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Moon ACE All-in-One Music Player

Moon ACE

System sprawl: the curse of too many components and too much technology. It begins innocently enough with a sagging equipment rack. The sprawl then takes prisoner of precious floor or shelf or closet space until, in its advanced stages, it becomes an environmental threat to happiness, even sanity in many an audiophile’s home. We’ve all been there. But if you are of a mind, there is an alternative. It’s the integrated solution, a clarion call to downsize, to de-clutter, and to economize that might just prevent a range war with that significant other. Few components do it better, or have more fun doing it, than the Moon ACE all-in-one music player.

The résumé of the ACE is broad, but at its heart lies a compact stereo integrated amplifier that outputs 50Wpc into 8 ohms and 85Wpc into 4 ohms. The actual significance of a power rating is always a matter of conjecture, but Moon products are typically conservative in their measurements. The Ace’s 50W is the more forthright RMS rating—both channels continuously driven, full-range from 20Hz–20kHz. This power gives the ACE the ability to handily drive speakers that are more difficult loads.

For prospective owners, 50Wpc with good headroom means a fairly wide latitude in speaker selection. For this review the ACE comfortably drove the Emotiva Airmotiv T1 floorstander (review forthcoming) and the Totem Acoustic Sky compact (Issue 275). It even took a shot at the demanding TAD ME1 compact.

Handsome and low-profile, the ACE’s exterior design is elegantly turned out using a blend of aluminum and steel. The center faceplate for example is expensive 6063 aluminum, an excellent surface for brushed and anodized finishes. The ACE’s combination of metal work serves dual purposes: The aluminum contributes to a reduction in weight, and the steel top cover provides chassis reinforcement. The front-panel layout is clean and concise with input and set-up push-button controls, a 3.5mm mini-jack input for a personal music player, and a ¼” jack for headphones. A sharp OLED-type screen display is very readable and informative. A chunky volume control adds a bit of old-school tactile charm often lacking in today’s dry computer-tronic landscape.


Moon ACE All-in-One Music Player

The ACE is very much a beneficiary of technology culled from discrete Moon components. In an email exchange VP Costa Koulisakis pointed out that the amplifier’s design was borrowed from the 250i, with obvious circuit layout differences due to the ACE’s multiple-input-source complexity.

The ACE was created to wear many audio hats, so where’s the “all-in-one” aspect you (impatiently) ask? Hang on—beyond the conventional inputs that normally define the role of an integrated amplifier, the ACE sports a Wi-Fi- and Ethernet-equipped network player. The digital section’s heart is a high-resolution DAC based on an ESS chip, the 9010K2M. According to Koulisakis, the DAC section is very much like that of the 230HAD DAC/headphone amplifier, as well as the D3 DAC option in some of the brand’s more expensive products. Although the DACs aren’t identical, their design philosophy is, so the digital section has a lot of processing power to handle higher bit-rates and sampling frequencies without distortion. Moon states that its full 32-bit architecture has been implemented with Moon’s own software code in order to take full advantage of the DAC’s capabilities, enabling playback of up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and up to DSD256 (quadruple rate) over USB, with aptXTM audio for Bluetooth.

Good connectivity is a must when a plethora of source options are available for analog, digital, and network platforms, and the ACE did not disappoint in this regard. In fact, it’s quite comprehensive in inputs and outputs, given its modest price. Among the seven digital inputs are USB,               SPDIF, and optical. The three line-level analog inputs are configurable to “pass-through” mode, whereby the gain stage is bypassed to accommodate components such as a home-theater processor. Last but not least, vinyl stalwarts have not been forgotten—a phono input comes standard, its circuitry borrowed from the Moon 110LP. It’s a minimalist plug-and-play design geared for popular moving-magnet cartridges (47k ohm) but don’t expect the loading options of Moon’s higher-priced spread. Nonetheless, the ACE’s performance with vinyl was quite respectable. Other ancillary features include SimLink, and RS-232 and IR ports for custom-install environments.

The remote control is certainly an afterthought with its flat, square buttons on a flat surface. It’s surely meant to drive users to the well-executed MiND app (Moon intelligent Network Device) which has solid graphics, is reasonably intuitive, and can control volume and input, as well as display your networked music library. My recommendation is to keep your smart device handy.

