T+A SDV 3100 HV digital converter/preamplifier

That being said, I’m not altogether sure how many analogue inputs are needed here. The SDV 3100 HV includes an aerial input for FM/DAB/DAB+ tuner replay. So, unless you are using two turntables (it’s not really geared up for a tape loop or a traditional home cinema pass-through… for that you need the standalone dedicated P 3000 HV preamplifier), you’ll likely never need more than its digital inputs, the tuner, and maybe one of those two analogue sources. Such is the change to the way we listen to music today.

I don’t like to consider CD or SACD as a ‘legacy’ product, despite the tumble in sales of discs and players, but if you are going down the all T+A route (and frankly, if you like the SDV 3100 HV, why wouldn’t you want to complete the circle?), then the PDT 3100 HV CD/SACD transport (with its proprietary IPAlink digital pathway and Hlink control connectors) is the perfect partner, and that means you retain all your S/PDIF and AES/EBU inputs.

The brands of DAC chipsets used in the SDV 3100 HV are not listed and not immediately apparent. This is not uncommon in well-engineered DACs, primarily because our obsession with which company made the chipset is as relevant to performance as asking about the make of brake fluid in a race car. However, use of the plural when discussing chipsets is deliberate; the SDV 3100 HV uses two entirely different digital pathways, depending on whether a signal is a LPCM one (in which case its double differential quadruple DAC arrangement supports files up to 32-bit, 768kHz precision) or DSD, where its proprietary ‘True 1-Bit Converter’ can cope with up to DSD1028 (as with very high-res LPCM files, software availability notwithstanding).

The LPCM files are also treated to a show of filter force, with one of four different, T+A developed digital filters to choose from; FIR long, FIR short, Bezier/IIR and Bezier. Put (too) simply, the ‘FIR long’ filters allows greater high frequency extension at the expense of some pre- and post- ringing, the pure ‘Bezier’ filter eliminates that ringing at the expense of some HF roll-off, and the others fall somewhere between the two. In fairness, ‘ringing’ and ‘roll-off’ are relative terms (you’ll be lucky to hear those terms in reality), but the four filters do sound subtly different and are situational, contingent upon the system itself. You’ll likely find one that suits you slightly better than the others, but the listening process is not unlike being fitted for glasses (‘A or B?… How about now?… and now?’).

Moving to its possible source, you can stream from the Ethernet and the SDV 3100 HV has integral support for Tidal, Qobuz, and Deezer and Tunein internet radio. One of its USB inputs is set in ‘device mode’ for connecting the USB output from a computer or music server, while the other is set as ‘master mode,’ which can control mass-storage devices like hard drives, thumb-drives and NAS units without UPnP (when playing files stored on a NAS through master-mode USB input, the SDV is considered a ‘streaming client’). The SDV 3100 HV is UPnP (Universal Plug ’n’ Play) and DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compliant, too. There’s also aptX Bluetooth for wireless streaming and two HDMI inputs with ARC (Audio Return Channel) if you’re using the SDV in a system with a home cinema system, and finally T+A’s own app allows you to control all this functionality from your phone or tablet. The SDV 3100 HV is also Roon Tested and Roon Ready. In short… phew!