Linn has spent decades convincing audiophiles that a network music player can remain useful long after most consumer electronics have been sentenced to a drawer full of obsolete chargers. Its latest software update reinforces that philosophy, although not every Linn owner gets invited to the party.
The company’s Davaar 118 firmware adds direct support for Amazon Music and Presto Music to compatible DSM network players based on Linn’s newer ARM-Linux hardware platform, beginning with the Selekt DSM generation. Both services now appear inside the Linn app, allowing music to stream directly to compatible DSM products without requiring AirPlay, Bluetooth, or another streamer in the signal chain.
Linn Adds Amazon Music and Presto Music to DSM
Amazon Music gives Linn owners access to one of the largest mainstream streaming catalogs, with support for CD-quality and Hi-Res playback up to 24-bit/192kHz where the subscription tier and available recording permit it. Amazon Free, Prime, and Unlimited accounts can be used, although available playback quality and features naturally depend on the subscription.
Presto Music represents almost the opposite approach. Rather than trying to cover every imaginable genre and listener, Presto has built its streaming service around classical and jazz, including extensive metadata, digital booklets, and Hi-Res playback up to 24-bit/192kHz. Its search and discovery tools understand composers, works, conductors, ensembles, and individual performers, which is considerably more useful to a classical listener than having an algorithm treat three recordings of Mahler’s Fifth as though somebody accidentally uploaded the same album three times.
Linn customers who are new to Presto are also being offered an exclusive three-month trial, making the integration more than another service logo buried inside the app.
How to Enable Amazon Music & Presto Music
Naim Just Added Presto Too
Linn is not alone in deciding that Presto deserves a place alongside Qobuz, TIDAL, and the larger streaming services. Naim and Focal recently added native Presto Music support to compatible streaming products, giving another group of high-end listeners direct access to its classical and jazz catalog without adding another component.
The timing is interesting because Linn and Naim occupy very similar territory. Their customers are generally buying expensive network players because they care about sound quality, long-term support, and access to better-quality music services. They are also exactly the kind of listeners who might have strong opinions about whether a particular Beethoven recording was conducted by Klemperer or Karajan, and possibly enough opinions to ruin dinner.
Older Linn Owners Do Not All Get the Upgrade
The less cheerful part is hardware compatibility. Amazon Music and Presto require Linn’s newer ARM-Linux architecture, while older PowerPC-based DS and DSM models do not have the necessary processing and memory resources to support the new integrations directly.
Those products are not completely stranded. Music playing on a compatible newer DSM can still be Songcast to older Linn players, and Linn’s own documentation suggests another rather amusing workaround for unsupported streaming services: connect an external streamer such as a WiiM through the DSM’s Toslink input.
There is something wonderfully 2026 about spending serious money on a Linn network player and eventually having Linn suggest that a comparatively inexpensive WiiM might solve the software problem. Technology has a sense of humor even when audiophiles do not.
Why This Matters to Linn Owners
This update matters because expensive network players are increasingly judged not only by how they sound when purchased, but by how useful they remain five, ten, or even fifteen years later. Streaming platforms change, APIs disappear, new services emerge, and software demands eventually exceed what older processors and memory can handle.
For owners of newer Linn DSM products, Davaar 118 adds two genuinely useful services without requiring another box, another digital connection, or another control app. Amazon Music dramatically expands mainstream catalog access, while Presto gives classical and jazz listeners a far more specialized experience than most general streaming platforms provide.
For owners of older Linn hardware, the update also exposes the unavoidable limit of software longevity. Linn has supported many DS and DSM products for an unusually long period, but no amount of firmware engineering can manufacture processor power and memory that were never installed in the first place.
The result is a software update that demonstrates both why Linn’s long-term approach to streaming hardware has considerable value and why even very expensive digital products eventually encounter a wall.
Fortunately, apparently there is a WiiM for that.
For more information: prestomusic.com
Related Reading:
- Linn 360 Loudspeakers Get 2026 Pistonik Driver Upgrade
- Pandora And Presto Music Are Now Available On BluOS
- What Is Presto Music? Focal And Naim Just Gave Audiophiles Another Reason To Find Out
- Can Winamp And Deezer Put Streaming And Your Music Library In One Place?
