iFi NEO Stream

Sweet streams (are made of this)

Streaming has become this generation's go-to way to play music. But with hundreds of music streaming apps available, it can be difficult to juggle different them all at once. iFi's new NEO Stream is a brilliant network streamer that provides an easy-to-use interface for streaming and accessing your music. You won't have to compromise on sound quality either — the NEO Stream has a built-in 32-bit DAC plus custom-designed software and hardware to deliver pristine sound. It even features exclusive streaming modes tailored to specific streaming platforms.  

Premium internal circuitry to please the ears

The NEO Stream is a feast for the eyes, but of course there's a lot of goodness happening inside its chassis too. Take, for instance, its potent 32-bit digital-to-analog converter chip. Not only does the chip support files up to 32-bit/768kHz, but it can also natively decode DSD files up to DSD512 — perfect for pulling high-res tracks from a networked hard drive and turning them into crystal-clear sound. It even offers full MQA decoding.

Noise and distortion are the eternal enemies of great sound, so naturally, the NEO Stream's analog section was designed to keep them out. It uses fully balanced circuit pathways, a noise cancellation circuit, and iFi's proprietary iPurifier technology to keep signal noise and distortion to an absolute minimum. 

Stream almost anything

This versatile network streamer gives you tons of ways to stream music. It uses an open-source software architecture, meaning it works with a lot of control apps, and the list of apps it works with is frequently updated. 

You can use popular streaming options like TIDAL Connect, Apple AirPlay, and Spotify Connect to wirelessly play your tunes. There's also DLNA/UPnP and NAA (Signalyst network audio adapter) support for playing music stored on a dedicated music server or a NAS drive. The NEO Stream is even Roon Ready if you have a subscription and want to use it as an endpoint.

Even cooler, there are exclusive streaming modes for TIDAL, Roon, NAA, and DLNA. Those exclusive modes allow the NEO to optimize its performance and give you more fidelity when using one of those streaming platforms.

Hook it up and rock out

The NEO Stream has no shortage of connections. There are two USB-A ports on the back and one USB-C port on the front that serve as both inputs and outputs. You can connect an external USB hard drive or flash drive to them and have the USB ports serve as inputs, or you can use them as outputs to feed signal into an external DAC. There are optical digital, coaxial digital, AES/EBU (XLR), and HDMI audio outputs for connecting the streamer to an external DAC as well.

On the analog side, you get balanced 4.4mm outputs and a pair of unbalanced RCA outputs for feeding signal to an outboard amplifier or receiver.