STAGE #1 MKII

Most streamers on the market are conceived as "audio appliances": closed devices, dimensioned to run their own firmware and forward a data stream.

Stage #1 MKII belongs to another category: it is a digital source, designed and conceived as a true Hi-Fi component. It receives, stores, manages, processes and delivers music to the DAC, within a single architecture built around one task only. Not the end point of streaming. The place where playback is governed, with the care a Hi-Fi system deserves.

An ordinary appliance streamer uses an embedded platform, dimensioned to run its own firmware. Nothing more. Stage #1 MKII uses a latest-generation Intel computing architecture: maximum processing speed, minimal resource usage, low operating temperatures. This opens a territory closed appliances cannot reach: HQPlayer, advanced filters, convolution, processing and upsampling up to DSD512, when DAC and configuration allow. Upsampling Red Book? Child's play.

Stage #1 MKII also integrates 8 GB of system memory as standard.

Making a lightweight endpoint silent is easy. Making a true music server completely passive is another discipline. The cooling of Stage #1 MKII is totally passive, across the entire device. This eliminates:

• the acoustic noise of fans;

• the mechanical vibration of ventilation;

• airflows and the accelerated build-up of dust that degrades performance over time;

• the constant variations in fan speed.

And it eliminates them on a machine capable of running HQPlayer - not on a device dimensioned to the bare minimum.

A single chassis imposes a precise equation: high efficiency, contained heat production, passive cooling, adequate computing power. Stage #1 MKII solves it with a high-quality, low-ripple switching power supply, designed and implemented for the single-chassis architecture. Not just any switching supply: a section engineered to power a passive, high-performance music server while keeping noise under control. The path of a separate linear power supply exists elsewhere in the Stage series. But it is not an accessory: it is a complete architecture. And it begins with Stage #2.

Separating digital transport from conversion is a choice of specialization. It allows us to:

• access the DAC's proprietary drivers directly;

• upgrade the converter independently of the source;

• reduce internal analog sections;

• eliminate analog power supplies and circuits from the chassis;

• concentrate resources on the digital path.

Stage #1 does not split its budget between streamer, DAC, display and ancillary features. It concentrates it on the digital source. And your DAC does not communicate through a generic interface: it uses the driver designed by its own manufacturer, to extract its finest performance.

Streaming enters through the network. The network, therefore, belongs to the audio path. Stage #1 MKII integrates a high-performance Intel 2.5GbE interface, while several alternatives on the market still stop at the Gigabit standard. The difference concerns:

• the quality and stability of the interface;

• lower CPU load during playback;

• faster library transfers;

• management of NAS units and local files;

• integration of the interface within the Intel platform.

The configuration of the operating system and the network interface is optimized together with the rest of the machine, reducing unnecessary processes and activity during playback.

The privilege Linux cannot offer: full use of the proprietary ASIO drivers that DAC manufacturers write to let their customers extract the maximum from their own machines.

We also tested the minimalist route: NUC, Raspberry Pi, Linux variants. But the sound lacked vitality.

After years of testing we selected a single Windows build - LTSC - and optimized it function by function, parameter by parameter, exclusively for audio.

The same OS on which the masters of virtually every record released in the last forty years have been - and still are - professionally produced.

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PLAYBACK SOFTWARE

The system adapts around your listening needs.

Stage #1 MKII supports the leading software and services dedicated to digital playback:

• Roon;

• HQPlayer;

• Qobuz Connect;

• Tidal;

• JRiver;

• Spotify Connect;

• Pure ASIO Player.

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We recommend HQPlayer, in combination with Roon, whenever the DAC and the system can benefit from its processing capabilities. Playback can be managed from tablet, smartphone or computer through the app provided by your chosen software. We also guide our customers in choosing the best software for them, based on library, DAC, services used and desired level of control. On delivery, the system is already configured.

Stage #1 MKII provides:

• Intel 2.5GbE Ethernet;

• 1 × USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2;

• 1 × USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1;

• 1 × USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2;

• 4 × USB 3.2 Gen 1.

Outputs:

• USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A;

• coaxial S/PDIF.

Supported formats:

• PCM up to 192 kHz, 24 or 32 bit;

• DXD up to 352.8 and 384 kHz;

• DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 and DSD512.

Dimensions: W 450 × D 400 × H 120 mm.

Stage #1 MKII integrates 4 TB of internal storage as standard, expandable to 10 TB. You can keep your library inside the machine, access a NAS, or use streaming services. The different sources come together in the same control environment, without giving anything up.

Before building, we analyze:

• DAC;

• digital connection;

• network;

• NAS;

• library size;

• preferred software;

• streaming services;

• processing needs;

• control preferences.

This information determines the best configuration of the machine for your needs. Customization is not the reason the architecture is superior. It is the way the architecture is adapted to your system.

Every Stage #1 MKII is hand-built in Italy. Manual construction - unlike series production - allows us to control cabling, connections, fastenings, software configuration and the overall behavior of the machine. Each unit is also carefully tested before delivery.

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On delivery, we take care of:

• installing the device;

• configuring the network;

• connecting the DAC;

• setting up the software;

• indexing the library;

• verifying remote control;

• guiding you through everyday use.

As a TDA customer you can count - beyond the statutory warranty - on included after-sales support, without equal in the industry, comprising technical checks and software-side interventions performed directly through a secure remote connection, for maximum convenience and flexibility.