Image HiFi Germany

Remarkable was the fluidity of the reproduced music, the complete absence of tiring analysis and an exceptional dynamic - and this over the whole spectrum range. I unwillingly must admit: The comparison with my beloved high-musical Meridian is clearly won by the Audionet already after some seconds of playing because of its by far better spreading of the musical event and even tonal advantages.

image x-tract
A very exquisite digital delicacy - this is certain. Universal players mostly have the reputation of being compromised solutions, that for the benefit of universality have to cope with trade-offs here and there. But not the VIP, what we translate from now on as "Very Important Player".

STEREO Germany
(together with MAP)

With respect: The best DVD audio player STEREO ever had. With comfortable distance. Yet in CD mode the VIP roughs up the competition and the reference CD player ART V2. In DVD audio mode it even sets the standard, no matter if two-channel or six-channel.

Probably the best DVD audio player on the market at present.

Performance level: 100%

Heimkino Germany

Audionet managed to drop completely into the digital age of DVD and faced the high complexity as challenge. And the team passed with flying colours and worked out a big head start compared to all competitors.

Audionet focused on the outstanding reproduction of the audio-visual signals from the controller. These can have a wide range of sampling frequencies and bit widths. On the other hand, the converters from Wolfson should always be fed with the finest, purest signals. Between transport unit and the DACs lies the secret of the VIP-success, that is to say an asynchronous upsampling of the music bits and a nanosecond-precise reconstruction of the clock signal. This eliminates jitter completely. By this even older tones of a CD (16 bits/44.1 kHz) always become high-precision music with the capacity of DVD-Audio (24 bits/192 kHz).

The four additional channels for multichannel music are supplied conventionally, but on the highest level. Of course all plug variants, including a professional, potential-free AES/EBU interface, are present. However, really sensational is a special Audionet version of the Firewire connection, that can transfer even the data of a DVD-Audio in perfect digital quality to the Audionet processor MAP. It is nearly redundant to mention that the VIP is supplied by several independent, highly-stable and extremely clean voltages. In conjunction with low-noise, DC-coupled and very strong drivers all electrical measurements are far beyond good and bad, close to the limit of what can be physically detected.

The digital pixel streams...are provided with 54 MHz and 12 bits... The special trick of the output section is the real DC-coupling. Within the VIP no phase-shifting capacitor lies in the signal path, that would sabotage the output impedance. The result is extreme precision of the pictures. Noise is absent, and especially the colour separation is phenomenal.

The question among the technical writers was, what should be viewed or heard next. High-resolution DVD audio via two channels convinces with pleasant high energy. With Pat Metheneys "Imaginary Days“ or the "Hotel California“ from The Eagles: So much transparence, plasticity and punch is overwhelming. Determining for the fun factor is the precision, with which the miracle from Bochum deals almost patronising. When playing the DVD audio from Fourplay every finest vibration of the cymbals is audible. ... If the VIP plays DVD videos, the picture is characterised by clear, high-contrast structures. The acoustical scenery offers high resolution, e.g. when the bullet casings fall in "Matrix"...

Conclusion: Audionet made it! At first go the DVD player VIP enters the HEIMKINO reference class. The VIP satisfies three basic desires: Firstly it is an excellent DVD video player, secondly a powerful and dynamic DVD audio player and thirdly – almost unbelievable – a phenomenal CD player.

Result: 1+ Reference class

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