 It's time again for my half-year update of my reference setups. There have been small updates this time, but also considerable price updates. The economic situation worldwide is under pressure. COVID-19 is still a concern in China, the workshop of the world. Russian aggression has dramatic consequences for the Ukrainians, but it also has risen energy prices. Add to that Brexit and trust having their effect on the British economy, component availability still being limited, shipping costs being extra high and you understand this will have an effect on the equipment prices. For instance, components in my setup 1A went up 2000 euros on average, so a price update in my listing was needed. For the rest you might have seen parts of this video earlier, but I wanted to make a complete sum-up of my reference setups again. You can skip the parts by clicking in the timeline. Why reference setups? A reviewer needs them to anchor his findings, at least I do. It is therefore important to limit changes in these setups to the bare minimum for it can make comparisons to earlier reviews difficult. At the same time you need references that are relevant and especially digital audio equipment still is improving rapidly. When I started this channel 8 and a half years and 463 videos ago, I focused on equipment for the digital front end of a stereo setup. Each component should cost no more than 2000 euros. I had to set up my references in that price category first before I expended more upmarket. After a few years I slowly lifted 2000 euro limits. So reference equipment in that price range was needed. At the end of 2020 I finally replaced the amp in my setup 1 and halfway 2021 a true high end DAC with upscaler was added to setup 1. The network player in my setup 1 and upscaler were replaced by a combined rune server and player and finally the loudspeakers in setup 1 were upgraded. Given the limited physical and monetary space, I decided to keep using my mytech DAC in my setup 1 as a reference for more affordable DACs, renamed the top setup 1A and the combo with the mytech 1B. I like this AB approach so setup 2 is now also divided in 2A and 2B to keep things in line with each other. New here is digital to digital converter, an affordable way to clean up the USB audio signal from for instance a computer and send it to the DAC over speed if, Toslink, AES, EBU and even I2S. The reference equipment has been chosen to facilitate my work as a reviewer. If that wasn't the case I probably would have bought more integrated systems. But how do you judge the quality DAC if your playback system also does the digital to analog conversion? By choosing for separate components things get slightly more complex to setup and to operate. Plus the cabling cost might add up seriously. On the other hand upgrading is easier since parts can be added or exchanged like I described above. What happens to the equipment that was replaced? That is sold to make someone else happy. For I would like to stress that it remains very good sounding equipment. For instance the Aurelix Aries G2 would still be my choice in that price category, as are the SOTM SMS-200 Neo and the SMS-200 Ultra Neo that preceded it. They were very valuable stepping stones in my way up the high end ladder. Time to look at the current setups and let's start with setup 3. If you want to skip to other setups just point at the timeline to see the chapters. In setup 3 the amplification is done by the great NAD C316BEE. This class AB amp isn't the most powerful but combined with the right loudspeakers it surely sounds great. I combined it with the more than short I found 902 loudspeakers that I bought years ago at a sale for €200 a pair. The current version will set you back €400 a pair. They can be assisted by the RLT5 subwoofer that then is connected to the loudspeaker terminals of the NAD. The Argon Audio Solo with integrated DAC is the streamer, aka network player. I use it mainly as a rune endpoint but it can easily be used with its own app. Connection to the network is made of a Wi-Fi to a nearby ZIGO smart Wi-Fi pod access point that is part of a mesh network. The setup's total price is €1248 without the subwoofer or €2147 including the sub. All prices are including 21% VAT, the European sales tax. In for instance the US prices are excluding sales tax, keep that in mind when comparing. Setup 3 is located in the studio on the third floor and the equipment is housed in a target rack. Don't be mistaken, this is a very musical setup that has impressed many people it was demonstrated to. Setup 2 is split up into A and 2B. Both use the same amplifier, loudspeakers, subwoofer and cabling. Only the digital front end differs. The amplifier is the Marantz Ki Pearl Lite, a great class A-B amplifier tweaked by the legendary Kenny Shibata. It's an older model but amps in this class and above last very long. It drives the