 

Configuring the ACE to run as a network player was straightforward thanks to new MiND set-up software for streaming from either outboard storage such as a NAS drive or from music services such as Tidal or vTuner. On the front panel the set-up button opens a Network menu where you select Config and either Wi-Fi or Net. From there select Automatic (DHCP) or Manual. Presuming you’ve already downloaded the MiND app, let it find your network. It takes the ACE about a minute to reconfigure for a network, and you’re off and streaming. The process went fairly smoothly and ran without glitches for the duration of the review period. Pairing to Bluetooth went equally seamlessly using the same set-up menu. There are also power-conservation settings and screen-saver options.

Sonically the ACE conveyed a rich midrange-centric tonality, with impressive dynamics, good low-level transparency, and nicely focused imaging. Bass response, both in extension and pitch definition, was very good, although the ACE will soften impact slightly depending on output demands and speaker sensitivity. As I listened to a hi-res file of Malcolm Arnold’s Sussex Overture [Reference Recordings], I particularly admired the Moon’s tuneful pitch management in the midbass, a region that is the backbone for projecting orchestral weight and hall ambience. On a dynamic and concussive showpiece like Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, the ACE handled the onslaught of heavy percussion and explosive brass and winds with confidence. In an absolute sense, the Fanfare’s sense of air and three-dimensional space could have been more thoroughly reproduced, and some dryness attached to the loudest brass passages, but the ACE showed very good overall performance with a demanding piece of music.

With its vivid midrange expressiveness and tonal color, the ACE made quick work of a wide range of vocalists from the soaring Alison Krauss, to the gravel and grit of Tom Waits, to the Dylan-esque nasality of Tom Petty. DSD files of Cat Stevens’ Tea for the Tillerman manifested a particularly warm acoustic and a relaxed musicality, his distinctive voice purring and growling persuasively.

With a slight emphasis on warmer hues and a lightly shaded top-end, the ACE’s personality takes on what I would term a more conservative balance designed to complement the kind of speaker match-ups that would be expected in its price segment. This is another way of saying that the ACE doesn’t over-reach in the treble; it sounds lightly rolled on top, a trait that is forgiving to a great many loudspeakers and tweeters, budget or not.

There’s one aspect that seems to be in the blood of Simaudio and its Moon brand: a clean, quicksilver sense of speed and transparency, which the ACE also evokes. I’ve had long experience with this company, and this fleet-footedness and transient alacrity have characterized Moon products as far back as the 90s, when I reviewed Simaudio’s Celeste PW-5000 integrated amp and, the Moon i3.3 (Issue 198). It’s these traits that captured the low-level detail and sustain, the insightful keyboard touch from the jazz great Bill Evans’ piano on Live at the Village Vanguard, as well as the leading-edge transients and sustained attack of concert pianist Kissin performing a pot-boiler like Pictures at an Exhibition.

All-in-one solutions are a deceptively complicated business, but the Moon ACE makes the job look simple. Easily moving between analog and digital platforms, it proved to be a sophisticated and highly musical workhorse, ran strongly without incident, and offered performance and flexibility that often out-stripped the competition. As an antidote to system sprawl, it was also contagiously good fun to operate day in and day out. Indeed, it’s a component that holds a lot of aces and is well worth going out of your way to check out.

Specs & Pricing

Power output: 50Wpc into 8 Ohms
Inputs: 4 Analog; 7 Digital, USB, SPDIF (2), Optical (2), Ethernet
Outputs: 1 preamp, 1 subwoofer, 1 headphone
Dimensions: 16.9″ x 3.5″ x 14.4″
Weight: 24 lbs.
Price: $2900 (ten-year warranty)

SIMAUDIO LTD.
1345 Newton Rd.
Boucherville, Quebec
CANADA J4B 5H2
(450) 449-2212

Associated Equipment
Sota Cosmos Series IV turntable; SME V tonearm; Sumiko Palo Santos cartridge; Ortofon Quintet Black cart; Ortofon 2M Black cart; Parasound JC 3+ phono preamp; dCS Puccini disc player; Lumin S1 music player; Synology NAS; MacBook Pro/Pure Music; ATC SCM19A, TAD ME1 loudspeakers; Audience Au24SX cables and power cords; Synergistic Atmosphere Level Four, Nordost Frey 2, Audience Ohno, and Kimber Palladian power cords; Audience USB; AudioQuest Carbon firewire; Wireworld Starlight Ethernet; VooDoo Cable Iso-Pod; Audience aR-6 TSSOX.

By Neil Gader

My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.

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