REVIEW

Products like the AURALIC ALTAIR G1.1 are the future of quality audio reproduction in the home, of that I have no doubt. They are easy to hook up and enable you to have a very simple HiFi made up of the one box and a pair of powered speakers (or a power amp and speakers), should you so wish. As much as I do love the whole “many box” approach to HiFi at home, I also appreciate that this more simple approach is more elegant and more home-friendly. I do think that Auralic are missing a huge opportunity by not building a power amplifier or integrated that matches their other units.

It’s difficult to say that this isn’t a superb-sounding product, but, likewise, it’s also difficult for one to pull out exactly which aspect of the ALTAIR G1.1’s makeup is adding what to the sonic character it brings. Is it a better streamer than in our ARIES unit, is the DAC and Femto Clock that bring a degree of the magic, or is it (and I suspect this is the truth of it) that the individual elements within the ALTAIR come together to bring forth a really superb sounding combination?

Adding Airplay and Bluetooth functionality to the ALTAIR is an excellent idea and whilst die-hard audiophiles may well decry the quality of reproduction these two “streaming” methods allow for, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a significant audience who will find them a hugely useful addition to the functionality of this product.

In this system, I think it is very difficult to criticise the sonic ability of the ALTAIR G1.1. It is accurate, unforced, and allows small and nuanced aspects of a recording to shine,

I really enjoyed my time with it. It performed without hitch, is feature-rich, and most of all it sounds clean, detailed, and natural with all the music I played through it. Indeed, my only quibble with the AURALIC ALTAIR G1.1 is the fact that the Lightning App is not available on Android.

At A Glance

Build Quality and Features:

Looks great

Feature-rich

Sturdy and well put together

A great one-box solution where you need only add powered loudspeakers

Easy to set up and work

Roon endpoint iOS only app

Browser availability of Lightning

Bluetooth and AirPlay

Sound Quality:

Excellent sound quality with an easy and unforced character that allows the music to flow

Value For Money:

Given the feature set and sound quality, I think this is good value for money

We Loved:

Ease of set up with menu-diving being as easy as pie

Excellent one-box solution with powered speakers

Great looks and a sound to match

Zero dropouts

We Didn’t Love So Much:

The app is iOS only and this is genuinely the only fault I can find with the unit

Elevator Pitch Review: Auralic’s Altair G1.1 Streaming DAC does what it says on the tin. It offers a one-box solution for those looking to simplify their home audio system, or for those looking to enter the world of high-quality audio, it offers an excellent package. It is easy to set up, sounds great, and is feature packed. I like that it has onboard Bluetooth and Airplay. I also love that you can add an external CD drive to play and simultaneously rip your music.

Price: €2999, £2699, $3249