IFI Audio NEO STREAM - Blind Listening test & FULL REVIEW!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- Includes blind listening test and more! Meet the Ifi audio NEO STREAM! It is a super compact audiophile streaming DAC with tons of features! High End AV consultant Morten Stjernholm set out to find out if it is worth the money. This Review we do a blind listening comparison test where we sample 5-6 DACs. Morten is joined by Sound Engineer buddy Tim Harris to find out how the IFI Audio Neo Stream (we soon dub "Little Cricket") compare to more expensive offerings. Morten look at, - AND naturally complain about software, features and functionality, and end up in a philosophical conversation with Tim Harris about DACs and much more. This review plays with the format a bit. Let us know what you think about it in the comments section!
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Review Sample was kindly provided by:
Danish IFI Distributor MEDLYD ApS Visit them here: www.medlyd.dk
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HEAR WHAT I HEAR: THE SONIC SNACKS PLAYLIST:
These are varied and challenging tracks I often use for critical judgement, updated continuously and available for your favourite streaming platform. (suggestions for things to include are very welcome!)
Find them here: sdz.sh/knEB2s
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WEAR WHAT I WEAR! :
Morten is a avid lover of KAMRO shirts, the only fitting clothing for the concerning audiophile.
Made in sizes for even the manliest of men!
For more info: www.kamro.de/
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CHAPTER INDEX:
(jump around, jump around, jump up, jump up - and get down!)
00:00 - Ifi Audio Neo Stream intro
00:36 - Unpacking
00:45 - Take part and tap
01:09 - Who is IFI Audio?
01:56 - What is the NEO STREAM?
02:11 - form-factor
02:20 - Retina display
02:35 - Galvanic Separation of the network
03:12 - Avoiding noise where signals meet
04:02 - Connectivity
04:14 - Balanced analog
04:22 - Digital connectivity
04:35 - USB drives
04:53 - Dont use WIFI iif doing high res audio
05:21 - used as a pre-amp. Be careful!
05:47 - Pros and cons of compact audio devices vs big ones
06:38 - SETUP & INITIAL TEST
07:03 - Major platforms - straight out of the box
07:25 - Modes of operation AIO mode
07:51 - Webinterface, updates, app
08:13 - Choose between Analog & digital outs
08:38 - DNLA Browsing - not so much
09:36 - Webradio
09:50 - Software ambitions & updates
10:16 - DIGITAL FILTERS in DACS
11:06 - THE SOUND AND THE BLIND LISTENING TEST
17:13 - PHILOSOPHY MODE - A conversation about DACs
17:37 - The last 5%
18:14 - Listening styles
18:47 - The sum of things
19:17 - Smallest changes in comparison
19:43 - Software in Streaming DACs
20:27 - What we learned
21:22 - CONCLUSION
22:48 - Pros and Cons
23:09 - Review Score
23:30 - Join the dialogue
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Video production shot and production assisted by Tim Harris, Headway Production
headwayproductions.dk/
Channel beats are tapped in and produced by Marcus Stjernholm, aka. Marc Nash as well as stuff from the TH-cam archives.
Spotify link to artist:
open.spotify.com/artist/4eP58...
Morten Stjernholm & Free ApS do:
AV Space: Independent AV consulting, AV solutions advisor, installation project managing, AV journalism, consumer electronics beta testing & development feedback. (working in all of Europe)
Developing space: Inspirational consulting, sales training, marketing ideas.
Keywords: integrity, love, pride, respect and honest work. Hope, forgiveness, loyalty, precision and rationality. I believe that we are all part of a round world.
"The impossible only takes a little more time"
if you read this, you won a cookie. Claim it in the comments section :-)
Instagram: @stjernholmreviews
/ stjernholmreviews
LinkedIn: Morten Stjernholm
/ morten-stjernholm-a683b
#audiophile #hifi #audiophile #hifitester - บันเทิง
I really liked the way you put this together with honest thoughts on other streamers. Do you do all the video editing yourself? - I know the work that goes in and if you did, that’s a great effort. With your quirky style I think you’ll grow a lot…please just keep it honest. Bravo ! Cheers Simon
Hi Simon. What an honor for me that YOU stop by here. I love your stuff and definitely feel we are on the same page in regards to honesty. I decided long ago to go 100% independent, as I will not be subject to any pressure from any HIFI vendor, so I make my living by doing consulting and project jobs all over europe and online and help vendors in betatesting and development ideas. Slowly they are getting it. I believe as reviewers, our contract should always be with the viewer.
