 De Lindemann Music Book Combo is een analog preamplifier, een DNA Network player, een Roon Ready Endpoint, een digital to analog converter en een 2x70 watts encore amplifier in een heel elegant compacte huis. De Lindemann Music Book Series comprises van drie modellen, de Power 2 Encore Poweramp, de Source 2 Analog Preamp streamer en DAC en de combo, die is op review hier en de function van de Power 2 en de Source 2. Let's see how it is to be used. De Music Book Combo, combo van hieron, moet connecteerd zijn met een paar loudspeakers of alternatief een set van headphones. En als een red remote is vervolgd dan laat u control volume, input, play, pause, skip en power. Sinds de combo is het makkelijkste controle van een app op een tablet of smartphone, het is best connecteerd met je router. Dat ook geeft u accesse naar internetradio en streaming surfaces zoals Deezer, Tidal, Cobriss en Spotify. En als u een computer of nice holding music heeft, kun je dat ook spelen als u een DNA server program hebt. Een USB drive of CD of DVD USB drive kan be inserteerd op de rear. Als u nog een normale CD player gebruikt, kan dat ook connecteerd met speler, tosteling of analoge connecties. De andere analoge sources, zoals bijvoorbeeld een FM tuner, kunnen ook connecteerd zijn. Gewoon als een turntable met een moeilijke magnetse cartridge en een digitale audio output van een tv. En als u een Roon server runt, kan het worden operatief van Roon 2. Het is wel impressief voor zo'n compact device. De heel goede analoge kabinet maakt 280x220x63mm en maakt 3 kilo. Een groot deel van de front is ontdekend door Perspex, met achter het een klein, maar heel slechte OLED display. De stand-by-button is op de bovenkant, duidelijk op dit foto. De 6.3mm headphone jack is op de front met boven het multifunction routery encoder. Turnen het controles playbackvolum, pressen het mutes de systeem en simultaneously pressen en turnen laat u selecten inputten, met de acceptie van netwerkfuncties dat worden controleden door de linnemen app op smartphone of tablet. Dan de rear. Right we see the IC mains inlet, with next with the power switch. Then the 100 megabit network socket with above it one of the two Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna sockets. The two antennas come with the unit. Next to the network socket you find the Wi-Fi protected setup button. Simply press it and the one on your router or access point and you're automatically paired. A USB drive holding music or a CD or DVD drive can be connected on this USB 2 socket. Then the digital inputs. One speed-if and one toss link. Two pairs of banana sockets for the loudspeaker outputs are slightly left of center. Further left the preamp outputs intended for use with a subwoofer, but can of course also be used for connecting a second power amp. Then three analog inputs. Two online level that accepts for instance signals from a tuner, the analog outputs of a digital player or the analog outputs of a TV. The last input is the phono input suited for moving magnet cartridges. The turntables earth wire is to be connected on this 2mm ground terminal. The small pin comes with the unit and has to be soldered on the earth wire of your turntable. It's not often I find the construction too complex to open up a device on the test. But this one comes close and since the manufacturer is quite open about what's inside, I close it again after the first hurdle. Let's start with the switch mode power supply. Do I need to repeat that it's not the kind of power supply but the quality of the design that matters. So that's to judge later by ear. Lindemann uses the same streaming engine they use in the lime tree series of their products. The Stream 810 streaming module by Stream Unlimited. This company was founded by ex Philips people over 15 years ago in Vienna and offers universal streaming solutions. It's like using a DAC chip instead of building a DAC with discrete components. The output of the streaming module is an I2S format, having the data and clock signals over separate lines. Dat is connecteet tot de ASAICA say micro devices aka 4137 resampler. This can be used in two modes, PCM of DSD, slightly misleading terms. In DSD mode all digital inputs are converted to a one bit signal and fed to the DAC chip. In PCM setting the PCM signals are submitted natively, so without changing the sample rate, to do a synchronous resampling in order to eliminate potential jitter. In these settings the DSD signals are equally passed on on altered. This DSD setting is effectively default, but I prefer the PCM setting. After the resampler the signal is sent to the AK4493 DAC chips, one per channel in differential mode. The 4493 is a top DAC chip, it can handle PCM up to 768 kHz 32 bit and DSD 512. In streaming mode de combo accept signals up to 384 kHz 24 bit for wired network, 192 kHz for wifi and spidif, while tostlink by design is limited to 96 kHz. For DSD it's DSD 256 for wired network, DSD 128 for wifi and spidif and DSD 64 for tostlink. Don't worry too much about missing those extremely high sampling rates. Apart from the fact that most music still is 44.1 kHz and seldom is higher than 192 kHz, the better the equipment, the smaller the differences between 44.1 and 192 kHz. See my video why high res, an updated view. Links at the usual places. Far more important is how the circuits are designed and what filters are used. As you might know I am convinced that differences between top quality DAC chips like the AK4493 used here is largely due to the circuit design they are used in. The power supply, the print design, the clock crystal and the analog circuits following the DAC chip. See my video why switches influence the sound quality that describes more than what happens with switches. Links at the usual places. The clock oscillator is a MEMS type, a micro-electromechanical system oscillator with ventoprecision. In general MEMS oscillators are less microphonic and more temperature stable than crystal oscillators. The output of the DAC chip is sent to the analog preamp that also accepts line level inputs and a phono input. Over the analog volume control the analog signal is sent to the encore power amps. The well-known class D amp from the north of my country. Again, here it's often the implementation that defines the final sound quality. So again it's the ears that decide. This is a true hybrid device. If you use analog sources like a turntable or a tuner, the signal remains analog. If you use networked audio or CD player connected over speed if or toss link, the signal is upsampled, converted