llll[

*z
Mark
Levrnson
IN'519
This
unusually comprehensive
network
player/preamplifier
illustrates
the benefits of
a
modular
design
approach
-
and
proves
both
highly flexible
and a
pleasure
to use
Review: Andrew Everard
Lab:
Paul Miller
he start of every review
for HFN is
a commissioning email
from editor
PM,
and
in this case it contained
the
immortal line At €21k,
what kind of competition
is the N"519
up against?'. That's the kind of simple-
sounding
question
likely to
give
anyone
serious
pause
for thought. Yes, E2
1,000,
which means it's by
far
the
most expensive
network
playback
device to
pass
through
my listening room, and makes even
my
reference
player,
at around two-thirds
the
price
complete with obligatory
power
supply, look like something of a
snip.
Mind
you,
the
N'519 is rather more than
just
a network audio
player,
as
perhaps
one
might hope
given
the
pricing.
ln
practice
it doubles
as a
highly flexible DAC, and
has
variable outputs to enable
it to be
used
as a
'digital'
preamp.
lt even
packs
a
slot-loading disc transport, able
to handle
both standard Red Book CDs and
CD-ROMs
carrying MP3 files
-
though I'm
not entirely
sure who's likely to spend this amount
of
cash on such a device and then
want to
play
low-bit-rate files...
STANDING
TAI,L
ln the best tradition of US-made
high-end
audio, the No519 has what can only
be
described as
'serious
kit-rack
presence',
exuding solidity and high
quality
build, with
the
choice of a
black finish accented with
natural metal buttons and'iconic
Mark
Levinson twin-knob controls' doing
that
impression
no
harm
whatsoever.
Handbuilt
in the
USA,
it's not as huge as the
oversized
shipping box might suggest
-
fortunately!
-
being a
pretty
standard
43.8cm wide, but
it
stands
quite
tall, not least to accommodate
that disc drive and the large 5in
TFT
display,
able
to show everything
from menu
settings to
album
cover art.
This
also
has the benefit of making
the
display easy to read, should
you
wish to
use the N"519 directly
using the remote
RIGHT:
tinear
PSU
flett]feeds
digital
input
board
[top
left[ CD drive and strcaming
boad
[centrel
ESS Sabebased DAC circuit
[top
right]
and fully balanced analogue
output
loruer
dght]
handset, but
for
the
smoothest operation
it's best to resort
to the free ML Connect
app
running on a smartphone or
tablet,
as this
enables not only
control of all
the
various
inputs and services on offer, but
also
detailed adjustment
of the
set-up of
the unit
itself. That's very
welcome,
as the
menu structure as accessed
via
the
front-
panel
controls seems
rather obstructive
-
though
I am
pretty
sure
it
would become
less so
with extended
familiarisation.
The same
goes
for the start-up
sequence,
which is reminiscent of that
encountered with early
samples of the
Musical
Fidelity Encore
player
[HFN
Dec
'1
6]
-
in other words,
you
press
the
power
button
and nothing
much seems
to be
happening
for ages, tempting
you
to
press
again
in
case
you
made a mistake.
With the
MF
product
it was
an
automatic
update search taking
place,
which meant
the unit would
'hang'
if not connected to
the
lnternet
-
since corrected,
I believe.
With the No51 9, it's
just
a case of the
unit
being a bit on the slow side to
fire
up,
with
nothing to tell
you
anything's happening
apart from a flashing standby
light
-
it
would be useful to have a
progress
bar or
similar to show things are
happening.
That aside, the N"51 9 seems to
work very smoothly with the app, or via
browsers, although I did have a slight
hitch
with
getting
it
to
recognise my
music library, which is usually served
via
MinimServer. ln
this
instance I had
to switch
to
Asset
UPnP
in order to
get
my music
to appear, but
with that done
all went swimmingly, apart from the
occasional loss of contact with the
music
library on my NAS units, requiring the
servers to be reconnected. Strangely,
things seemed to work much
more
38
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JULY2017