I will feature your channel in the channels page on Stjernholm Reviews.
I really liked the way you put this together with honest thoughts on other streamers. Do you do all the video editing yourself? - I know the work that goes in and if you did, that’s a great effort. With your quirky style I think you’ll grow a lot…please just keep it honest. Bravo ! Cheers Simon
Hi Simon, and sorry for the late reply here. I totally love your channel, and see lots similarities! Py party? PM me 😀
Awesome review, definitely kept me engaged. My belief in 2023 similar to something mentioned in the video. Digital analog converters have come such a long way that if you're $500 and over it's probably going to sound pretty darn good. Ones and zeros. With the three rigs I have here at home I would say the three most impactful aspects of a sound system are the recording itself, your room and where everything is positioned especially your speakers, and speakers themselves.
Wow such much work in this video, appreciate that! And double appreciate the blind test! So many reviewers don't do that
Paul, thank you for the kind comment and for noticing the ridiculous amount of time that can go into getting around a product. Thank you again for watching! What are YOU listening to these days?
@@stjernholmreviews at the moment I am into Natalie Merchant. Love her voice :)
@@paulmastermann2200 Thank you for that recommendation. Listening as we speak. There is a good reach in her repertoire! Nice and intimate stuff.
@@stjernholmreviews nice :) yes I think her voice is just super unique. I would pick her voice out of 100 I think :D whish you all the best!
Love the not so serious video approach, Morten, whilst still doing a very professional job.
Which speakers did you put in the corners? Technics?
Great review thank you sir
Thank you for watching, Jordan! What are you listening to?
@@stjernholmreviews Literally right this minute I'm listening to Nina Simone on the Cornwall IVs while having my morning coffee. Bliss
@@JordanPhegley Sounds like a morning everyone should have! She has such a interesting story as well as a really wide musical area. I recently found the New World Coming album filled with interesting stuff and new takes on her things. The track "Baltimore" is on the Sonic Snacks playlist.
Neo stream is a killer with a farad super3 and a zen one signature with super3 as a dac
Interesting review and dialogue in this video! I sometimes wonder if the differences among modern DACs boils down to the respective opamp circuits on the analog outputs, not related to the conversion circuitry at all? I suppose a comparison of the DAC itself would require taking the digital feed of each device and putting them through the same preamp/amp. Thank you for this informative and entertaining review.
There is a whole chain of things I think that all ever to subtle affects the sound. Yes, in order to compare DACs they should be fed the same signal, and listened to via their analog outputs. Thats what we did, side by side, being fed at the same time via ROON, analog outputs switched via the C-5000 preamp. Also, the DACs what level matched, so there was no subjective difference in level. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING THE CHANNEL, and sorry for the nasty sound on this particular review... it still hunts me in my dreams :-)
Heads up folks, the Neo runs on an ifi version of Volumio. If you can, and I suggest you do, give Volumio a trial run on your system. I could not get it to work, and it was far from stable, always dropping or hiccuping in the music. I pulled it off of my Mercury v2 streamer, I was seriously looking at the Neo, very cool device, especially with the fibre optic connection. Glad I went with my gut and went with the Pi2 Mercury v2, that allowed me to erase Volumio and install RoPieeeXL. If I could not have done that, the Mercury would have been returned.
Thanks for the review. I have been eye balling this streamer to run my 2 systems and was disappointed that you could only run in digital or analog mood but not booth. I guess the best way for me would to go digital out into 2 of my dac's then to my preamps. How did you find the the ifi dac to sound?
It sounds competent, neutral balance. Nothing "pushing". I also found it to be a bit "dense" in comparison with some of the more expensive DACs. Depending on preferences and system match it might or might not be a good thing. Mind, that the four digital filter selections also make quite a difference to the subjective sound. Thanks for Watching the channel!
Very good comparison section.
I've had an iFi ZenStream for a trial, but I gave it back. As much as I liked the sound (a very significant improvement over the RPi and WiiM Mini streamers), the software and the sensitivity to the network quality status drove me nuts.
Hope this one is a bit more stable, but I could see from the review that the software is still the same, Volumio-based affair. I must say I'm not a fan, especially not for 1,3k EUR.
I wonder how the NEO Stream would compare to an Innuos Pulse Mini (999€) or an Innuos ZenMini Mk3 (at the same 1.299€) - does it maybe sound like a good idea for one of your next reviews/comparisons?
