Yamaha's new $2K network music player

NP-S2000 Hi-Fi Network Music Player

Looks nice! Burr-Brown converters, balanced outputs and dual power supplies. And can be controlled using an app on an iPhone.

BTW I have no connections to Yamaha, but don't want to see the mid-fi audio category sink into obscurity.

 

It does look nice and simple - and I liked the clear diagram that shows its role.

 

Nice, curious to see what it winds up retailing for. I've got TB's of live music in FLAC off of Dime during a bout of extreme downloading years back.

 

am I missing something or is there no Wifi?

 

Good idea, IMHO.

 

Feisal: I think you're right. I downloaded the manual and there's no mention of wi-fi connectivity, only ethernet.

I didn't notice at first until I checked out the large pics, but this component includes wooden side panels - nice. And it weighs 26.5lbs!

 

these days lack of Wifi is a bit of a surprise .. and downer; not many people are going to 1) have their computers close enough to use a ethernet cable or 2) pull 50 feet of ethernet cabling through their house.

maybe you need something like a wireless access point in the living room, or use one of those power line networks (which by the way the TrendNet looks interesting)

 

^ IIRC I've seen posts here that reported with certain brands of media players using wi-fi that when dealing with hi-res files, the player's operation could be unreliable. I think they mentioned drop-outs being a problem & causing the sound to mute temporarily.

As some proof of this using a different format but the same transmission system, our DirecTV DVR which includes network capability (used for streaming movies) which also only includes an ethernet connection, in the manual it says a wi-fi adaptor can be used but they don't recommend it because of (I'm paraphrasing here) possible image quality issues.

BTW for other audiophiles on a budget as I mentioned in that thread I started about Pioneer receivers including this type of system, I also included a link to a new Yamaha A/V receiver ($900) that includes network capabilities which can also handle 96kHz/24bit streams and FLAC files.

 

I don't see how it accesses internet radio?

EDIT: never mind, I see now.

So, who's gonna try one??

 

Seems kind of pointless in today's world. 5-7 years ago that price could have been justified however you can now accomplish the same with a network media streamer and a receiver of your choice...for quite a bit less I might add.

 

In two years this will be a mostly useless brick with a great DAC and an outdated music player part. There is still so much developpment going on the latter part (in terms of technology and music download formats), so I would only purchase these functions seperately, and spend most on the DAC. A DAC which accepts 24/192 PCM signals will be good for years to come.

There are media streamers for $100 with digital output which can be used for video and audio. Some have firmware which can be modded to add new functions. They offer complete network access instead of the limited DLNA. At that price, one can afford to always upgrade to the latest model.

 

I don't think so. The DNLA standard is widely accepted, and there's nothing to prevent someone from getting 10+ years of usage out of it.

I think this player would be a better value at <$1000, but time will tell if it has success.

One thing is for sure: the audiophile attention to DAC/analog design that used to be found in Yamaha's CD players has definitely shifted towards products such as this. Same with most companies.

 

Bad decision from Yamaha. You can get WiFi in a $100 e-reader.

 

Two grand is mid-fi?

 

It's all relative.

 

perhaps they should also have included a couple of USB ports so you can put a Wifi dongle.

 

Just like one can still use a 10 year old mobile phone, or a ten year old computer. But the new ones are so much better.

The biggest issue is file support. The Yamaha plays WAV, WMA, FLAC, MP3 and AAC with up to 24/96 resolution, but who knows if in 3 years on audiophile download sites such as HDtracks 24/192 and 16/44 (for compatibility) won't be the standard resolutions? Would you settle with 16/44 quality just because your Yamaha server doesn't play 24/192 files?

 

A 10 year old cell phone (typically) works off of cellular technology that doesn't even exist any longer, i.e. it wouldn't even make a call!

The Yamaha handles all the file types of the 25,000 songs I have today. It will still play them in 10 years, and in 10 years I'd be surprised if we had something greater than 24/96 LPCM.

I "settle" for 16/44.1 because that is what 99.99% of my digital music library is.

24/192 has had 5-10 years to catch on via HDAD, DVD-A and Blu-ray. And it's still rather still-born. I see no indications that the next 10 years will be different, and even if you do have/get some 24/192 material, transcoding to 24/96 is rather simple.

"Useless brick"? I'm still not seeing it.

 

So it does what a Squeezebox/Sonos and Peachtree Nova do for about the same price and I get an integrated amp. The iNova even does 24/192 for a bit more.

What would like to see is a true all-in-one with built-in transport for ripping CDs, and user-replaceable hard drive, as well as int amp. Something I can hook speakers to and go. Take it a step further and make the transport a universal player and I'm ready to shell out $2500. I know folks may not like noise from hard drive but I don't notice my DVR most times and it's hardly dampened. I think it would really help those of us who are less computer literate or like myself just don't want to sit in front of a pc after sitting at one all day at work (I do most of my web browsing at home on iPhone and soon to be iPad).

 

http://www.naimuniti.com/

not a universal player, but almost all the boxes are checked, for £1500 (~ $2,400)

I heard this at a hifi show once and it sounded great. Stereophile reviewed it here, and WhatHifi here

and to answer the obvious question

 

That's the very upper limit for my idea of a mid-fi component, though I admit I almost wrote "entry-level hi-end".

I do think the Yamaha might be a wee bit overpriced though, but certainly shouldn't cost less than $1K based on the info given on their site.

Well as far as build materials are concerned, the Squeezebox and Sonos gear I've seen are small components around the size of a cigar box and housed in (I'm 99.9% sure) plastic cabinets, and though form usually follows function for me, I think both of these components would stick out like a sore thumb in an equipment rack, especially the Sonos gear.

OTOH....the Yamaha is a standard-sized component with a cabinet constructed of metal (recyclable btw ), along with internal metal bracing & shielding and several heatsinks, weighs 25lbs and includes wooden side panels.

 

I don't get it ,why do you need to spend so much(well tell that to Linn)
can you hear any difference ?????

 

They completely messed it up not adding DSD64 / DSD128 file support.

 

What was one supposed to do in 2011 with DSD support?

What do you currently do with the DSD support of your DAC?

 

Play 5.6MHz Vinyl rips? SACD-rips? DSD downloads? Stuff like that...