In other words, manufacturers rely on their own software or ready-made hardware and software solutions. Bluesound, NAD, Denon, Marantz, Naim, Yamaha and many other manufacturers do this. iFi developers took a different route.

The player has its own application, as well as a web interface - through them you can make settings and listen to files from your home server, but the main emphasis is on external protocols. First of all, these are Roon, NAA, which allow you to achieve maximum sound quality when listening to music over the network. In addition, the more accessible and common protocols AirPlay and DLNA/UPnP are supported.

Instead of built-in applications for listening to streaming services, external protocols are also used: Tidal Connect and Spotify Connect. In other words, the manufacturer has done everything possible so that the maximum can be squeezed out of its streaming platform by integrating it into the ready-made infrastructure as a player or renderer.

In addition, this approach eliminates the need for the user to get used to a new application. When listening using Roon or Tidal Connect and other protocols, a new Ifi Neo Stream device will simply appear in the already familiar interface, to which you can redirect music for listening.

Interfaces

In order to evaluate the functionality of NEO Stream in its entirety, it is necessary to immediately move on from the streaming capabilities to an overview of the interfaces - and it is this part that greatly distinguishes it from most of its competitors. Let's start, however, with the most familiar.

Digital outputs are presented in full: there is optics, coaxial on the RCA connector, AES|EBU and I2S on the HDMI connector. Two USB-A ports on the rear panel and a USB-C port on the front can be used to connect both storage devices and external DACs. Moreover, USB interfaces are implemented using proprietary ANC II technology. ANC stands for “active noise cancellation,” but we are, of course, talking about electrical noise. And the SPDIF outputs use another noise reduction technology, called iPurifier.

Analog outputs are represented by unbalanced RCA and balanced, implemented on a compact 4.4 mm connector - however, the NEO Stream kit includes only a proprietary 2xRCA cable. An adapter for a balanced output or a balanced cable would, of course, be more appropriate, especially since such a cable is available in the iFi range.

The choice of ways to connect to the network is surprisingly varied: in addition to the traditional LAN port and dual-band Wi-Fi, there is another Ethernet port interface on an industrial M12 connector, but most importantly, an optical port. It is known that a regular LAN port is a source of interference, and in top streamers it is connected to the circuit through additional filters. The transition to optics seems more effective, because instead of suppressing interference coming “via copper”, we get one hundred percent galvanic isolation.

An optical patch cord and even a network adapter with a USB-C cable required to power the OptiBox are also included in the kit, so there will be no connection problems - everything is ready to use out of the box.

Quality

The sound quality of a digital player depends on several factors, but the whole point comes down to minimizing jitter. The above-mentioned technologies used on digital outputs, USB ports and network connections rid the circuit of noise coming from outside, but any device has one more connection - power.

And on this side, NEO Stream also received protection in the form of a proprietary network adapter. It has a pulse operating principle and is equipped with a powerful filtration system, making it superior in purity even to linear power supplies. And, of course, no less important is what is inside the streamer itself.

The iFi website has a solid list of component suppliers, including TDK, Panasonic, MuRata, Texas Instruments and others, since the quality of resistors, capacitors, stabilizers and other circuit components is directly related to the stability and accuracy of digital circuits.

To suppress jitter inside the device, a precision femtosecond clock generator is used, covering the entire circuit, which received the very symbolic name of Global Master Timing. In addition, a special technology of “smart” data buffering is used to prevent delays during playback.

The USB output uses a new 16-core XMOS processor with increased performance and original firmware from iFi, and on-board digital-to-analog conversion is provided by a four-channel Burr-Brown chipset, included in the circuit in such a way that two different pairs are used for decoding PCM and DSD channels, so both formats can be played back in bit-perfect mode. And finally, the analog part of NEO Stream has a fully balanced circuit.

Possible options

The variety of connection methods and the large number of settings available in NEO Stream make the initial installation stage quite lengthy, because you need to understand what effect different switching methods have. To eliminate unnecessary variables, I took an external DAC with a familiar sound signature to a USB port and began comparing the available options for connecting to my home network.

Wi-Fi and LAN turned out to be close in the degree of influence on sound, with some superiority of the latter. But the use of an optical converter and the corresponding input changes the situation radically. Without it, NEO Stream gives approximately the same sound quality that a digital transport of this price should provide - a good average level with good resolution, natural timbre development and a spacious stage. The sound does not raise any questions or complaints, unless you have the opportunity to compare it with devices that cost several times more.

With the transition to optics, there is a qualitative leap to the next level. From a good average Hi-Fi NEO Stream moves into the top Hi-Fi and is only inferior to High End transports. The transformation itself looks extremely interesting. The formal features seem to have remained in place, but the audiophile recording, which seemed too dry and mechanical, suddenly reveals additional colors - more timbres and volume appear in the bass guitar, vocals become more expressive, guitars and saxophones do not brighten and do not hurt the ear during loud passages , the ringing of cymbals becomes clearer, a feeling of holographic and transparent recording appears, all music sounds more comfortable, natural.

Attention is immediately switched from analytical perception to mood, text, artistic images. You turn the LAN back on and the magic is gone. It seems that the resolution has not dropped, and the sounds are all in place, and no coloration has appeared, but everything has become a little more conventional, boring and rough.

In a word, it’s not for nothing that the optical converter was added to the kit - it gives NEO Stream a very significant advantage over its competitors. At one time I compared it in one High End system with an Esoteric player, using both devices as digital transport. The difference in price between the two devices was almost an order of magnitude, but the difference in sound was far from so great. These were rather shades and nuances that did not appear on all recordings. In a top-class Hi-Fi system, using transport with a quality class higher than that provided by NEO Stream with optical isolation, in my opinion, makes no sense.

Analog or digital

Now that you’ve figured out how to connect to the network, it’s time to understand what this device is basically capable of. NEO Stream performs best as a digital transport, but let’s not forget that it can also act as a full-fledged source: both a regular single-ended and a balanced analog signal.

The built-in BurrBrown DAC, carefully prepared by iFi engineers, sounds detailed, melodic and expressive, with a recognizable English character. The listener's attention is focused on the energetic midbass and transparent high frequencies. The stage is small, dense, with good volume transmission, while all of it fits within the stereo acoustics and does not extend far beyond the ears when listening with headphones.