David E. – UK

“The Link never gets in the way of the music, it provides purity and insight and serves up everything a good DAC needs to sound even better than you thought it could.”

I was looking for a streaming upgrade to my Bluesound Node 2i. I didn’t need a DAC as I was happy with the on board DAC on my Moon 240i amplifier. Having read several reviews of the Link II and it’s predecessor, I liked not only what was being said about this streamer but also the philosophy of Theo Stack and his development team.

On unboxing, I was struck by the exceptional build quality of the unit. It’s machined from solid aluminium and it’s weight and feel gave me some inkling as to how it might perform. I was up and running within ten minutes after attaching the Link to my Moon’s DAC via a USB cable, downloading the software onto the Link via Ethernet and setting it up as a Roon Endpoint.

The first thing I noticed was the bass extension. It was deeper, more refined, yet faster than the Node 2i. This fleet of foot also extends to the treble and upper mids. The Link really brought out the musicality and timing in my Moon DAC. The soundstage was wider, more three dimensional. Until partnering the Moon DAC with the Link II I never really heard the transients in my system, the attack and decay clear and present with instruments and voices alike. Whether playing ‘Young Man in America’ by Anais Mitchell, ‘Morning Phase’ by Beck, ‘Did I Ever Love You?’ by Leonard Cohen or Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, the Link never gets in the way of the music, never colours it or tries to change the sound signature of your DAC. It provides purity and insight and serves up everything a good DAC needs to sound even better than you thought it could.”