AURALiC Altair G1 Digital Preamp / Streamer / DAC Reviews

4.6 Rating 20 Reviews

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Phone:

909.931.9686

Email:

joel.m@upscaleaudio.com

Location:

2058 Wright Avenue,
2058 Wright Avenue
California
91750

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“I bought a fair amount of gear in twenty-quarantine-twenty and this was by far my favorite acquisition. As others have said, it is a game changer that has altered the way I listen to music, and only for the better. This DAC-streamer combo with the excellent Lightning DS app interface has made a mountain of hi-res music available to me, and it sounds so bloody good through my 2-channel system. I still love vinyl and have a collection of vinyl and CDs but I can see myself turning to Qobuz and/or other streaming services more and more, and doing so with no regrets. Thanks Upscale..!”

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Posted 4 years ago

Mark Kasprzak

Verified Reviewer

Author didn't leave any comments.

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Posted 4 years ago

“The sound quality is outstanding. The lightning app is very good although not quite as good as Roon. It even makes my TV sound better.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“High quality. Well built. Sounds great! A few things missing...no trigger out, no sub out. Software does have equalizer but it's buried in menus. One touch to eq and easy sliders would be nice. Only loaded with Qobuz and Tidal although Qobuz is great. I would buy this unit again. No problems with Upscale Audio.”

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Posted 4 years ago

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Posted 4 years ago

Lloyd Firchau

Verified Reviewer

“I've been super happy with my purchase of the Altair G1. It's got an extreme amount of flexibility in how it's used and the sound quality is superb. Need a high performance DAC? Check. Streaming hi-res audio? Got it, no problem. Need it to work as a pre-amp? Or how about a music server? Yup, does those too. And the Lightning DS app works quite well. Definitely a product I wouldn't hesitate in recommending to others - 5 stars.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Great Product Easy Flexible and sound great!”

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Posted 4 years ago

“The Auralic Altair G1 is the centerpiece of my audio system. I have owned it now for 9 months and what a difference it made to the sound of my hifi. I bought my Altair with the 2TB SSD installed, had some trouble figuring out how to get my 12000+ iTunes Library over. The folks at Upscale were great, spent time with me on the phone and sent me a couple of FAQ printouts which got me going the right direction. My only complaint is that I spent hours making sure every album in my iTunes had cover art only to discover when transferred over to the Lightning DS software, that Apple handles cover art differently so many did not come over with cover art. Need to add the covers to each album on the Altair now because I want the covers to show on the beautiful display when listening to music. I use the Altair to stream new music and have tried both Qobuz and Tidal on trial subscriptions but my streaming app of choice is Amazon Music HD, not built in, but via AirPlay works great and I’m exploring new music that I would never have found before the Altair. The ESS DAC sounds fantastic and The Altair has 4 filters to fine tune the sound to get the most out of the digital material. the Altair is my primary headphone amp and, I could not be happier when the cans are on and I’m deep into a music piece. The Altair sounds better than playing CD’s on my Oppo 4K Blueray player. I use it as a DAC/Preamp also running the digital output of my Oppo when playing CDs I have been considering Roon but the Lightning DS app that comes with the Altair is giving me second thoughts, why pay for a Roon system when I get DS along with the Altair and it works great? I feel like I am just scratching the surface of the Altair’s capabilities but one thing is clear- my music has never sounded better. 4 months ago”

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Posted 4 years ago