 Whilst in the middle of a storm I'll report on the digital brother of the Emerson Analog Renderer I reviewed last week. If you are looking for the best sounding way to send digital audio to your DAC, a network bridge is my preferred choice. The Emerson Digital is such a bridge. The Emerson Digital differs from popular network bridges like the SOTM and Sonora products by outputting AES, EBU and SPDIF signals instead of USB. There are all kinds of dogmas about what interface is the best, I2SB in the favorite. The word dogma originates in ancient Greece and means something that seems true. I use the word for there is no absolute best interface. In an ideal world all these interfaces are perfect. In a real world the best implemented interface gives the best result. And then only if the implementation on both sides and the cable in between are of the best quality. But let's first see where the Emerson Digital fits into your stereo. You need a stereo with either an available AES-EBU or SPDIF input. That can be on a digital to analog converter, DAC for short, connected over analog to an amplifier that drives a set of speakers. An amplifier or receiver with integrated digital to analog conversion can be used instead of the combination of the DAC and amplifier. The Emerson Digital is connected to a digital input being SPDIF or AES-EBU on the DAC. It is then connected to your network router using a network cable. There is no Wi-Fi option. You now have access to internet radio and streaming services on the internet and when connected and switched on to your computer or NAS. If that computer or NAS runs a DNA program you can use the Watson Music app for iPhone or a DNA app for Android or iPhone to play music over the network. There are many DNA programs for Windows, macOS and Linux, both paid and free. Alternatively you can install Roon on the computer and use the Roon remote function from a smartphone, tablet or computer. Roon supports Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS and Android. The two Emerson devices use the same housing that is remarkably shaped with a bevel. It measures 104 x 87 x 38 mm and weighs 370 grams. On one side we find the AES-EBU output on XLR connector and the SPDIF output on RCA connector. They can be used simultaneously when needed. A small red LED on the left shows the device is powered on while on the right a red LED shows that music is playing. On the rear a 5VDC power input to connect the supplied wallward power supply tool. Next to it the network connector. There are no knobs, no buttons, no settings. It just works. Inside we find the largest circuit board with piggyback on it a small board computer, the same as used in the Emerson analog. The viewer Glacier XD remarked in its comment that it is the same unit that is used for an option board for the CH Precision D1 streaming HD module. Photos seem to confirm this. It is a streaming add-on for their SACD player and their DAC, costing a whopping €4800. The machines it can be fitted to cost around €30.000, just to give you a clue where the small board computer slash streaming module fits in quality wise. It is based on a Texas Instruments ARM Cortex-A8 processor that also handles the network functionality. Despite the fact that it can run on a gigabit per second, it is programmed to work at 100 Mbps to keep the electronic noise level low. There is DDR3 memory and an EMMC NAND flash drive. On the main board we see drop-out voltage regulators and an ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller. For the outputs two separate parts are used, two AKM digital audio interface chips. These can be set to AES-EBU or SPDIF and that's exactly what they did here. The AES-EBU output on XLR gives three faults out and has a professional status bit, as to be expected. Although the emphasis status says 44.1, which is the sampling rate, not the emphasis status and the sampling frequency is empty, it all worked fine on the DACs I tried. When we look at the SPDIF output on RCA, using an RCA to BNC converter to hook it up to the audio precision measurement device, we see half a volt output and the correct status bits, again as it should be. These status bits tell the receiving device what digital signal to expect and indicate restrictions. Traditionally signals that carry the professional flag could not be played on consumer equipment. This was done since the professional signals are allowed to have the copyright flag not set. Just playing CDs over SPDIF would normally carry the copyright flag, disabling digital recording of the signal by consumers. Apparently these days are gone, which is just as easy. The easiest way to use the Amazon Digital, and the analog version for that matter, is to install the Watson Music app on an iPhone. It can also be installed on an iPad but then you need to use the two times setting while the app is only usable in portrait mode. When you start the app, it automatically searches your network for Amazon players and show the players found. Just select the one you want to use and you are ready to play music from the internet radio stations and when present, from your computer or NAS running a DLNA server software. If you want to play music from the streaming services Cobuse and Tidal, you need a subscription and enter the matching username and password. If you don't have an iOS device or don't want to use the Watson Music app, you can use any DLNA app on iOS or Android but you might lose the Cobuse and Tidal streaming. Luckily there are other solutions like using Audirvana 3.5 on a Windows or MacOS computer. That computer might be close to your seat or in