Micromega, being
French, loves Apple products and believes in the Apple ethos -- they adore their iPhones,
iPods and iPads -- as demonstrated by last year’s AS-400 integrated amplifier, the
first integrated amplifier to feature built-in Airstream for instant Apple AirPlay
compatibility. CEO Didier Hamdi demonstrated the company’s new high-end streamer, the
ARIA AirDream (€3500), with his iPad, playing through Micromega monoblocks and Avant
Garde Uno horn speakers. The Apple hardcore are gonna love it, especially if they’ve
outgrown their B&W Zeppelins.

The ARIA AirDream uses nonmagnetic
construction to avoid any WiFi signal interference; there’s total separation of
digital and analog sections using two different type of power supplies (R-Core transformer
for the digital power supply and ACTS supply for the analog section); physical decoupling
of both power supplies with rubber-mount studs; balanced and unbalanced audio outputs; an
AES/EBU professional digital output; an RJ45 service connector for easy configuration of
the Airport module; and a white backlit front panel with three luminosity levels. The D/A
converter is completely new and does not use the Airport D/A converter; the new D/A chip
is a Cirrus Logic CS4351 followed by discrete pure class-A JFET buffers developed
specifically for this purpose. The D/A-converter section is on a separate PCB soldered to
the shield of the Airport module to avoid any induced jitter when carrying high-speed
signals.