Network Audio Players/Servers

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Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Apr 10, 2026  |  First Published: May 01, 2026
hfnoutstandingDeep and heavily stitched pockets are needed to accommodate this luxury portable that weighs north of half a kilo. But for enthusiasts on-the-go, it’s still the DAP of choice

If Apple’s now-discontinued iPod is the spiritual forebear of all portable digital players, what’s available on the market in 2026 has progressed light years beyond Jony Ive’s original. This new flagship model from Korean brand Astell&Kern is also portable – but its size and 651g weight won’t see you casually sliding it into a coat pocket. The £3799 price tag might make you think twice about brandishing the SP4000 while commuting on the Tube, in any case...

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Apr 10, 2026  |  First Published: May 01, 2026
hfnoutstandingHong Kong-based Pixel Magic waves its digital wand over a bespoke, FPGA-based DAC solution inside its new flagship streamer. A significant departure, so how does it sound?

Here’s one in the eye for anyone still convinced that hi-fi is being taken over by unknown brands bringing in cut-priced equipment. Not only is Lumin very well-established, having launched its range back in 2012, it’s been expanding that lineup ever since to cover a wide range of market sectors. Lumin now has a half-dozen network players, three music transports, two dedicated music servers and an all-in-one player/amp system – while continually developing its in-house technologies.

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jan 23, 2026  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2026
hfnoutstandingSwelling the ranks of the hi-fi world’s bijou separates, Métronome launches a compact version of its ‘Digital Sharing Converter’ with partnering streamer and CD transport

The miniature hi-fi trend continues – those short of space or simply seeking an inconspicuous yet high-performance set-up can rejoice. The new arrivals here come in the form of the £4200 DSS 2 network transport and £4300 DSC mini DAC from French company Métronome, as part of its ‘Digital Sharing’ range that also includes the £4400 DST CD transport.

Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jan 06, 2026  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2026
hfnoutstandingA compact amplifier that’s ready to integrate with every conceivable streaming platform and playback service – does Eversolo’s aptly named Play redefine the budget ‘all-in-one’?

In the wake of well-established products such as the Sonos Amp and Bluesound’s Powernode, we’ve seen a slew of compact all-in-one amplifiers from brands including Denon, Marantz [HFN Aug ’24] and WiiM [HFN Nov ’24]. Now Chinese company Eversolo enters the fray with an offering that, while not the most affordable of its ilk, is keenly priced if you consider its extensive list of features. The Eversolo Play, at £599, even boasts a touchscreen displaying the Android-based interface also found on the brand’s DMP-A10 [HFN May ’25] and DMP-A8 [HFN May ’24] streaming DAC/preamps.

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jan 05, 2026  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2026
hfnoutstandingSucceeding the H120 as Hegel’s second-tier amplifier, ‘The Prodigy’ also includes the brand’s latest streaming platform and is the first to include support for external drives

There’s an easy way to understand the hierarchy of amps in the Hegel catalogue, be they pre, power or integrated. The higher the number, the ‘better’ the specification (you might think this would be the only way to go about it, but some rival companies – I’m looking at you, HiFi Rose – beg to differ). And so it is that the Norwegian manufacturer’s new H150 integrated, priced £2750, takes up a middle-of-the-range position, above the entry-level H95 [HFN Oct ’20], and below the H190v, H400 [HFN Oct ’24] and H600 [HFN Oct ’23].

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Dec 07, 2025  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingKorea’s HiFi Rose continues to move apace as its second-gen streamer/DAC platform is trickled down within just six months to a more affordable but still fully-fledged solution

To misquote those old M&S adverts, this isn’t just a network streamer, this is the HiFi Rose RS451 Master Fidelity Network Streamer. The latest addition to the Korean company’s ever-expanding digital audio offering, it features second-generation technology trickled down from the high-end RS151 [HFN Jul ’25] launched earlier this year. This makes it, in HiFi Rose’s terms, ‘a semi-reference level network streamer’.

Review: Mark Craven  |  Nov 14, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingLaunched upon the audio world a decade ago, the Phantom was, and remains, the ‘demonstrator’ of all Devialet’s technologies. Ten years on, its promise is finally realised

Although the Paris-based audio brand, Devialet, debuted with its groundbreaking D Premier integrated amplifier in 2010 [HFN Apr ’10], it’s arguable that its most well-known release has been the Phantom [HFN Feb ’15]. Launched in 2015, this almost spherical-shaped active, wireless speaker leveraged the brand’s electronics knowhow and eye for a smart aesthetic to shake up the compact hi-fi market. Upgraded models have appeared in the decade since, but only now does the manufacturer feel confident in launching a new ‘Ultimate’ edition.

