Veteran Nashville producer Russ Long reviews the Hilo and Aurora TB models in Pro Audio Review August issue. Here is a preview of some of his comments.
The 1U Aurora 16 AD/DA support sample rates up to 192 kHz and provides outstanding conversion. The sound is open and transparent and almost impossible to discern from the source material at high sample rates. The internal clock is spectacular and since the unit operates without an internal fan, there's no issue in having the converters in the control room.
In addition to being feature-packed, the Hilo's sonic performance is simply amazing. I compared a 96 kHz hi-resolution recording through the Hilo to the same recording through a Benchmark DAC-1 and was amazed that the top-end was smoother through the Hilo. The imaging was also better with the Hilo. I utilized the Hilo's internal sample-rate converter to downconvert a 96 kHz digital signal and found the result to be quite impressive without any noticeable artifacts or image change.
I tested the Hilo's headphone amp with an assortment of headphones including Focal's Spirit Professional Pro, Audio Technica's ATH-M50 and my Ultimate Ears Custom In-Ear Reference monitors and in each instance the amp had enough gain to push the headphones to the point of pain without even a hint of distortion. But not only does it have an abundance of horsepower, it sounds amazing. My Focal headphones have never sounded better than listening to Dark Side of the Moon than through the Hilo.
Lynx makes great products with no sonic compromise whatsoever, their manuals are well written, concise, and clear and their tech-support is among the best I've ever encountered.