the computer room two floors up since it's controllable using the Audirvana remote app on your tablet or smartphone. The same goes for J River Media Center and probably other DLNA programs. But the Amazon Digital is also Roon endpoint so if you have a computer running Roon server, it can play to the Amazon directly and also here a smartphone, tablet or computer can be used as remote control. Furthermore, Apple's AirPlay is supported too but it is limited to 48 kHz. Audirvana, J River and Roon are not free. Apple Music comes with every Apple product. Although there are people that think that digital signals are just zeros and ones, they are in fact analog signals carrying the digital information in square waves. As long as the digital signals remain digital, it is all fault tolerant to a large degree. During digital to analog conversion, distortion of the square waves and ordinary analog noise can have severe influence since it can cause jitter and jitter causes loss in sound quality. So it's important that a network bridge translates a network signal into, in this case, AES-EBU or SPIDER signal and in other cases to USB Audio Class 2. Of course low jitter clocks should be used and galvanic separation is also helpful. But even then there are differences, for instance because of current leakage or HF noise in the power supply. To what degree that influences sound quality also depends on the sensitivity of the DAC to these artifacts. Luckily I was able to test the Amazon Digital with three DACs in my setup 1. I started with the basic setup, the Air Acoustics AX5-20 amplifier that powers the AudioPhysics Scorpio loudspeakers over AudioQuest Robinhood Zero loudspeaker cables. The DA converter was the MiTech Brooklyn powered by the Ferrum Hipsub's power supply and connected to the amp over Grimm Audio SQM balanced interlinks. The Amazon Digital was connected to the MiTech DAC over an older Siltek AES-EBU cable while it was connected to the Optone Audio Ether-region switch using the AudioQuest Diamond CAT7 Ethernet cable. From there it was connected to the network as described in my video about my reference setups November 2020. I here drew a simplified schematic only to show that a router is needed, an Intel Noc 10i7 with 8 TB SSD and running Roon is connected as is a very simple single drive Synology S119J NAS that runs a DNA server and contains the same music files. The next setup was identical Save the DAC, which was replaced by the Denaflips Terminator Plus. Finally, the Denaflips was replaced by the Mola Mola Tambaki DAC. A review on it is due soon. The best way to describe the quality of the Amazon Digital is to say that it sounds as good as the SOtM SMS200 Ultra Neo. Of course, the Amazon is an AES-3 bridge while the SOtM is a USB bridge. But as I have said before, all the usual types of digital interfaces, AES-EBU, SPIDF, USB Audio Class 2, I2S or TOSLink can perform equally within the bandwidth they are specified for, meaning 192 kHz for AES-EBU and SPIDF and 96 kHz for TOSLink, although some manufacturers also use TOSLink for 192 kHz. USB Audio Class 2 and I2S are capable, at least in theory, of handling higher sampling rates than offered in audio files even by the boutique labels. Back to the sound quality. For me, there is a point where the digital nasties no longer spoil my listening. This, of course, is a personal matter. That point is somewhere around a network bridge costing €500. Real enjoyment comes at about €1500. Euphoria costs at least triple that again. I have not touched Nirvana yet and I wonder what that will cost. Not that the price is a guarantee for good sound, only the best in each category will adhere to this quality scale. The Emerson Digital is the first AES-3 network bridge I came across that fits the €1500 best of class. And it did it on all three DACs for as far as the DAC wasn't the limiting factor. On the Mola Mola Tambaki the built-in network bridge did outperform the Emerson, which is not strange since it is clocked internally to the DAC. Also the Auralic Aries G2 offers that higher quality and show it shoot at triple the price. A very sensible upgrade to the Emerson Digital is an audiophile power supply. I used the Asboost BOTW PMP ECO and that did very well. I also tried the Ferrum Hipsis and although it did further improve the sound quality a bit, I am not sure I would spend the money for that improvement. In short, the Emerson Digital is worth every penny and will fit nicely in my setup one somewhere in the middle. Like the Analog version I reviewed last week, the Emerson Digital is about the easiest network bridge to work with. No settings, no controls, it just connects. The firmware can be updated if and when the manufacturer consider it to be necessary. And even that is easy using an internet browser as I told in the review of the Analog version. Sound wise it's worth every penny and I would replace the medical great switch mode power supply for an audiophile type. Then hide the Emerson behind your audio gear and forget about it. Just use your smartphone or tablet to have your music played at the same level or even better than from CD directly. And on that bombshell we come to the end of this video. But now there will be a new video next Friday at 5pm central European time. If you don't want to miss that, subscribe to this 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 thumbs up or mention it on the social media, it is much appreciated. Many thanks to those viewers that support this channel financially. 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 am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.