This is a review and abbreviated measurements of the Linn Majik DS-1 integrated streamer and amplification. It is on kind loan from a member. It has been discontinued but back in 2010 (?) when it was announced it was US $4,200. I see a recent ebay sale for a bit over $1,000.
The Linn is an attractive unit:
The interesting bits are in the back:
You have full suite of analog and digital inputs although given the age, USB input is lacking. Roon remote is built into the networking which is very nice for an older device. And of course you have full amplification in there for a single box solution.
Streamer DAC Stereo Measurements
Since there is line out, let's use the Toslink input into its DAC and measure what comes out before the power amplifier:
By today's standard, this is definitely subpar with sum of distortion and noise relative to signal not close enough to beat the CD format:
I tested streaming with Roon player and performance was identical which is good.
Amplifier Stereo Measurements
I started testing the power amplifier by using the Toslink optical input first:
We see sum total SINAD of 78 dB. This obviously is NOT limited by the DAC as it produced 20 dB better performance. Indeed switching to analog input we see that confirmed:
As its, the DS-1 lies smack in the middle of rankings of all the amplifiers we have tested regardless of price (nearly 120):
I quickly ran a frequency response test using analog input and was quite surprised that it was not flat:
Thinking it may be digitized, I switched to digital input with both 44.1 kHz and 96 kHz sampling:
We see the same curve. So unless there is some kind of EQ I don't know about, it is sad to see such roll off.
Let's measure power into 4 ohm:
This is very little power for all but secondary use. It naturally drops lower with 8 ohm load:
And these are not "good watts" either given how early distortion takes over and flattens the curve and then swings up at clipping.
Conclusions
In 2010 this kind of functionality would have been advanced. But today there are a range of streaming solutions with amps that retail in hundreds of dollars with much more power. It is disappointing to see an engineering focused company like Linn target so low in power and noise and distortion.
Anyway, even at $1000 I can't recommend the Linn Majik DS-1. That said, if you have one using it in a secondary location like bedroom, office, etc. would be fine.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Who would have thought that preserving fruits can be dangerous? Went to through out a spoiled pear out the door into our field to compost naturally, and hit my thumb hard on the door jam. It is hurting and somehow impacted my back as well a bit. So be forewarned, I am cranky!
Fortunately before I screwed up my thumb, I prepped the rest of the green grapes for dehydrating as we were not eating them fast enough:
I also prepped a stack of 10+ trays of Asian pears which are likewise drying. Let's hope these raisins will be sweet when dried!
On a yet another somber note, did the paperwork for 2019 taxes so that our accountant can file our taxes. It was incredible to see how much money I had spent on the forum. It was like 300 line items from the Visa card alone! Paid something like $1,700 to the post office alone! Fortunate enough in life to afford it but if you want to take my mind off of it, I appreciate some donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The Linn is an attractive unit:
The interesting bits are in the back:
You have full suite of analog and digital inputs although given the age, USB input is lacking. Roon remote is built into the networking which is very nice for an older device. And of course you have full amplification in there for a single box solution.
Streamer DAC Stereo Measurements
Since there is line out, let's use the Toslink input into its DAC and measure what comes out before the power amplifier:
By today's standard, this is definitely subpar with sum of distortion and noise relative to signal not close enough to beat the CD format:
I tested streaming with Roon player and performance was identical which is good.
Amplifier Stereo Measurements
I started testing the power amplifier by using the Toslink optical input first:
We see sum total SINAD of 78 dB. This obviously is NOT limited by the DAC as it produced 20 dB better performance. Indeed switching to analog input we see that confirmed:
As its, the DS-1 lies smack in the middle of rankings of all the amplifiers we have tested regardless of price (nearly 120):
I quickly ran a frequency response test using analog input and was quite surprised that it was not flat:
Thinking it may be digitized, I switched to digital input with both 44.1 kHz and 96 kHz sampling:
We see the same curve. So unless there is some kind of EQ I don't know about, it is sad to see such roll off.
Let's measure power into 4 ohm:
This is very little power for all but secondary use. It naturally drops lower with 8 ohm load:
And these are not "good watts" either given how early distortion takes over and flattens the curve and then swings up at clipping.
Conclusions
In 2010 this kind of functionality would have been advanced. But today there are a range of streaming solutions with amps that retail in hundreds of dollars with much more power. It is disappointing to see an engineering focused company like Linn target so low in power and noise and distortion.
Anyway, even at $1000 I can't recommend the Linn Majik DS-1. That said, if you have one using it in a secondary location like bedroom, office, etc. would be fine.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Who would have thought that preserving fruits can be dangerous? Went to through out a spoiled pear out the door into our field to compost naturally, and hit my thumb hard on the door jam. It is hurting and somehow impacted my back as well a bit. So be forewarned, I am cranky!
Fortunately before I screwed up my thumb, I prepped the rest of the green grapes for dehydrating as we were not eating them fast enough:
I also prepped a stack of 10+ trays of Asian pears which are likewise drying. Let's hope these raisins will be sweet when dried!
On a yet another somber note, did the paperwork for 2019 taxes so that our accountant can file our taxes. It was incredible to see how much money I had spent on the forum. It was like 300 line items from the Visa card alone! Paid something like $1,700 to the post office alone! Fortunate enough in life to afford it but if you want to take my mind off of it, I appreciate some donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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