JCAT OPTIMO S ATX 100% LINEAR COMPUTER POWER SUPPLY RELEASED
The JCAT Optimo S ATX is an audiophile power source unit dedicated to quality audio playback from PC-based transports.
The N1A/2 from Melco is intended to improve on the originals sonic performance, particularly for those using USB DACs. It can store a whole library of your music on its on-board drives and costs £2099 as tested. Dan Worth plugs it into his network and assesses its attributes. More »
It seems that you can barely browse the internet these days without coming across another new Kickstarter audio product. Many of these get announced and then never see the light of day, so it’s nice to hear from one that has actually made it into production. More »
Auden Distribution has announced the availability of the LUMIN audiophile network music player to UK retailers. 
LUMIN, from Pixel Magic Systems, is billed as a high-end network music player that supports the widest range of audio formats available, including native DSD and lossless recordings up to 384kHz/32bit studio masters. In lossless playback the player supports FLAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF codecs along with all of the common compressed audio formats..
A wide range of output options include fully balanced XLR, RCA, SPDIF and HDMI. The latter can output 2.8MHz/1bit SACD files. The player also benefits from an outboard power supply housed in matching machined aluminium casework.
Developed in tandem with the hardware, the LUMIN software platform and app-based remote control is sumptuous to look at yet dramatically speeds the music browsing and selection experience.
The suggested retail price is £4995.
Meridian Audio has announced that its Media Core 200 Digital Media System now offers extra storage capacity and 
improved audio performance. In combination with Meridian’s Core Control App for iPad the Media Core 200 forms a complete, digital media system with sufficient capacity to store entire music collections.
Media Core 200 is a compact and virtually silent system that requires only the user’s choice of controller to perform. It can be operated by any of the network-based control systems available, including Meridian’s Core Control App for the iPad or iPhone, a computer running the Control PC or Control Mac application, or a Meridian controller such as the Control 15.
At the heart of the Media Core 200 is a new 1TB hard drive (increased from 500GB), storing around 2,000 CD albums in lossless quality for graphical and touch-screen access via the award-winning Meridian interface.
UK Price is £2000.
California based NuForce have introduced a direct-digital integrated amplifier that they claim marks a new juncture in 
digital sound. The new design converts the digital audio signal into analogue form at the last possible stage—the PWM amplifier output. “The DDA-100’s low distortion and noise floor remain in the digital domain from beginning to end, to give a wide dynamic range.”
The DDA-100 doesn’t require a DAC stage, rather, its PWM power amplifier stage is modulated directly by the incoming signal, and the digital-to-analogue conversion takes place at the speaker outputs. In effect, the PWM power amplifier stage operates as a power DAC.
It accepts four digital sources via one USB and with the included remote control, you can control inputs and volume from your listening chair.
The DDA-100 will drive your loudspeakers via a robust 75-Watt RMS and 250-watt peak capability per channel for “superb dynamics and transparency.”
The NuForce DDA-100 is available worldwide for a suggested retail price of US $549.00 and will be shipping Aug 1, 2012.
Now don’t get me wrong I do like computers. I use a computer daily. I’m even using one now to write this article. Computers have enabled me to work from home, do that away from the UK and even allows me communicate in real time with folks all over the world at the push of a mouse button. I get computers and I use one daily despite my sausage fingers and one fingered typing style!
Computer Hifi Killed the Radio Star…or did it?
Regular readers will be aware of my thoughts on using computers in home hifi installations and that my experiences have been less than satisfying for me. To be fair the problems have centred on interface issues and me simply not “gelling” with listening to music using computers. More »