Linn Klimax DS Music Server

December 16, 2007 by David Kay
Filed under: Home Audio > DAC - Digital to Analog Converters



Joining the Klimax Kontrol preamp and Artikulat speakers in Linn’s Klimax music system is the new Klimax DS music server, which they claim is the “highest performance digital music player in the world”. The Klimax DS eschews the noise (both the audible kind and the inaudible RF/EMI kind) of local hdd storage for networked storage accessed over standard Ethernet, which also allows for internal software updates.


Support for FLAC and WAV formats is included, with up to 24bit/192kHz sample rates. The Klimax DS controls music selection via a hand held wireless touch screen remote which uses Linn designed software, and is compatible with UPnP based media servers, and whole house control systems. Balanced and single ended analog outputs are provided, but any form of digital output is strangely missing.

Price: About $20,000

Source: Linn
Comments (3)
ccdoggy 11 months and 1 week ago

No digital out?

That just dosent seem right.
Dave Kay 11 months and 1 week ago

I was thinking exactly the same thing. Why make a "highest performance digital music player in the world", and then force your customer to use the internal DAC? I'm sure its a good one, but I'm also sure there are plenty of people who would rather use their own, thank you very much. Analog only also means no clock/jitter correction device.
SeeDee12 8 months and 3 weeks ago

You guys are missing the whole point of the DS; it is not a media server but an incredibly expensive DAC, IMHO, probably the best. The Klimax accesses a media server on the local network via ethernet and the uPnP protocol. The only file format supported is FLAC or WAV (no compression) and then upsamples the stream before bringing it through the DAC.

It will destroy any cd player. I have a Unidisk 1.1 also in my system and after ripping a cd to the media server I A/B'd the devices. Not even a contest, The highs coming from the Klimax DS were so natural and airy you could dare say that it was analog. Anyone who hears my system thinks that I am playing a trick on them, it is that impressive.

P.S. clock/jitter correction occurs when one is ripping the CD. EAC software does a great job on correcting or telling you that your rip was sub-par.
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