acoustic energy Radiance One loudspeakers, connected over Kimber 4PR loudspeaker cable. They are supported by the RELT-5 subwoofer that is connected to the loudspeaker terminals of the Marantz using the same cable that came with the sub. Setup 2A and 2B are placed in the studio at the third floor and the loudspeaker switch places with Setup 3. The network switch is the Uptown Audio Ether Region with Uptown Audio UltraCaps 1.2 power supply. The equipment is housed in a target rack too. The Bluestone Note 2i is the network player with integrated MQA DAC. It is a versatile all-in-one solution that can function as a network player or rune endpoint. Does Apple Airplay and stream from about any streaming service you might be subscribed to? It has Bluetooth as input but can also send audio to for instance a Bluetooth headset at the same time. It was end of life in 2021 and followed up by the new Note N130 that looks and sounds about the same. It has added features like HDMI input and being able to have an external DAC connected over USB. See my review. I still use the Note 2i but since my review of the PD Creative power supply for the Bluestone Note 2, the internal power supply is replaced by this power supply. See my review. It is connected to the Uptown Audio Ether Region switch over a CAT6 patch cable and to the Marantz amp over the no longer available Siltek London RCA's. This setup adds up to slightly over 3800 euros without subwoofer and almost 4700 euros including the sub. This setup has clearly more resolution and more authority than my setup 3. This setup also uses the Marantz amp, acoustic energy loudspeakers, Kimber cable and rail sub. But now the source is the Allo US bridge signature with allo shanty power supply. It uses Roopy Roon Endpoint software but can easily be converted to being a streamer by inserting a microSD card with other software like Volumio. The output is now sent to the Syncster Audio SU6 USB Audio Bridge, a digital to digital converter DDC for short that sends a cleaned up digital signal to the Denafrips Aries 2 DA converter over AES-EBU using van der Hul AES-EBU cable. The Aries 2 is basic in features but sounds great in its class. See the show notes for the review. The total setup excluding cables adds up to almost 5600 euros excluding subwoofer and 6400 euros including the sub. Due to monetary and placement limitations, setup 1A and 1B also share the digital player, amp and loudspeakers. They are placed in the living room on the ground floor. The Air Acoustics AX5-20 amplifier drives the PMC FAC12 signature loudspeakers on Isoacoustics GAIA 2 isolators and connected over AudioQuest Robin Hood 0 loudspeaker cable. The digital player here is the Grimm Audio Mew 1, that is a Roon Server, Roon Endpoint, ReClocker and Scaler in one. But because the Grimm is based on an Intel i3 processor and I own a very large music collection, I don't use its Roon Server function. I rather have an Intel NUC 10i7 F&H running Roonrock as a server. It gives me the speed of the Intel i7 while I have the unbelievable sound quality of the Grimm Mew 1, as Roon Endpoint, ReClocker and Scaler. It is connected to the SOtM-SNH 10G network switch over CAT6 Ethernet cable. When other network players are tested, the new on-filter and cable can be added. All is placed in a Creative Twin 3 rack. The first DAC is in setup 1 for quite some time. The Mitek Brooklyn MQA enabled DAC, powered by the Ferrum Hipsis power supply. It is connected to the Grimm Audio Mew 1 over Siltek ASEBU cable and to the amp over Grimm Audio SQM XLR cable. The Mini DSP SHD Studio DRAC processor is no longer in the system, since in contrast with the Audio Note amp and Audio Physic loudspeakers, the Air amp and PMC loudspeakers sound best without. I have noticed before that when the setup reaches a given level, the room often is only a minor factor in the sound quality. That level is reached with the new amp and loudspeakers. As such, this setup is out of balance, the Air, PMC and Grimm Audio being of a higher class, but it is very well possible to compare other DACs in this price range on this setup. When testing DACs I always switch off the scalar function. I also often test the USB input by connecting it to the Grimm Audio USB output. This is equal to a normal Intel Nock i3 output. The total setup will add up to €58.500 but the DAC would already show its best in a setup south of €10.000. For comparing DACs in this price category, this setup works fine though. Here the Chord Dave DAC is used. It is connected to the Grimm Audio Mu1 over Siltac AES EVU cable and to the amp over Grimm Audio SQM XLR cables. I changed the mains feed, it is now properly grounded. This made it possible to use the transparent power isolator again. That stayed over for my earlier job but I couldn't use it since it needed to be grounded. Both the Grimm Audio and the Chord Dave are