Embargo May 3rd

The rear of the ALTAIR G2.1 includes a MM phone input

Auralic today has announced the launch of the Altair G2.1, bringing their Digital Audio Streamer into the G2.1 chassis design that has proved so effective with the Vega G2.1 streaming DAC and the Aries G2.1 streaming transport. As well as this the Altair is receiving a comprehensive component upgrade making it a fully loaded digital and analogue source component with pre-amplification capability to both balanced and RCA output to a power amplifier.

This new Altair G2.1 also houses two separate all-analogue inputs that are separate from the digital side of the G2.1 so a pure analogue signal is delivered from input to output. The first input is a line-level analogue input. This input has a home theatre bypass feature. The second analogue input is an in-house engineered moving-magnet phono stage for connection to a turntable.

The Altair G2.1 uses the Auralic Unity Chassis II which is the Aluminium chassis incorporating a copper enclosure inside it.  The copper enclosure shields the electronics from outside interference. The G2.1 chassis is finished off with a six-spring suspension footer system on a ‘massive’ aluminium base plate.

On the inside, the Altair includes the Tesla processing platform used in the Vega G2.1 as well as incorporating the Dual Femto Second Clocks to manage signal timing and jitter as effectively as possible.

Inside the ALTAIR G2.1 with an HDD inserted

The Altair G2.1 will continue being controlled by one of my favourite control Apps, Lightning DS (on Apple iOS devices). It is also Roon-ready and has streaming services such as Qobuz, Tidal, and Spotify Connect built-in, apparently with more to come soon.

The ALTAIR G2.1 EU retail price will be €4999 and the UK retail will be £4599. It will be available for purchase in May 2021.

About AURALiC

Founded in 2009, AURALiC has established a worldwide reputation for creating innovative digital audio components of the highest quality. AURALiC’s elegantly crafted products combine classic analogue designs with cutting-edge digital technologies to forge new pathways into the future of high-performance audio. AURALiC’s seamlessly integrated hardware and control software provide effortless command of high-resolution music playback throughout the home. Whether streaming from Internet services or local music collections, AURALiC components let you discover, share and connect like never before, expanding the horizons of your audio system with new levels of functionality and performance.