CANADA’S SIMAUDIO has been
designing and manufacturing
audio electronic components
from its home base in Quebec for
almost four decades. While the
company’s product lineup clearly
skews toward the high end—a
pair of its flagship Moon 888
monoblock amplifiers will run you
around $120,000—the company
also makes a wide range of other
components with more approach-
able price tags. A number of these,
such as the Moon 390 preamplifier
($5,300) we have under review
here, feature the MiND 2 streaming
module, a built-in network player
that lets you stream audio from
services like Tidal, Qobuz, and
Deezer, along with files stored on a
NAS or USB drive or computer. Not
only that, but the Moon 390’s multi-
room capability allows it to stream
signals from its digital or analog
inputs to other MiND 2-enabled
products— the company's ACE
integrated amplifier, for example—
that are aached to your home’s
network.
What differentiates the Moon
390 from many other network
audio players is its particular
emphasis on high-res streaming.
MQA decoding is onboard to playTidal Masters tracks with up to
24-bit/192kHz resolution, and you
can also stream the 24-bit/192kHz
tracks available on Qobuz’s Studio
and Sublime+ tiers. The Moon
390 additionally supports up to
32-bit/384kHZ PCM and DSD 256
files through its Ethernet and USB
ports. Last, but certainly not least,
Simaudio’s preamp is Roon Ready,
permiing use with Roon music
library and management soware
(see Mike Meler's overview and
review of Roon in the February/
March 2019 issue's Stream On
column).
Puing aside its network
streaming and multiroom capa-
bilities for a moment, the 390 looks
and feels the part of a traditional
high-end stereo preamplifier. Its
case features heavy-duty aluminum
sides and curved metal ends on
the front panel. A black-and-white
OLED display provides input,
volume, and sampling rate informa-
tion, along with artist and track
information when streaming via the
MiND 2 module. A large rotary knob
provides smooth tactile feedbackOver the Moon
By Al Griffintest report
MOON 390 NETWORK PLAYER/PREAMPLIFIER
RATINGMoon 390 Network
Player/Preamplifier
PERFORMANCEFEATURESERGONOMICSVALUE(^40) [ April May 2019 [soundandvision.com