AES3 (also known as AES/EBU) is a standard for the exchange of digital audio signals between professional audio devices. AES3 was jointly developed by the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). An AES3 signal can carry two channels of PCM audio over several transmission media including balanced lines, unbalanced lines, and optical fiber.^[1] The standard was first published in 1985 and has been revised in 1992 and 2003.

AES3 has been incorporated into the International Electrotechnical Commission's standard IEC 60958, and is available in a consumer-grade variant known as S/PDIF.

Aluminous Audio designs loudspeakers with sonically inert cabinets that are isolated mechanically including the use of built isolation devices. Low frequency drivers are built in separate "modules" that allow for precise physical location while enhancing room tuning. All products are custom finished with automotive paint. Most importantly, setup of the loudspeakers is included with purchase and guarantees the performance of Aluminous Audio's products.

Andy Quint is a reviewer for The Absolute Sound Magazine.

An acoustically reflection-free room. An anechoic chamber's walls are covered in highly absorbent material so that no sound is reflected back into the room. Used in loudspeaker testing.

An audio codec is a device or computer program capable of coding or decoding a digital data stream of audio.

In software, an audio codec is a computer program implementing an algorithm that compresses and decompresses digital audio data according to a given audio file or streaming media audio coding format. The objective of the algorithm is to represent the high-fidelity audio signal with minimum number of bits while retaining quality. This can effectively reduce the storage space and the bandwidth required for transmission of the stored audio file. Most codecs are implemented as libraries which interface to one or more multimedia players.

In hardware, audio codec refers to a single device that encodes analog audio as digital signals and decodes digital back into analog. In other words, it contains both an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) running off the same clock signal. This is used in sound cards that support both audio in and out, for instance.

Baetis Audio is a manufacturer of audiopile quality music servers located in Livingston, Montana, USA. and Montreal, Ontario in Canada Their line of products, including the Reference X Music Server and the Prodigy 2 server, also serve the home theater market.

The Reference X model is mainly about the very best multi-channel audio and the very best integrated video. But, unlike the legions of HTPCs built on simple PC frames, the Baetis MCh and Video computer also has the Baetis two-channel audio – viewed by some as the very best, whether in a specialized music server or our computer-based server. Please read our Reviews page.

The MCh audio of the Reference X is the very best because it has the Intel H270 chipset, with accompanying Intel Core i7 4.2Ghz speed CPU. RAM speed is also 35% faster than our Reference – it is the same as on our Reference 2 model.

Unlike ordinary very expensive HTPCs (home theater PCs), the Reference X has these differences that make for the best possible two-channel digital audio, to be used with the world’s best DACs.

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The new Prodigy X by Baetis® is the top of their Prodigy line and provides the very best Multi-Channel audio, along with 4K video. The music server, Baetis Prodigy X is a product of USA-based Baetis Audio. The Prodigy X is the answer to many audiophiles' dreams of an affordable, yet audiophile-quality music server.

The performance of a digital system is heavily dependent on devices other than a music server, such as a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) as well as the digital cables that deliver the digital signal. The Prodigy X is designed with attention to how it interacts with these other devices. In particular, Baetis servers are the only computers that include SPDIF and AES outputs via proprietary circuitry, since many of the best DACs sound the best via AES or SPDIF, not USB. Additionally, Baetis products all allow the ripping of CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs using the best optical drives and best software. Coupled with the best in customer training and support, Baetis media computers have received Stereophile and The Absolute Sound Editors’ Choice Awards during each of the past 3 years.

Bottlehead Electronics is a DIY audio component manufacturer. They specialize in Do-It-Yourself kits for headphone amplifiers.

Alternately referred to as a processor, central processor, or microprocessor, the CPU (pronounced sea-pea-you) is the Central Processing Unit of the computer. A computer's CPU handles all instructions it receives from hardware and software running on the computer.