Прочие устройства — Lindemann Woodnote Bridge

The Lindemann Woodnote Bridge is a network streaming transport from the German maker Lindemann. It deliberately has no built-in D/A converter and instead passes its data on to a separate converter, an amplifier with digital inputs or active loudspeakers. Its design centres on low jitter, galvanic isolation and a linear power supply.

Key specs that matter

Outputs are AES/EBU on XLR, coaxial RCA and TOSLINK, all running up to 192 kHz and 24 bit. Inputs cover RCA, TOSLINK, LAN, USB and HDMI eARC, so a TV or a CD player can be routed through the unit. Networking uses 100 Mbit/s Ethernet or dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with WPS, and Bluetooth 4.2 supports A2DP with SBC and AAC. Supported file formats are WAV, FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA and native DSD. Mains connection is 115 or 230 V at 50 Hz, and power draw is 0.5 W in standby, 5 W in operation and 10 W at most. The case measures 207 x 250 x 62 mm across, deep and tall, with a weight of 1.7 kg.

Engineering and use context

Timing is handled by an ultra-low jitter MEMS femto clock, followed by multi-stage jitter reduction and synchronous re-sampling. The streaming section and the output stage are galvanically isolated from each other to keep interference out of the digital outputs. The unit is powered by a linear supply using an R-core transformer with careful filtering rather than a switch-mode module. Integrated streaming services are TIDAL, Qobuz, Deezer, HighResAudio and Spotify Connect, plus Qobuz Connect and TIDAL Connect, and it can also play internet radio and podcasts with gapless playback. Local libraries are reached over UPnP and DLNA, and the USB host port accepts storage devices and CD drives with up to 1 A supply. A digital volume control runs from 0 to 60 dB in 1 dB steps, with balance adjustable by plus or minus 6 dB, which allows the Bridge to feed a DAC or active speakers without a separate preamplifier.

Pairing

Converters fitted with AES/EBU, coaxial or TOSLINK inputs all accept its signal, and the XLR output suits converters and active monitors with balanced digital inputs. Because the Bridge also accepts HDMI eARC and further digital sources, it can act as the central switching point in front of a single converter. Owners of a DAC without its own remote volume can use the built-in level control, while those with a preamplifier can leave it at full level.

Alternatives

The Lindemann Limetree Bridge II is a smaller network bridge from the same maker, rated up to PCM 384 kHz and DSD256.