491 Network Player / Preamplifier

I run everything through this one box now — streaming, headphones, and my turntable — and the built-in phono stage sounds better than the separate preamp I was using before. Having the DAC and network player in the same chassis means way less cable mess behind my rack.

Plugged my turntable straight into this and the built-in phono stage is dead quiet, which I didn't expect at this price. Streaming through it and spinning vinyl now run through the same box, so the headphone jack actually gets used at night instead of me waking the house. Genuinely the last piece I

Went from four boxes and a tangle of cables down to this one, and the phono stage actually surprised me — my records sound warmer through it than they did through my old separate preamp. The headphone output is no afterthought either, it drives my planars with plenty of headroom.