Auralic ALTAIR G2.1 Streamer Brings Upstream Digital Features To A One-Box Solution

Auralic announced the new ALTAIR G2.1 Digital Audio Streamer today. Part of the G2.1 line, the newest member of Auralic’s “next level” family of products provides much of the higher end features of the separates line, but packed into a single box.

In our review of the Auralic VEGA G1 Streaming DAC, we found both the robust casework and the wide range of capabilities to be a great fit into any system we threw the source into. The G2.1 series flushes out the isolation and heavy duty chassis even further, from the press release:

ALTAIR G2.1’s physical construction, as with all G2.1 products, includes Unity Chassis II, a stealth-silent aluminum enclosure encapsulating a highly-effective copper sub- enclosure that protects the advanced internal electronics from outside interference, a massive aluminum base, and a six-spring suspension footer system, all resulting in a quiet, sublime, musical performance.

Of course, Auralic isn’t just a hardware maker. The audiophile company is one of the few to tackle the huge obstacle of develop streaming software directly. Their Lighting DS platform handles things on Apple’s platform, and the Auralic ALTAIR G2.1 can also be controlled via the audiophile favorite Roon. Like the rest of Auralic’s products, the newest digital source handles all the latest streaming services, including Qobuz and Tidal, with a nice bonus of Spotify Connect as well.

In additional to all the DAC processing power (with dual femto clocks), the ALTAIR G2.1 makes a play for replacing your system pre amplifier:

As a G2.1 Series product, ALTAIR G2.1 has been developed with properties and features that ensure its performance is considered “next-level,” and allow for it to be used as a stand-alone preamplifier. Analog Volume Control onboard, similar to that on the VEGA G2.1 and based on a resistive ladder design, provides ultra-quiet signal, no matter the input. Class A Orfeo Output Modules allow for an ultra-low-noise and low-distortion signal in the analog domain. Altair G2.1 also houses two separate all-analog inputs, completely bypassing the digital structure and maintaining a pure analog signal from input to out. The first is a line-level analog input, including home theater bypass functionality, and the second is an in-house engineered moving-magnet phono stage for an elegant, direct, and quiet connection to a turntable.

That’s right, the team from Auralic threw in a phono stage to boot – another interesting connection to help make G2.1 ALTAIR a viable option for two box solutions – just add an amplifier.

The Auralic ALTAIR G2.1 hits the market very soon, with sales channels firing up in May. Retail pricing will be $5489 for the US.

More info: Auralic ALTAIR G2.1 Digital Audio Streamer