SIMAUDIO LAUNCHES NEW MiND2 STREAMING PLATFORM
I worked for Acoustic Energy loudspeakers back in the Eighties as production manager. I had to go to HiFi shows as an exhibitor, never having been to one before. Back then, the daddy show was in a hotel at Heathrow, named different things at different eras, depending upon hotel buy outs. If you called it the Penta or the Ramada, it placed in you in certain years. A bit like the Labatts, HMV, Eventim, er, whatever Apollo in Hammersmith, which will always be the Hammersmith Odeon to me!
I have been going to hifi shows for the entire 30 year life span of home theatre’s rise from Hafler Surround to Dolby Atmos and other object-based surround audio systems. It was all about DTS versus Dolby with AC-3 (which was renamed Dolby Digital) and both having rear channels that could do different things, as against be merely a background surround. Pro-Logic surround was bloody cool, though. A genuine extra channel behind you.
But the days have changed enormously. Folks carried CDs to shows back then to ask for the demo with their own tunes but the last hifi show I went to a little while ago was all about folks with high resolution files on their phones. And now ‘Home Cinema’ has died too, with too many channels and soundbars winning the mid-market speaker format wars. The top end is strong with custom installers and MOON also sell a seven channel amplifier of serious note.
This is cool but has necessitated the sheer breadth of styles, files and streaming platforms and codecs in all kinds that this next bit of kit to be press released to me, can manage, being as breath taking as trying to read this sentence out loud. There are many streaming formats fighting right now.
Thus, the streaming thing has definitely gone high end and this release is about ONLY the extra bit of stuff that can be installed into existing pre-future-proofed kit from Simaudio, with their amazing MOON brand of audiophile top end hifi.
The Canadians are awesome audio makers with some absolutely colossal loudspeaker manufacturers. I was taken on a trip once to Toronto with Home Cinema Choice magazine and they said to bring my wife! We got taken to Niagara Falls on a dealer trip and saw the API factory, which was huge. One of the biggest speaker makers in the world, taken over by Klipsch some years back.
So who are MOON Audio? Well, try this for size. How about a pair of coffee table sized monoblock amplifiers rated at 888 watts each, RMS? That is 1.2 Acoustic Horsepower for £120,000. That’d be twice that at four ohms, of course…
Or the entry level integrated 240i product for £1,990? That is a deep luxury for most but is affordable to many more people. If you want that integrated pre-power product with the streaming platform board installed, it’ll normally be about £800 more at retail.
What follows is their UK press release:
Canadian premium hi-fi manufacturer, Simaudio, is renowned for its MOON range, and with the launch of its new MiND2 streaming platform, delivers a world of high performance streaming.
The MiND2 (MOON intelligent Network Device) streaming platform is an intuitive way of organising, streaming and listening to music. MiND2 allows the playback of the full spectrum of file formats, including DSD and MQA (via local and TIDAL Master files). MiND 2 is the second generation of the MOON intelligent Network Device and is controlled by MOON’s proprietary app. MiND 2 delivers high-fidelity music streaming and allows control of a MOON hi-fi system, for ultimate ease of use. For over four years, the first MOON MiND streaming platform impressed music lovers with its ease of use and delivery of detailed music. For all existing MiND users, Simaudio is offering a MiND2 upgrade scheme. Moon’s goal is to defy obsolescence by ensuring customers who have invested in the MOON brand are able to add the latest technology to their products. The upgrade consists of the new MiND2 streaming board plus new firmware and software, with the work being undertaken by a local MOON dealer/technician. The cost of the upgrade is £800 – however, until 31 August 2018, the upgrade can be carried out for £455.
MiND 2 Technology Features
-Roon Ready
-Access to Tidal, with Tidal Masters support
-Access to Deezer with Deezer Hi-Fi support
-Access to Qobuz, with Qobuz Sublime+ support
-Tune-In Internet radio music services
-UPnP Compatibility
-Multi-room synchronized playback
-Up to 32 bits/384 kHz sampling rate support on wired connection
-Up to DSD 256 sampling rate support on wired connection
-Retrofit capability on original MiND products for upgrade
-SimLink communication channel to control other MOON components
On the 14th July, Simaudio will launch the MOON 390 Network Player and it will feature a MiND2 streaming module. The MOON 390 offers a complete high-end listening solution and incorporates a DAC, preamplifier, headphone amplifier, phono stage and network streaming capability. Simply connect the MOON 390 to a power amplifier or active loudspeakers to hear an exceptional audio performance.
Simaudio has built upon its heritage of outstanding audio products by combining the functionality of the award-winning MOON 350P preamplifier and MOON 380D DAC with the latest high-end streaming architecture to create the MOON 390. With a host of analogue and digital connection possibilities, no matter how you play your music, the MOON 390 will reveal astonishing levels of detail. The MOON 390 is designed to deliver an outstanding high-resolution streaming experience through music services such as Tidal Masters, Qobuz Sublime+ and Deezer Hi-Fi. The DAC architecture supports PCM (up to 32-bit/384kHz), DSD (up to DSD256) and is MQA certified. It is also Roon Ready and has Bluetooth aptX connectivity.
The MOON 390 new MiND 2 streaming module boasts a USB host port, permitting access to music on USB thumb drives. Finally, MiND 2 will also stream any digital or analogue input to other MiND 2 zones on the same network.
International prices of the MOON 390: £4,750/$5,300/€5,200.
I called Sonata Hifi and nagged the Guv’nor Rob about the background stuff for this story. They are pure top end old school joy. See their website here: https://www.sonatahifi.com/ they can set up demos for you and above a certain level, that can happen in your home. (just incase we do have some serious high end readers in London!)