Barely a new brand introduced (cf. Luxsin news) than Zidoo, through its streaming subsidiary, presents three new products. All launched at the Munich High-End 2025, these devices complete the catalog with a Z10 DAC in a range equivalent to the DMP-A10 streamer (but on an AKM chip), a Play all-in-one released in two versions (one with a CD player) and a pure network transport T8.
PLAY & PLAY CD EDITION As yet undisclosed on the website, the Play’s square case (depth and width) resembles the Marantz Model M1, but adds a 5.5-inch screen on the front. It boasts Class D amplification of 2 x 60 W at 8 ohms and 2 x 110 W at 4 ohms, as well as a DAC on an AKM AK4493 chip, as yet unused in the range. The CD Edition version adds a Hitachi-LG CD drive redesigned for the product, complementing the possibility of integrating the all-in-one Play with digital and analog inputs, including a high-level expectation for the MM/MC phono input.
Z10 DAC Still wavering between Sabre and AKM chips for its streamers and DACs, the Chinese manufacturer presents a Dac superior to the Z8 that reverts to the second Japanese supplier, while the Z8 uses an ES9038 Pro and the Z6 an ES9068AS. Expected to convert the digital signal on one of the best AKMs in dual-mono (perhaps the 4499EX used for the Luxsin X9), the Z10 is also announced as purely symmetrical, with its power supply managed by triple bespoke toroidal transformers, to avoid any possible electrical interference (and with that electromagnetic noise) between the different circuits.
T8 NETWORK TRANSPORT In a chassis resembling that of the DMP-A6, the T8 is a new DAC-free device, which takes in only the network stream for output to a converter via digital outputs. Of course, it boasts a high-precision clock (femto), HDMI-IIS, AES, coaxial, optical and USB outputs, and in addition to WiFi, Bluetooth and an RJ45 port, an SFP port for direct fiber connection (see our Lumin T3x article; VU#59).
We’ll tell you more in a few days, with photos to back them up!
When one of France’s specialists in streaming devices joins forces with one of the world’s specialists in streaming solutions, the result is the DSAS.
In a silver or black chassis similar to that of the DSS 2 network transport (4 750 €), but with the third bar and the blue-purple logo identifiable to Audirvāna, Métronome releases a new streamer fully manageable by French streaming software.
We recently reported on Audirvāna’s interest in now running under Linux, with the possible developments of being able to be directly integrated into streaming devices, without needing a computer again to make use of the sharing application. The idea goes even further with Métronome’s DSAS, where Audirvāna is directly integrated on a Linux processor with 4 GB RAM to be the main application for network playback.
Thanks to this partnership, you no longer need an external processor or a computer to use the software, but only an iOS (Apple) or Android (Google) compatible smartphone or tablet to use the Audirvāna Remote App. Thanks to this, Métronome associate director Jean-Marie Clauzel announces that he is offering “a new versatile source” with a solution that he has “long appreciated for its features and sound quality ”.
A network transport and a server, the DSAS features a 2TB internal SSD drive that can be expanded to 4TB, but requires a USB connection to a DAC to convert the digital signal to analog. It operates via Ethernet and Wifi and is Chromecast compatible; its launch is scheduled for just after the Munich show, at a price of 5 990 € incl. VAT.
After the triumphant success of Eversolo in 2022, it’s hard to say where Zidoo will stop. In addition to presenting three new models at Munich for its streaming brand, Zidoo is also adding a new brand to its portfolio.
Called Luxsin, this first product features two new high-end conversion chips (one AKM4499EX per channel) combined with a delta-sigma AKM4191EQ modulation chip. Destined to become a high-performance headphone amplifier and an excellent analog preamp, the X9 combines three headphone outputs (unbalanced 6.35 mm and balanced 4.4 mm & XLR 4-pin jacks) with fully balanced R2R volume control.
The unit adds an ultra-low-noise power supply to premium components such as WIMA Red capacitors, and again sets itself apart from the competition with an HD touchscreen, this time 4″. Two Accusilicon AS318-B-451584 crystal oscillators with extremely low phase noise enable frequency management up to 45MHz.
While the power of the 6120 A2 headphone amplifier has not yet been specified, ARC, USB-B, coaxial, optical and RCA inputs are all present, as are Bluetooth 5.0 and, for the preamp part, one XLR and one RCA pair. Although not a streamer (an Eversolo T8 network transport is expected in Munich), the X9 is capable of decoding files up to DSD512 and PCM 768 kHz / 32 bits. Add to this a negative feedback circuit and a control adaptable to most headphones on the market, and it’s hard to see how the Chinese engineers could have hit harder… especially for a device launched at 1 099 € in Europe !
Discovered with the S1 streamer, XACT is the hardware counterpart to the JPlay software created by the engineer Marcin Ostapowicz. For the more affluent, the S1 could be duplicated to use one as a pure Internet switch and the other as a network transport – an expensive and complex solution, now simplified with the new N1 switch.
Still based on the components and circuits developed by the Polish engineer, the XACT N1 incorporates some elements from his OEM brand JCAT, integrated in a smaller case than the S1. Linear power supply is thus derived from an OPTIMO N1 toroidal transformer filtered by two capacitor sections, connected by cables to a second circuit on which are arranged five RJ45 Ethernet ports -one of those galvanically isolated- and one SFP fiber port.
The signal is handled by a processor and a network chip, and controlled by an OXCO ultra-low-noise clock powered by its own current section. Launched this month, the XACT N1 is a top-of-the-range audiophile switch, priced at 6 000 € incl. VAT.
Presented last year at the Munich High End, the Madison Amplifier never saw the light of day in this prototype version, but now appears in an optimized version, of which we have the first worldwide test in Vumètre n°59.
For a quick reminder, let’s recall that immediately after the Munich 2024 trade show, the takeover of Swiss company Wattson Audio was announced by compatriot high-end company CH Precision. The engineers immediately decided to collaborate, with the result that the largest streamers (Madison & Madison LE) were redesigned as one, and the brand-new power amplifier was revised.
A year later, the Madison Amplifier finally saw the light of day, and while it retains the launch case, identical in design but much larger than that of the Streamer, it has benefited from numerous internal modifications. Intended to be bridgeable (i.e., monophonic, to be combined with a second Amp to drive each speaker separately), the Amplifier can now also, like the big CH blocks, become “bi-amp”, i.e., still be used on one side only, but in order to use its two pairs of terminals for the two pairs of speaker terminals (when the latter have four terminals each).
From 2 x 50 W into 8 ohms and up to 2 x 120 W into 2 ohms, the Madison Amplifier can be integrated with a preamp or a source with digital volume control via one RCA and one XLR pair, and is available in Europe at a price of 6 495 €, a substantial but ultimately reasonable price when you consider that the product is now a small CH.