The Neo uses an ifi hacked version of Volumio... I gave the Neo a serious look, but remembered my terrible experience with the Zen Stream... I went with the Pi2 Mercury V2 streamer. The Mercury came preloaded with Volumio. I could not get it to play with either of my networks, and I had to use separate apps, or gimmicks to play Apple Music and Amazon. I could never get Apple to play other than over wifi. I don't use wifi on my AV network, everything is hard wired.
Then the drops, it was a royal PIA. I pulled the SD card out of the Mercury and loaded up RoPieeeXL, now EVERYTHING works. And stable? Not one drop or hiccup since installing. And the installation was a breeze, and in minutes I was streaming music. I am glad I went with the Mercury.
Anyone thinking of purchasing the Neo, if you can give Volumio a trial on your system and network, it may work, or not work. And you cannot simply change the OS on the Neo like you can with the Mercury V2. The Neo could just be an expensive brick.
User experiences should never be like that!
@@stjernholmreviews agreed, but there we were. Otherwise, the iFi products seam to be very, very good. It just seams that streaming software is not their strongpoint. Pitty...
@@stjernholmreviews Mercury v2 and RoPieeeXL, still checking all of the boxes.
Which song were you listening from the album 'both sides now'? Thanks! 🙂
The title track. Joni Mitchells new version of the song. The album is from 2000
With 25 years of owning top gear recording studios and high end PRO & HOME AV retail outlets al over the world and with no cost concerns or limitations to execute the same. I can tell you one thing only. It don't matter how expensive, exotic or gizmo loaded your AV RIG or TECH is.. It all comes down to how well it has been captured, rendered and mastered in the recording studio. If the recording studio / label wants to spend that extra time and cost for creating that perfect audiophile sonic palette so sought after. They alone can do it at source with their in-house tech. Sadly most of the studios have a cost and time restraint with their clients who just want to get product out for broadcast with minimal fuss and costs. . Trust me if a studio wants to give you that pristine audiophile recording it can. If its done right there at source, painstakingly taking months or even years, in studio, then not much needs to be done , on consumer end, except for decoding and presenting that pristinely recorded media on capable AV equipment . In simple words, the more densely recorded a material, the more time and data it will take to write on a media to record and publish. Which will delay getting it out to market for sale. Since the general public don't want to pay tremendous costs for a hi rez download format, just to put it on a boutique storage device, for audiophile playback . Most just want a portable free download or handout to hear anywhere, that is not cumbersome to playback.
Hello Burp. Thinking about the gear & quality the current generation have available today, where music recording is a matter of some decent mics, a audio interface and a laptop from the supermarket loaded with software..... leaving skills and a vision for sound to be the only thing missing now :-)
If you listen through the "Sonic snacks" playlist linked to in the description of the channel videos, I think there is many examples of great sonic experiences over many different genres. Yes, those are specs of gold in a sea of turds, but they do happen, more likely IMO due to listening skills, a vision for the sound and careful mastering than the gear used necessarily? Great rooms and great ears takes sound a long way IMO.
I totally agree if the source is not good, nothing can be good, and crafting truly great sound using the highest denominator is seldom happening in the mainstream anymore..
Thank you for watching the channel and commenting!
Would this Dac be a good addition to the SU G700 since the G700 does it’s own magic DAC wise?
Only as a streamer. It might make better sense with something like a Bluesound Node in terms of price for the SU-G700. What other sources do you have?
@@stjernholmreviews I’m running an Intel Nuc fanless "Roon” via USB to the Technics for long listening sessions and have gotten myself a little gem of a Wiim mini for everything wifi and cast. I’m happy with everything so far.
Was wandering if an external Streamer/Dac would be a good idea since the G700 “bypasses” all the external Dac’s.
I would very much like to hear your opinion.
Fantastic channel BTW… subscribed
@@Sethy22 Something like the Node is rather fairly priced and does everything. Can even be used as a roon endpoint, but will also give you access to any streaming service, a lot of witch is directly integrated. There is buttons on the top, that allows you to call 5 different presets of your own choice that can be a radio station or playlists. I find it very convenient and flexible. BUT.. if you are running roon, directly attached, then a device like that will only be used for all those extra little funky things like airplay, bluetooth and so on. It also makes it possible to connect your TV with ARC. That could be a thing, that the G700 do not have.
@@stjernholmreviews thank you very much for your quick reply.
I’m assuming I will not gain any sound quality improvement from any external Dac connected to the Technics?!
I’ve been reluctant to buy a node for the simple reason of not knowing if the trigger out would wake up the G700 from standby. If you or anyone else knows the answer I would be very thankful.
