Streamer

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis, HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Earth, Furutech; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: Sonnet Pasithea; Headamp: Kinki Studio THR-1; Speaker amp: Crayon CFA-1.2; Speakers: Acelec Model One Headphones: Final D-8000 & Sonorous X, Audeze LCD-XC, Raal-Requisite SR1a on Schiit Jotunheim R
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7, COS Engineering D1, Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €4'995

 The status LED lights up orange. A Nagra-supplied fibre-optic cable is orange as well.

The clouds parted. The sun shone brightly. My heart sung. Life was gorgeous.
He didn't actually say that; him being Nagra's marketing manager Matthieu Latour. But it's what he meant: "I'm happy to finally come back to you to initiate our Streamer review. You might remember the first time I visited you in Le Mont Pélerin. We spent a lot of time trying to play a song I brought on a USB stick. Well, it's super easy today with our new Streamer. It has a USB host port. This is the first time that I feel convenience is no longer at the expense of sound quality. The Nagra Streamer will deliver superior sound than a Nagra CD player did. It's hard to conceive at least for me but it does. I never felt that way about servers. I did hear many different ones. The Streamer sounds better than our own server which we spent countless hours putting together and programming on Linux. The main reason for this is probably our unique clocking system…"

Hellacious heresy. Would outing Matthieu's opinion lose him his job? Oops. But that's not the only thing which begs to differ today. Though just 18.5 x 16.6 x 4.1cm WxDxH, this Nagra is hewn from solid aluminium so no longer a bolted-together thin-wall affair as is the rest of the Classic range which it joins. These petite dimensions allow for only limited socketry. Counted left to right there's an RJ45 network port, a USB host port, a NagraLink fibre-optic port for PCM384 and DSD256 and a standard coaxial output for PCM192/DSD64 plus an umbilical socket for the external 12V/0.7A power supply. That can still upgrade to the brand's ultra-cap based Classic PSU or legacy MPS via optional Lemo/DC cord. What there's not is USB out, BNC, AES/EBU, Toslink, ARC, any flavour of I²S; or for that matter, the firm's signature modulometer. This Nagra is for ordinary beatniks, not audiophile extremists. It incorporates Tidal Connect and Spotify Connect, Qobuz through the free mConnect app, vTuner, Airplay, UPnP/dlna and, still coming, Roon ready. Local files enter via USB so stick, hard drive or SSD. I have a 4TB version of the latter whilst Audirvana Studio on my 27" iMac is the control point which would 'see' the Nagra via UPnP, no tablet app required to avoid WiFi. Likewise for my Qobuz Sublime account which integrates with Audirvana. To exploit the fibre-optic connection without domestic length limits, Matthieu offered to resend the Nagra Classic DAC II I reviewed in November of last year. I also asked for a 4m optical cable since I don't have one with the required terminations. With those practicalities handled—one doesn't want to accept a review sample then learn after receipt that one's own hardware can't interface—it was time to deal with heresy and play at Grande Inquisitor.

"What about that unique clocking system, Matthieu?" It's not as though he designed it. Nagra employ a whole team of engineers who divvy out tasks according to their specialized expertise, be it industrial design, mechanics, board layout, digital or analog circuitry, clocking, control code, parts optimization, transformer design/winding and more. As someone who interfaces with all of them plus sits in on the auditions in the factory's purpose-built sound room, he's simply the man to chat up. If he doesn't know a detail, he knows whom to ask. And unlike real engineers who often get too technical for a layperson to follow, Matthieu knows how to bridge that gap. Running a private recording studio for his own amusement, he's also very serious about sound.

Of course the very name Nagra means "that which records" in Polish which is where founder Stefan Kudelski was from. Capturing music by microphone to master tape is in the company's very DNA. It goes back to the now legendary location tape recorder which became their very first product. Many of Nagra's employees play a musical instrument or dabble in the recording arts. With them "it's about the music" really isn't lip service. Until today they've very successfully tackled varying tiers of classic hifi electronics including CD players/transports, a record player/cartridge, analog and digital recorders, DACs, power supplies, preamps, integrateds, stereo and mono amplifiers executed with tubes or transistors. There's even been a collab with Audeze on a headphone. But it's not been until earlier this year that their first digital streamer dropped. That delay seems telling. They waited until they had something meaningful to contribute which they could proudly call Nagra. It bluntly sidesteps the current fascination with touch screens; or reinventing server GUI which was first perfected by Apple then refined by Roon. If one can't better a current standard, stick to the standard. Focus on your own special expertise. Lead with that. It appears that analogue Nagra finally are confident that their digital know-how is ready to make a sonic streaming statement. That I obviously wanted to hear for myself.