and fed to the analog preamp, passes the analog volume control and sent to the power amps. Many functions can be controlled from the infrared remote, standby and mute, volume, input selection, display brightness and system information, skip tracks and playpores. The eject button is only functional when an external optical drive is connected. Then the playpores and skip buttons also control the optical drive. Voor de streaming functions de app on the smartphone or tablet has to be started. I use the iPad Pro here. Directly after startup a list of liniment devices present in the network are shown. In my case there only is one of course, the combo. After tapping that, a screen becomes visible with left input choices and right the music that is played, which is empty right now. Last played and local playlists are obvious. Music server shows the DLA server, servers in my case, in the network. Let's select a Minim server on SYN8 and search for an album that contains danger. And the speed here largely depends on the DLA server and the network. Let me show you another nice feature. Inputs can be renamed. These are the default names, but they can easily be renamed like this. Especially nice for family acceptance. Internet radio stations are categorized and thus easily found. Streaming services, Deezer, Tidal, Cobus and Spotify can be accessed too. A subscription is needed. Let me show you Tidal. Go to the new album releases and play the album norm by Andy Schoff. As you can see it all works fine. Finally let me show you the settings menu. The device name can be changed in for instance living room. The language choice is limited to English and German. Other settings are more or less self explanatory, but let me show you the device settings where the DAC mode can be altered. When pressing the info button on the remote, the mode is shown graphically as described earlier. PCM or DSD. Operating the combo is logical and easy after a very short learning curve. De fact that you can control the basic functions from the front, the remote, and the app helps here. I guess the combo would be best reviewed in comparison with my reference setup 1b. That was based on earlier experiences with Lindemann Gear. So the combo was connected to the PMC Fact 12 signature loudspeakers on Isoacoustics Gaia 2 isolators using AudioQuest Robinhood Zero loudspeaker cable. Admittedly, de PMC's cost a lot more than loudspeakers that will normally be bought with the combo. But I have no room to place yet another reference setup. The connection to the network was made over the network acoustics muuron filter system to the SOTM S&H 10G network switch. The Synology DS1890 plus NAS with DX517 extender running Minim server was used as the inlay server en de Intel NUC 10i7F&H was de Roon server. It runs Roon Rock on a M.2 SSD en has the music stored on a 10 TB western digital USB drive. The entire network setup is somewhat more complex. See about my reference setup January 2023 for more details. But functionally, this picture is correct. I guess the combo correctly, but still was surprised how well the little combo drove the 21k euros PMC's. Admittedly, they have a mild impedance and face behavior, but the sensitivity is only 84 dBs at 1 watt and 1 meter. 5 dBs lower than average. So 5 dBs more power is needed for the same acoustical output compared to an average speaker. But here is where the endcore shows its qualities. 70 watts per channel in 8 ohms of 130 watts in 4 ohms doesn't sound that much, but certainly in combination with the switch mode power supply, it delivers current instantly and with stamina. Which is ideal for controlling woofers. The concern was more how the midrange would sound for the PMC's are extremely transparent. If there is a problem in the midrange, it will become audible. The combo is a bit on the bright side, not to be confused with sharpness. So I reduce the toe-in of the speakers a bit, off axis the output rolls off a bit in the mids and the highs. PMC advises not to listen on axis anyway. I have used the combo with the Lindemann app using tidal cobus and internet radio, but mainly I use Rune as a source. The combo sounds dynamic, fast with good texture in deep lows. Good resolution in mids and highs. Sibilance is controlled fairly good, which does its price justice. Pace and rhythm is very good. All this on the PMC loudspeakers with their extremely high resolution and low efficiency. Of course, Class D can control loads of almost all speakers, but not all Class D amps sound convincing on the PMC's. Coloration in the midrange being the biggest shortcoming in many cases. Not with the combo. You have to spend more money to get the sound quality further up. I rate it half way my set of one in between 1A and 1B. Don't be fooled by its appearance, or the seemingly lack of consoles. It's a very good looking and sounding little wonder. Just add speakers and the internet connection and your set. This is what good Class D and good switch mode power supply can do for you. No large cooling profiles or large transformers needed to get a powerful amp. Add to that the reliable streaming platform with Rune endpoint for if you want the best streaming. I know I didn't test the phono input nor the headphones output. I switched to digital years ago because of my tremor en although I still have a turntail, it's not set up. And since I'm claustrophonic, I'm unfit to judge headphone reproduction. But if the overall quality of the combo is something to go by, those two will be fine too. Whenever I review equipment, there always is someone that will comment that it's expensive even with a 99 euro DAC. The combo retails for 4495 euros including 21% VAT. That's a lot of money, but it's a just price for the combo. I even fell in love with it, kind of. Which brings me to the end of this show. See you next week, Friday at 5 p.m. Central European Time. If you don't want to miss that, subscribe to my channel or follow me on the social media so you will be informed when new videos are out. Help me reach even more people by giving this video a thumb up or link to this video on the social media. It is much appreciated. Many thanks to those viewers that support this channel financially, especially in these times. It keeps me independent and lets me improve the channel further. If that makes you feel like supporting my work too, the links are in the comments below this video on YouTube. I'm Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching en see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. En whatever you do, enjoy the music.