Review on 🎧 Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra - Black: Premium Audio Streaming Excellence by Adam Koakowski ᠌

Initially used in conjunction with PRO-JECT Pre Box S2 digital. Until I thought of turning off the Mixer Type, I thought that the device was not working, although I turned it on in conjunction with its native DAC. For me, the main qualities of this streamer are the convenience of the remote interface (if you close your eyes to the lack of scrolling of long names), sound quality and compatibility with ROON. It should also be noted that I was looking for a quality external streamer to feed the stream to an external DAC at a reasonable price. With some stretch, the Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra meets my criteria. It remains to check the quality of work with ROON. As new information about the operation of the device becomes available, I will make a review. Continuation-1: I connected the power to the streamer through the LBP (the Stream Box S2 ultra + Pre Box S2 digital bundle is powered from the LBP). The sound just got MUCH BETTER. It is audible immediately - no need to listen. The sound has become more expressive and noble, it seems that the range has become wider - the bottoms are deeper, the tops are more transparent, the middle ones are more defined. My initial skepticism about using LBP has been completely dispelled. Continuation-2: About ROON. Installed ROON-core on Synology server. Signed up for a 14-day trial plan. The device was immediately identified as ROON-ready. Started playing without problems. BUT: 1. The sound quality of ROON is no different from "normal" playback; 2. characterizing ROON as "for audiophiles" is a gross exaggeration. It does not allow you to work with directories, so the possibility of grouping by disc manufacturer, mastering, year of disc printing, and other important information (within one album), which is related to the nature of the sound, is completely absent. Those. this is a player "for music lovers", but not "for audiophiles". Demolished ROON as unnecessary. 3. I still leave the device for further use as a window into the world for an external ADI-2 DAC. I did not find any high-quality clean streamers (without DAC) on the market.