AURALiC Vega G2.1 Streamer (Music)

Electrical Disclaimer Further Information

The price has just been greatly reduced as I have too many streamer stocks and need to reduce my stock. It's the lowest price online. 

Up for sale is a Auralic Vega G2.1 Streamer/DAC/Preamp unit in perfect conditions. Auralic products is using a very special metal chassis for noise reduction. The unit has some minor signs on the top cover and can only be seen at close view. If you are looking for a top of the line DAC with streamer and preamp and wish to save money, don't  miss this great opportunity. 

Original price for this unit is over US$6900.

The Vega G2.1 is the among the highest ranking Auralic products, unlike the G2 series models its chassis is not milled from a solid billet but takes a more sophisticated approach by putting a chassis inside a chassis. The chassis you see is in machined aluminium, the one beneath is copper which is renowned for its shielding capabilities and sometimes used for high sensitivity components within a case but rarely seen enclosing the whole circuit. It is not beloved of Japanese high end brands merely because they like the colour, but it is a nice colour so it’s a pity you can’t see it on the G2.1. Equally significant is the use of dual master clocks inside this DAC which re-clock the incoming signal for maximum precision and minimum noise. Digital re-clocking seems to be enjoying a resurgence at the moment, I’ve looked at two re-clockers in the last month, but this is the first time I’ve seen this in a DAC. It’s a logical move and undoubtedly contributes to the remarkable results achieved.

Other changes for G2.1 include a new system designed to keep external vibration out of the box using sprung feet. This is a very encouraging move for those of us who have long held that real isolation (not spikes) can only be achieve with compliant support, and springs are one of the best ways to do this. Auralic’s approach has been to use six springs in each foot with each spring tuned to a different frequency, this provides quite a stiff suspension but is a step in the right direction.

Internally Auralic has modified the USB input to make it more compatible with USB sources from third parties. Which presumably means that there were problems with this input on the G2 models although I never encountered them when reviewing the VEGA G2. As far as inputs go the Vega G2.1 is fully loaded with all the usual options alongside an RJ45 for streaming and Lightning Link for use with appropriately equipped Auralic sources. There are also links for the Leo GX1 external word clock via Lightning Link and an MCK socket. As mentioned there’s also a single RCA pair of analogue inputs matched by analogue outputs in both RCA and XLR forms.

The Lightning app provides volume and playback control when streaming but given the price point it would be nice to see a dedicated handset with this Vega. 

I started out using the Vega G2.1 with a direct USB input from my server and got strong 3D imaging and good transparency to detail, I noted from the off that the output is very high and recommend that if you connect this directly to a power amp you start with it very low indeed. The output level can be reduced by 6 or 12dB however and this might be worth doing to deliver a wider usable volume range and thus smaller increments between the volume steps. The results with the source connected directly to the Vega were better than usually achieved with this approach, most DACs struggle to get a coherent sound which is why I generally put a streamer in between the two units. This was impressively rich and solid with decent space around the instruments and voices and powerful atmosphere on recordings that had it.

The unit comes with original box and packing, cables, accessories and manual.