Well having listened to this box of tricks for a number of hours I can say that I think it is excellent.

Where this gets awkward to trying to compare and contrast as, inevitably, this almost comes to a Linn DAC vs Audionote DAC comparison. But, the 210 has to let the AN do its thing, and it certainly does!

I have been streaming files from my NAS & Qobuz, this maintains the advantage of the NAS over Qobuz when comparing the same master.

In broad terms I would say the Linn excels at the frequency extremes, the AN is superb at the mid-range. For example:

Chris Botti, When I fall in love
I love this track through the AN. Via the Linn it is somewhat cooler. But the AN excels at wooden instruments, string or wind. There is also a delightful viceral soundfield, whereas the Linn feels a tad more remote.

Of course, where the AN scores in a major way is with vocals, for instance, Stacy Kent - Double Rainbow.

The Linn excels on other tracks, such as Ted Jansen, Don't Do Anything. This track has superb cymbal work that I love ....through the Linn. The AN not so much.

The 210 does a great job of taking 192/24 tracks on Qobuz and pushing through 9624. With other streamers the AN can throw a thrombie clattering away as it tries to fix on a sample rate. No issues so far, although Meridian did say this aspect is complex and so may not always work.

Overall the sound of the AN/210 is bigger. Of course this may well be in part due to Sound Optimisation. SO keeps a firm grip on the lower octaves, and as a result doesn't crowd out detail high up the frequency range.

Really enjoying this, and looking forward to testing it against the dCS!

M