Yamaha NP-S2000 Network CD-player

By some margin the most 'hair shirt' of the streamers in this group, the NP-S2000 still seems a lot more like a little high end audiophilia than the others. It is really heavy and vast, and we were impressed to find, after removing 42 screws to get off the lid, that it is actually fairly packed with electronic equipment - two different mains transformers, a substantial and well-populated circuit board that is sound, etc.

A part of the reason so much electronic equipment is needed by the sound board is the fact that it must drive a balanced output signal, in addition to something you actually do not regularly see on streamers, the most common unbalanced.

If output signals are rich, the exact same can not for input signals be said in truth: there's only one, Ethernet. No wireless of all kinds, no USB, no digital input signal. There is also not much of a screen, only one line of text. It is really nicely done, but it ensures which you always need to scroll down and up to see exactly what the other choices could be at any menu level.

Music on the network seems under various disguises so that you might already have it installed and uses Twonky media server, which will be a standard. The entire range of sample rates is supported up to 96kHz, in addition to all of the common file kinds and formats. Yet there isn't any solution to seek back or forwards within a track. We actually can not picture how many producers appear to have lost this - Is not it a characteristic that is essential?

Sound quality

Its own tonal nature, that is favourable to the treble as opposed to bass, a little bright and lacking body clearly affected the panel listening results of the streamer. Once one gets used to that there is lots to love in other regions, including imaging, dynamics and detail. Our listeners discovered the effect frustrating, but in this instance having less body appeared to counterbalance that although it is no secret a touch of brightness can look to improve timing a little.

Detail will often be a touch enhanced via this type of tonal equilibrium and, as a good example of that, the Bach piece for piano and cello in our presentation gained from especially great detail and definition.

Really apart from tonality, our listeners also remarked in the sound on some lack of integration. Voices and instrument, which had formerly appeared to work, now appeared at odds with one another.

Actually the NP-S2000 appears to be most at home with fairly large scale music, loving the challenge of monitoring the broad swings that are dynamic and active climaxes that necessarily attribute.

Yamaha NP-S2000 Network CD-player photo