@@Sethy22 I dont think you will have any problems as far as the trigger goes! Been testing it, works great. In terms of sound from digital outputs. In theory there can be a difference between sources. But I would not give it much thought in this "end" of the audiophilia scale where the differences will be very hard to detect to be honest. The Node can add a lot of functionality to your setup you might not even have thought of, like "alarms" triggering a certain thing at a certain time, or a alternative way of browsing your music library. I really love it as a remote for skipping tracks and starting specific playlists without having to mess with screens.
So far mine sounds great! The app on Android isn't ready for primetime. So many issues. From GUI, to no volume control with DSD, to unexplained crashes. If they don't address the app, they will lose customers.
The larger problem is with expensive components that require an app to work, is that you have to pray the company stays in business, or else it's dead tech. I love my OPPO gear, but much of it is app dependent, and now sort of orphaned. This product is entirely app dependent and on my new Android phone, the GUI blocks the entire file list from displaying, so on a fundamental level, it's strange. Also the app doesn't seem device sensitive so features aren't available that are listed in the amp. Fingers crossed they will get it fixed.
The Neo uses Volumio, their version of it. I had it preinstalled on the Pi2 Mercury v2 streamer I bought, and I was seriously looking at the Neo, but had a bad experience with their Zen Stream... I could not get Volumio to work, it was just as bad an experience as the Zen. After playing with Volumio for roughly a day or two, I erased it and installed RoPieeeXL. Only took a few minutes to do, and within say a few minutes, I had a stable stream playing everything I through at it, and I did not need to use any third party apps like Volumio requires. Sad too, the Neo is a cool looking unit with some nice features.
Disappointed by the lack of dog sabotage in this vid 😛But then again the philosophy mode more than made up for that, with it's 'Smith and Jones' feel ;-)
Dennis, dem vids are like a box of chocolate. You never know what you gonna get! 😄 I am glad you like the conversation style moments. Experimenting a bit with the format here, and I love the perspective Tim can bring. Thanks for watching and commenting! What are you listening to?
@@stjernholmreviews As far as music is concerned, I can't be pigeonholed... It ranges from classical to death metal and old and new... Today for instance I listened to (a.o.) Tool, Joan As Police Woman, Efterklang and Paul Simon... But of course there wouldn't be any music without the techy nerdy bits ;-) Those are KEF LS50 Metas, a Moon Streaming DAC with pre-amp module and Moon power amp... All mostly fed via Roon, through a Silent Angel Rhein Z1 (configured as Roon core) with dedicated linear PSU and switch... Nearly all cabled with AudioQuest and plugged into a Niagara 1000... Forever tuning the set up and sometimes trying new components. This weekend actually I'll be trying a balanced power conditioner from Audes!
@@dennisstempher9684 Sounds just right there! Some days i dive in to opera, or start somewhere in my late fathers collection or in the crates with Hip Hop... As long as there is heart, substance and respect for the listener (in terms of great sound) I am all in! Roon is a great tool for discovery, but there is surprisingly much gold NOT on streaming services for various reasons. Thats a whole video in itself! 🙂.
@@stjernholmreviews Couldn't agree more on both the heart, substance, respect and streaming services not being the 'one stop shop' for all musical needs and desires... But that's why I also have internal storage built in to my Roon core for some locally stored digitized/dowloaded music :-) And as much as I would maybe like to dabble in vinyl playback (again), budgetary constraints and limited (storage) space in my small appartment keep me from doing so...
Where is the review system listed please?
You did not watch the review then :-) Have a look around 11:43. and also 1:05. Thank you for watching the channel!
The reverberation time in that room sounds really long. Speakers in a corner against the wall, glass along the sides, not even a carpet on the floor.. Reviewing gear in those conditions have very limited value.
I think it is of great value to review gear in a pretty normal home environment, that is more likely to be the reality to the majority of viewers. Yes, the reverb time in the room is a bit to long, and ceeling treatment as well as curtains is planned to bring it down, but its really not that big a problem in the listening position, since we are listening rather close to the coaxial speakers, that are toed in , supressing many early reflections. There is a carpet on the floor usually to supress the first floor reflection, that has to be taken away when shooting video as i curls up underneath the light stands, cables and what not. Corner placement can have many advantages depending on the speakers response in the room, it is really a matter of balance. In my experience though 30 years working as a sound engineer, rooms can sound great even though they should not on paper AND vise versa. Thats why I always encourage you to "Just listen".
Looks like speakers way to close to coner
They are. But compensated using room correction in that position. Get subscribed :-)