So, score one for Aardvark. The addition of the Ultra filter renders even the Netgear switch at least listenable. But can The Link take things a stage further? I chose the Heimdall on purpose as its price, combined with that of the filter is almost identical to Aardvark’s integrated solution. Time to wheel out The Link and hook it up…
With the network ‘Linked’ up, the sound took another, distinct step up in quality, presence and communicative integrity. There was greater depth and dimensionality, more explicit timing and clearer spaces between notes. The playing direction became more definite, the quality of the performance as a whole lifting another, significant notch. This sense of musical and temporal coherence is what makes the Aardvark Ultra so impressive: The Link lifts it to a higher level, delivering a surprising step up in terms of the natural presentation of and expressive range within the music.
The differences on vocals are even more obvious, the human voice, its intonation, diction and phrasing transformed by the Ultra and, ultimately, The Link’s naturalistic qualities. Natalie Merchant’s ‘San Andreas Fault’, rendered disjointed and drab by the Netgear switch regained its intimacy, expressive connection and the shape to the vocals. The tempo picked up, the accompaniment and the drumming in particular, pinning down the rhythm and musical progression, establishing a bedrock for the lilting vocalisation and lyrics. With The Link in place, the immediacy to the voice and the clarity to the structure breathed life into the performance, meaning into the song.
Aardvark Ultra/The Link with the SOtM switch
While on the face of it, using a $2k cable/filter with an off the shelf switch might appear ludicrous, it does serve to establish a base line for audio and musical performance. It’s also shocking just how many audio systems rely on off-the-shelf network components to deliver network data. But there’s no denying that the SOtM switch is a more representative partner.
Running the Heidall between the SOtM and the Studio Player certyainly produced a tidier, more organized presentation than the Netgear managed, even with The Link. But musically speaking, it simply didn’t match the basic switch hooked up with the Aardvark cable/filter combination. The SOtM might have been better hi-fi, but musically there was no competition. It simply lacked the natural intimacy, sure-footed and explicit timing, dynamic expression and projection that the cheaper combination delivered.
Adding the Aardvarks to the mix certainly raised the SOtM’s game, although even the Heimdall/Ultra pairing didn’t match the life and intimacy of the Netgear/Link pairing. It took The Link to combine the natural communication and timing of the Aardvark filter with the SOtM’s stable clarity and organisation to best effect. The big switch, complete with linear supply and The Link delivered a sense of easy separation and solidity, a subtlety and nuance that lifted it above the Netgear set-up – as it damned well should! This was a financially more balanced combination, but the impact of The Link on the Netgear switch remains both greater and more remarkable…
Noises off…
As well as the Heimdall, I tried the Ultra filter/The Link comparison with a number of other cables, both cheaper and of similar price, from the likes of AudioQuest and The Chord Co. In each case, the results were consistent and The Link proved its superiority. This is one extremely capable, ‘last link’ network solution – to quote a Reiki mantra. For listeners looking to improve the quality of an existing network, both the Ultra filter (in cases where good quality cables are in place) and The Link are cost-effective solutions that it’s easy to trial. I’ll be surprised if, once tried, you don’t adopt an Aardvark of one kind or another. But of the options The Link is definitely the best.
