If you’re in the market for superior digital sound, German MBL’s Cadenza C41 network player is “a technological marvel at a ridiculously low price”, says US audio magazine The Absolute Sound.

“If you’re a digital guy who wants the very best but can’t afford it, the C41 would be [my] first (and only) recommendation,” writes reviewer Jonathan Valin.

Launched less than a year ago, the C41 has already garnered a selection of rave reviews and high profile awards – and has just been further enhanced with the release of a new software update. [insert link to that story]

MBL is of course justifiably famous for its extraordinarily pioneering ‘Radialstrahler’ omnidirectional loudspeakers, originally created by company founders Meletzky, Bieneke and Lehnart and subsequently perfected and advanced by current chief engineer Jürgen Reis.

Reis’ talents have similarly been applied to the company’s beautifully crafted, masterfully performing electronics, which come in three series: the top-of-range Reference Line, the innovative Noble Line and the stylishly compact Cadenza Line.

In true Reis style, the Cadenza C41 incorporates MBL’s own ‘True Peak’ and ‘Core Volume Control’ technologies – “unique advancements that perfect digital volume control, improve the handling of jitter, eliminate pre-ringing, and eradicate clipping due to intersample peaks.”

As a result, the C41 effortlessly removes distortions and preserves information that’s “lost or obscured on other network players”, resulting in “lifelike color and solidity”, and a “rare ability to conjure up near-visible presences rather than insistently drawing your ear to isolate transient details.”

So much so, in fact, that “If you’re an analog guy looking for a network player that will give you the sound you love (or a close semblance of same), this is the player for you.”

A worthy winner, then, of The Absolute Sound’s DAC of the Year Award 2025.

Find out more and locate your nearest specialist retailer at www.mbl.de/en