Article: Quick Take: The Linear Solution DS-1 Network Streamer

[FredM]

“Great as that NUC sounded, the DS-1 sounds significantly better. The improvements are exactly what I have heard with clock improvements before. Clearly the OCXO is the reason for the bulk of this improvement”

 

Thanks Rajiv for your write up, based on anequal comparison (with the NUC7CJYH) the results are promising to say the least. Great to see these recent developments pushing the envelope, too bad a direct comparison with the SOtM Ultra Neo couldn’t be done, this would be a great test with both turnkey products at a similar price level. Also a nice compliment to suggest to ‘DIY’ers’ to consider the DS-1 (which understandingly triggers some reactions ?)

[FredM]

20 minutes ago, Advieira said:

The DS-1 should be a lot better

Based on Rajivs findings it is significantly better, please see article above. With the other NUC (add approx $400), the DS-1 is still better, but with a smaller margin (please see article above). 

 

The consideration made for DIY is imho a big compliment, but mainly seems to trigger apples vs peers comparisons and discussions. A turnkey product is not designed for DIY’ers and vise versa. Both group have different needs etc.

 

Ps What I actually especially regret, is that this small and very promising hifi company is now mainly commented on from a DIY perspective. I even can’t think of a couple of other commercial products / turnkey endpoints, which include AL OS, an internal OCXO and other hardware specs. It would be more logical and fair to make a direct comparison with other turnkey solutions (SOtM sMS-200 Ultra Neo, Sonore UltraRendu, etc etc). The respected SOtM sMS-200 Ultra has about the same price level (with input for internal clock). I quite welcome new innovative companies such as TLS on the market, imho they have a refreshing approach and raise the bar.

 

 

[FredM]

Be aware of dealing with The Linear Solution!

 

You can find some first hand consumer experiences here, a must read for anyone who considers dealing with TLS: