or Mac mini/linux. Otherwise, that 12S connection idea falls short of its benefits!
Everyone already knows this here in the Nordic countries, but over there, on the American continent, we like to travel in swampy areas for the hifi hobby.
I'm from a Nordic country and have no idea what your talking about ✌😂@@oliivioljy9700
@@oliivioljy9700 for some reason I still haven't seen a single reviewer touch on the point of I2S. It's designed to have a total end to end length of less than 18 inches and that length includes the internal wiring length so even a 1 foot HDMI cable is nearing max length.
It would be interesting to compare it with Volumio Rivo!! ;-)
ok but pls compare with products in the same price league, yes? ... how is the Airlens compred to Lumin U2 mini?
Airlens vs lumin U2 mini?
should have compared this streamer to the Eversolo AMP A8 since they are exact same price...would love to hear this comparison.
The A8 is very similar to the A6 when it comes to streaming. Its extra price is for its preamp features and much better DAC. It’s a preamp, streamer and DAC, so really a different product.
I’ve heard the same thing from others that the Air Lens lacks a little meat on the bones
Wondering if anyone could suggest a product like the Eversolo, to use a file source. Would prefer a known and reliable brand.
It seems quite limited for a streamer only, where’s chromecast for example?
Pair it with the PS Audio DirectStream MKII DAC and use it as a Roon endpoint and you will experience its max capabilities.
That’s $10k 😢
Thanks
I have one and I like it but I wish the sound control was more linear with Roon. All other Roon devices I have with RAAT protocol have a native volume control from 0 to 100. The Airlens shows up as DSP controlled in Roon and has a non-linear attenuation where you get 80% of the volume control in the last 20% of the slider. Very annoying. This is a little bit like many Raspberry Pi control volume. Other than I wished for a better volume implementation, and updating the firmware is not very friendly either but otherwise it’s a great little streamer.
A wonder streamer that's overpriced 😢
A minimalist stream that's maximum priced ;)
It’s all about the relocking
Absolutely not for this price😂😂😂😂
I squared S
Play a wave file without internet you beat any streamer 😊
Yeah, ok, mmhmm.
hopefully not on a computer
Heard they had a shocker in Montreal
They did, but the suspected phasing issue with the speakers was corrected and later became one of the best sounding at the show according to one of reviewers that heard the system before and after remediation.
@@robgallos4669 thanks for the clarification
Furthermore it wasn't actually PS Audio's fault... It was reported that the dealer was often switching speakers and they changed to speaker cables with banana connectors. In the switching, labels of the cables came off on one of the speakers, and when they returned them, they had mistakenly switched red & black. Because of this, the problem was not visually obvious. The dealer figured it out and then managed to corrected it.
Meaning no Apple Music?
It was not mentioned, so then of course it is not there!
Is this the streamer for the next Bluesound Node to compete with?
I have the Node X is a second system, the AirLens is sonically superior.
Really? The node, which I own is great for the price but the PS is four times the price and a significant upgrade.
Not feeling at that price
Yeah, Denafrips Arce has I2S at half the cost w/ isolation and reclocking. Noticably better then Wiim Pro
Really… audiophiles rejoice!!!
Or you could use a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 as a streamer and spend less than $100. Some high end designers use it as the basis for their streamers. That's because it works really well.
The worst streamer's I ever heard use Pi computers... Allo Digi one sig was not even close to my Innuos Zen MK3...
IS THIS BETTER THAN IFI？
It's hard to say what you're looking for in terms of general superiority?
-Apps?
-Usability?
- Speed for a different action reaction?
- Sound quality?
-The difference in the connectors?
- Tablet/phone user interface?
-Ergonomics of the remote control/battery durability?
-Appearance in line with the future compared to competitors, i.e. looking at durability?
-Lack of internal memory for own files compared to competitors?
Sound Quality? Yes. See user reviews over at the PS Audio website. Lots of info there. ; )
It's criminal that the AirLens can't even do AirPlay
I still cannot figure out how a bit from one streamer is different from on other streamer
It's all in the application
More expensive bits = better sounding bits. Isn’t that obvious?
bits are the same
Can we still call it a streamer even without a dac? Should we not call it a streaming transport?
You are correct
I think it goes like this
Network streamer : streams to DAC over network
Network player : streams over network, and plays with internal DAC
If it had a DAC it would be a "Streaming DAC". A streamer just streams.
Rasputin Audio Reviews.
looney tunes
Yeah baby, the 0 and 1 from this streamer are so hi-res... And yes, I know that is an electric current - that gets error correction, just like almost every digital signal nowdays, otherwise your PC would not even work.
Im not sure about i2s but spdf doesnt have error correction. This streamer has no USB.
You're right of course, but then go and actually listen.
Please listen before making comments like this.
@@dajikbatarang1 woah, why by old, inferior tech streamer then :/ it's like buying old tv now. There's no magic in digital signal, it's either bit perfect or not.
@@Karto86 yes a but non bit perfect signal will still work.
Bit perfect is bit perfect is bit perfect. End of discussion. But… as experiments have shown, our ears will hear differences where there are none.
I’ve heard many of the dac’s mentioned in this review and I would have to say that if you heard ANY huge differences in quality that it would have to be psychological prejudice.
this "bit perfect" nonsense has been utterly debunked time and again and yet it persists. there's more to it than that -- jitter for example. please do some research.
The only thing that matters in all dacs, are resilience to noise and analog output stages. The rest is just ones and zeroes. Output stages gives you the “sound”.
@@mikelautermilch8939 exactly, just because the data is the same sequence doesn't mean everything else is.
That assumes that all dacs convert those bits exactly (spoiler alert: they don’t)