Arcam rSeries SonLink DAC designed for Sonos
21 Dec 2012
We saw a very early prototype of this when we last visited Arcam a few months ago, and it certainly piqued our interest. Now it's officially available for £185.
So what is it? Well this is the Arcam rSeries SonLink DAC, designed for use with the Sonos Connect or ZP90 Zoneplayer. Basically, it's the Arcam rLink DAC housed in a custom-built enclosure with internal wiring.
It's the same shape as the Sonos components, so sits neatly underneath them, and supports 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 and 192kHz sampling rates. A single cable connects the DAC to the Sonos unit.
Available now for £185, the rSeries SonLink "delivers the perfect audio upgrade for Sonos", says Arcam.
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Comments
So as the Sonos units can't handle anything above 16/44.1 for digitial, the benefit of this Arcam unit is hard to identify. I see the following but maybe I'm missing something:
(1) a replacement DAC for the one built into the Sonos. I've heard that the Sonos DAC is not bad already however. That being said, it's down to personal preference I suppose. There will be people who will swear blind that this DAC is way better than the Sonos's internal one. And same shape/colour is nice, if it does sound better. OK I'd have to audition here.
(2) a spare DAC to use with anything else, although you'd have to get around the back and plug the coaxial into the other digital source, and the cable doesn't look that long - maybe get an extender. Nope, that doesn't seem very practical.
(3) If it upsamples (and I don't know if it does) then it might upsample the 44.1 to 192, but then we get into the debate about whether upsampled music sounds better or not. I don't see how it can but I am no audio expert. So no, that feature is not for me (if it exists).
(4) A replacement DAC which frees up the DAC a person already had in place beside their Sonos, only this has the same form factor as the Sonos - ok, assuming this Arcam unit sounds better to them then their previous DAC. That allows the old DAC to be used for something else or sold off. OK, that I can understand.
The price isn't exactly expensive as far as DACs go, but I'd rather choose my own DAC (which probably has multiple inputs which I personally would find useful eg for PC and CD Player as well) after auditioning a few. But the cosmetics might be more important to potential buyers anyway.
It is a pain that Sonos never made their units output higher than 44.1, but there are some of us who can't hear the difference anyway and the Sonos are still great units with good software.
I'm sure we will have a review sample on the way, but the performance should be on a par with the rLink DAC on which it is based.
Would be interested in an evaluation of this DAC given that all the blurb so far seems to be a re-hash of the Arcam text.
Presumably because it's essentially a reskinned rLink DAC, which handles 192kHz.
I'd like the same clarification as branon. The Sonos Unit doesn't handle high res files so I can't see any point in the Arcam Unit handling them?
Can you kindly clarify a little more. My understanding is that Sonos units cannot handle extremely high res flac files(192 khz?). Does this help get around that problem. I might be ready to offload the squeezebox touch then.
Not sure what the point of this is? Why getting a matching box that will be hidden away with the Sonos that can't be used for any other equipment like a TV?