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Nov 11, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThere’s more than a hint of retro styling to T+A’s slender all-in-one amplifier, but the feature set – including a custom DAC stage and Class D power – is thoroughly modern

With its latest integrated amplifier, German marque T+A says it is offering a ‘bold look to the future of audio’ as well as a nod to the company’s near 50-year past. And the Symphonia, yours for £7990 in silver or black finish, certainly has a styling that’s unusual, if not unique. The busy front fascia, with crisp monochrome OLED display and hand-built analogue VU meters, continues the kind of retro-modern aesthetic seen on other recent models from HiFi Rose [HFN Jul ’22] and Yamaha [HFN Jul ’23], plus T+A’s own series 200 separates [HFN May ’22 and Feb ’23].

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Nov 11, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThis new flagship network transport offers wholesale upgrades, from an isolated USB audio output and ‘milled from solid’ casework to – most obviously – an offboard PSU

Back in the day, when CD players started splitting into separate transports and DACs, the question was ‘does the transport really make a difference?’. After all, we all knew that different DACs had their own influence on the sound – despite the protestations of the ‘all properly designed digital gear should sound the same’ brigade – but transports? Their sole purpose was to deliver digital data from disc to DAC.

Review: Jamie Biesemans, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Nov 10, 2025  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingThis compact black alloy box, with colour display, is top dog in Bluesound’s series of multiroom music streamers, and standard bearer for its MQA-derived QRONO d2a tech.

Bluesound is less of a HFN regular than sister brand NAD, but many hi-fi buffs looking to add streaming to an (older) amp or active speakers will have encountered the brand’s Node streamer. According to the company the Node is its best-selling product, outshining its wireless speakers and soundbars. Earlier this year, the Node received a fourth major update, expanding the lineup with a cheaper Node Nano and an upmarket £899 Node Icon (N530). For the brand, founded to rival Sonos, it’s the first foray into what you could call a ‘real’ hi-fi territory.

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Oct 16, 2025  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingHugely anticipated, the flagship SA45 marks the next evolution of Arcam’s bespoke streaming amplifier solutions. Highly-featured, neither is the SA45 short of beef...

When Arcam launched its HDA line in 2019 claiming ‘a complete redesign of the look and internals’ of its hi-fi hardware, it was necessary to take the first part of that statement with a pinch of salt. Amplifiers like the SA30 [HFN Jul ’20] might have benefited from some extra chrome details, but the smart-if-conservative styling wasn’t that far removed from the company’s earlier FMJ and Solo series. It’s only now, thanks to a ‘brand redesign’, that Arcam’s range of amplifiers and sources appears properly overhauled.

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Sep 17, 2025  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingFirst came the three-box Lina headphone amp/DAC, followed by the Lina and Lina 2.0 DACs, the latter tickled-up again with the addition of volume and a full-width chassis

On recent form, the £13,500 dCS Lina DAC X could almost be considered ‘conventional’. Following on the heels of the Lina headphone amp system [HFN Nov ’22], and the massive – and massively pricey – multibox Varèse player [HFN Feb ’25], complete with separate mono DACs and the option of an SACD/CD transport add-on, the Lina DAC X looks dangerously like any number of models from rival companies, from its proportions to the inclusion of a front-panel rotary volume.

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Aug 26, 2025  |  First Published: Aug 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingFifteen years after the French boutique brand stunned the hi-fi world with its unique ‘Analogue/Digital Hybrid’ D-Premier amplifier, the technology gets a reboot... and an app

French audio marque Devialet has been on quite a journey. Its first product, in 2010, was the D-Premier [HFN Apr ’10], an innovative integrated amplifier showcasing the ADH (Analogue/Digital Hybrid) topology of designer/company founder Pierre-Emmanuel Calmel and colleague Mathias Moronvalle. Eye-catchingly designed, thrillingly innovative and a sonic marvel, Devialet’s amplifier was a shot in the arm for the hi-fi industry.

Review: Andrew Everard, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jul 21, 2025  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingKorea’s HiFi Rose launches its second-generation streamer/DAC flagship with onboard storage facility, more powerful DSP, improved connectivity and Full HD touchscreen

A rose by any other name is still a HiFi Rose? Well yes, it can appear that way: since it first arrived on the hi-fi scene, the Korean company has launched a head-spinning barrage of products, all of which can, at first glance, look rather similar. However, what’s been going on is a policy of expanding the appeal of the range upwards, downwards and outwards – the last, for example, by adding its own lineup of amplifiers – and introducing a programme of upgrades along the way..

Review: Mark Craven, Lab: Paul Miller  |  Jul 02, 2025  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2025
hfnoutstandingPromising digital audio bliss without the fuss, this second-gen flagship server from the music management maestro combines beefed-up processing with all-new casework

At the UK Hi-Fi Show Live in Sept ’24, during a chat with an industry colleague, our discussion moved on to Roon. His opinion was, ‘you either love it, or you haven’t used it yet’. Such is the passion for this music management system among those who have invested in it. And now Roon is offering the ultimate investment, in the shape of its £3899 Nucleus Titan server.

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