connected to it. The total system including cables adds up to slightly over €71.000. I can imagine it's a lot of information and since I use these setups to give an indication of the sound quality, let's look at them next to each other. All these setups are based on an amplifier and a set of loudspeakers, while there are two classes of digital front end in setup 1 and 2. Let's start with setup 3 that uses an Argon Audio Solo Streamer that is connected to the NAD C316BEE amplifier over analog RCA cables. The amp drives are more than short, around 92 loudspeakers. If necessary the RLT-5 subwoofer can be added to this setup 2. When we go to setup 2BEE we see the Bluesound Node 2i powered by the PD Creative Power Supply as source. It is directly connected to the analog inputs of the Merence KI Perlite that drives the acoustic energy radians want loudspeakers and the RLT-5 subwoofer. Set up 2A replaces the Bluesound by a combination of the US Bridge Signature Streamer, the SYNCSA SU6 DDC and the Denafrips Aries II DAC. Setup 1B starts with the Grim Audio Mewon Digital Player driving the Mitrex Brooklyn DAC with Ferrum Hipsus Power Supply, connected to the Air Acoustics AX5-20 amplifier that drives the PMC FACT 12 Signature Loudspeakers. In setup 1A the sound quality is brought to true high end level by replacing the Mitrex Brooklyn DAC with the CORE DAVE DAC. The transparent power isolator 8 was added to slightly further improve the sound quality. Then the network. On the third floor outside the studio we find the system GS-1900-10HB switch that, using fiber optics, is connected to the Upturn Ether Regen switch with UltraCAP's Ultimate 1.2 Power Supply in the studio, that's on the 3rd, 4th, 2nd and houses setup 2 and 3rd. It is also connected to the SOtM switch downstairs over fiber optic connection. From the SOtM there is a CAT 6 to the internet route. That is also downstairs. It is further connected to a set of three ZiggleSmart Wi-Fi Pod Network Wi-Fi access points, one on each floor. The Intel NOC 10i7 FNH runs RoonRock on a M.2 SSD and has the music stored on the 10TB Western Digital USB drive. It is connected directly to the Zistel switch over a CAT 6 patch cable. Next to the NOC is the Synology DS1819 plus NAS with DX517 extender. It mainly functions as a backup for my videos but also used for testing DLA audio service software. On the other side of the spectrum I use a sub 100 euro single drive NAS, the Synology DS119J, since that is more realistic for domestic use. The RoonRock server shares its volume holding the music as Samba's share so that can be used for self indexing streamers like those by Sonos, Bluesound and Aurelink. But I can also use one of the Nassas as well. The DS119J holds a terabyte of music. The advantage of using a simple NAS is that it consumes less power than a computer and can do all kinds of other things, like backup and making files available to, for instance, your smartphone on the road. But it is also slower of course. I stock quite a bit of other equipment that are used for research, like for instance the Sonos Connect, the Sonos port, several Raspberry Pi based streamers, a Mini DSP SHD studio room correction system, the NAD T758 version 3 receiver, a PMC DB1 center speaker, four times Mirage OS3 sans surround speakers, reference set of one is used for left and right. Less used are the Linsundek LP12 with SME5 tonearm and Van der Hulgrats hopper cartridge, a Studer A807 tape recorder that is currently defective, a Reevox A700 tape recorder, a Squeezebox Duet, a Philips CD recorder and many more. They all have their purpose, otherwise they would have been sold. For instance the CD recorder is a great tool since it is quite jittery. Using it I can audibly test to what degree a DAC can reduce jitter. Other gear might still be around for sentimental reasons of course, like the DAT recorder and the TAPE recorders. It often helps to look at somewhat complex matters with graphics. That was the motivation for making and maintaining this series of videos. The complexity at the same time is the versatility, although I understand that it can be hard to imagine what sound of variants lead to what sound quality. Talking about quality, although it looks very convenient for you to publish absolute quality ratings, things in audio aren't that simple. If you want to know a bit more about this, you could watch my video Q&A which device is better. Please let me know when things are not clear, but also realize that it's not always a matter of better or worse. There has to be a match with your requirements and wishes. A good line to end this video with. As usual, there will be a new video next 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 in 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'm Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHPproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.