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 and Sonnet Pasithea; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Kinki Studio THR-1, Enleum AMP-23R, aune S17Pro Evo; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Fire, Furutech; Power delivery: Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps, Furutech GTO 2D NCF on low-level gear; 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 COS Engineering D1 DAC/pre; Filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub, sound|kaos Vox 3awf, Albedo Aptica; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, 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 Z2 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: iFi Pro iDSD Signature; Speakers: DMAX P61; Headphones: Final D-8000 & aune SR7000 Audeze LCD-XC
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3, Raal 1995 Magna, HiFiMan Susvara
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…"

Heresy. Would outing Matthieu's opinion lose him his job? But that's not the only thing which differs 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. What there's not is USB out, BNC, AES/EBU, Toslink, ARC, any flavour of I²S; or for that matter the modulometer. This Nagra is for beatniks, not audiophile extremists. It packs 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 SSD 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 Audirvana integrates. To exploit the fibre-optic connection without domestic length limits, Matthieu would have to resend the Nagra Classic DAC II I already reviewed. Given its high demand, that turned out impossible.

"What about your unique clocking?" It's not as though Matthieu designed it. Nagra employ a whole team of engineers who divvy out tasks according to 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 them all plus sits in on auditions in the factory's two purpose-built sound rooms, 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 as founder Stefan Kudelski's native tongue. Capturing music by mic 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 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 in 2024 that their first digital streamer dropped. That's 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 the current standard, stick to that 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 wanted to hear for myself.