MOON 791 Network Player

The MOON 791 is the middle network player in Simaudio’s North Series: a streamer, DAC and preamplifier in one chassis, so it can feed a power amplifier directly without a separate preamplifier in between.

That last point is the practical difference from the MOON 681. Removing a box and a pair of interconnects from the signal path is a real simplification in a high-end system.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can put it in a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

Power, input selection and volume stay with the unit, its remote and its own app. The Home app does not control those.

Before you buy

Decide first whether you want a preamplifier stage in the streamer. If you already own a preamplifier you are happy with, you are paying for something you will not use.

MOON’s MiND platform handles the streaming, alongside AirPlay 2, and Simaudio’s warranty terms are unusually long.

The MOON 891 is the flagship above it.

Specifications