ARSY Ne-2 Streamer Review

[JeremyFife]

In the past, I have talked about "push" vs "pull" streaming and how I am in favor of the former. Push streaming means another app is in control of the network device, running on a rich platform such as a phone or PC. The DAC then looks like a local DAC, albeit over a network. This is why I sometimes call these "bridge" devices when they have digital outputs as is the case.

The advantage here is that you don't have to learn a new UI to figure out how to play something. That is what would be required if your streamer was a pull device. In that case, the intelligence is local to the device, initiating/pulling content to its DAC. These require ton more software development and far higher chance of bugs. This workload also causes companies to cease supporting these devices, all else being equal.

In this testing, ARSY Ne-2 immediately showed up as a device for my Roon player to play to. Nothing new to learn. All the rich functionality of Roon at my disposal just as if this was a local DAC. Contrast this with streamers with their own players where it takes me half hour just to figure out what is what.

I get that, but if you use more than one streaming service then you have multiple UIs. The advantage of 'Pull' is you only have one UI to contend with.
Obviously, it has to be a decent one. I'm happy with the WiiM's ... it's better than the native Amazon one IMO.

 

[JDS]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the ARSY Ne-2 streamer. It was sent to me by the company and currently is on sale for US $159.
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The case is no bigger than the CD jewel boxes. The design is minimalistic with just USB-C input for power and everything else, output:
View attachment 445245
Simplicity extends to NOT having or needing an app to control it. Plug it in, and it should appear as a destination in various streaming platforms. In my case, it supports Roon player so that is how I tested it. Without the app, you need to wire it using Ethernet first, find its IP address and using its simple web interface to program WiFi network/password. And upgrade it (which I did). For power, I just used a random USB-C charger I had around.

If you are not familiar with amplifier measurements, please watch my tutorial on it:

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ARSY Ne-2 Streamer Measurements
Since I am limited to test files I can play using Roon, I don't have full suite of measurements for you. But enough to get a very good picture of Ne-2's performance starting with our dashboard (only analog out is tested throughout):
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Nice! Distortion is well below threshold of hearing so we are noise limited.
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The Crystal Semiconductor DAC performs some kind of dynamic range scaling to produce better results in our DNR than expected:
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Jitter spectrum is ultra clean, showing well designed device:
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Multitone test shows a bit of increase in distortion in bass which we often see. Otherwise it is excellent:
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We have the usual filter design:
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THD+N vs spectrum looks very good:
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Conclusions
When the company reached out to me to offer a sample to test, I almost said no until I saw that they had Audio Precision measurements showing excellent response. So I accepted a sample and I am glad I did. This is a no frills streamer/network to digital audio streamer that performs excellently. I personally can't stand having to use an app to control a streamer. I want to plug the thing in and just see it at the end of the wire/network. Ne-2 streamer does that and does it extremely well.

I am happy to recommend ARSY Ne-2 streamer.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Very impressive. Competitive performance as a $150 DAC; as a complete streamer, it is great bargain.

 

[amirm]

I get that, but if you use more than one streaming service then you have multiple UIs.

I don't because Roon unifies Tidal and local music for me and that is all I need.

 

[amirm]

Very impressive. Competitive performance as a $150 DAC; as a complete streamer, it is great bargain.

That's a good way to look at it.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

If you already have a good DAC, there's a $99 Ne-3 version with a cheaper internal DAC, but also USB-C output.

Amazon.com

 

[gvl]

USB output, huh? Very unusual. Sadly not a good solution for Qobuz, but I don’t know if they are any good solutions for Qobuz, except Roon maybe ($$$).

 

[Mort]

Pair this with a Vibelink, ha.

I appreciate you pointing out a product I would never otherwise have given a chance. This will almost certainly be what I buy for my adult daughter's G Three's. She only needs spotify connect and airplay. It's really elegant. She doesn't want another app.

 

[bmwr75]

Looks a whole lot like some old Apple TV gear I through in the trash today because it no longer is compatible with anything.

 

[TonyJZX]

i know this place puts graphs and charts first and i'm ok with that

and stuff like interface is important but 2ndary

but this device has a 2.4 on amazon???

putting aside the name which translates badly in commonwealth countries i dont see the value argument when its a single board device for $159???

i mean... and its still an unknown company?

surely you for $159 you can do better with just about anything else short of a PI???

this thing is "full of arse" as we like to say

 

[amirm]

but this device has a 2.4 on amazon???

Did you look at them? There are only 3 reviews. One is 4 star. One is 2 star and one is one star. The two star one makes a bunch of assertions about forced resampling, etc. which would require a lot of knowledge and instrumentation. Doubt he has that. He then says there is a headphone amp in there and you connect your headphone using USB-C? What the heck? The two star one says he couldn't connect to anything. Maybe that was the case in February 15th when he post the review. None of the issues they mention were there in my testing, albeit, in different scenarios.

So no, I would not go by those reviews and the rating.

 

[DualTriode]

This is chick speak.

Start in the middle of the story and begin the conversation with "He said".

What is a streamer?

What is a streaming service?

What does this device do for me?

Does it play DOLBY ATMOS 7.1.4?

Thanks

 

[gvl]

Audirvana works great with Qobuz. It will be interesting to see if Audirvana works with the ARSY UPNP just as well as it works with Rpi4/Moode.

It supports Squeezelite and LMS has an ok Qobuz plugin too, but still nowhere close to the native Qobuz app, which is what I’d consider a good solution but there’s no Qobuz “connect” unfortunately.

 

[amirm]

surely you for $159 you can do better with just about anything else short of a PI???

Not with this level of functionality and performance. That PI solution needs a DAC and won't have all these digital outputs.

 

[diddley]

Nice to see such a positive review.

 

[Jimster480]

Yes. That is the only output I tested.

Are you able to maybe test the digital output to see if it provides bit perfect SPDIF/optical?

 

[amirm]

Are you able to maybe test the digital output to see if it provides bit perfect SPDIF/optical?

What would be the reason for that? It already has good enough DAC.

 

[The Capstan]

In British slang, "arsey" (sometimes spelled "arsy") means aggressive, irritable, or argumentative. It's a way of describing someone who is bad-tempered or acting unreasonably. The word is considered to be a bit of a harsh or negative description.

I envisage the US rebranding “Trumpy”, LOL

 

[Monsieurétourdi]

It supports Squeezelite and LMS has an ok Qobuz plugin too, but still nowhere close to the native Qobuz app, which is what I’d consider a good solution but there’s no Qobuz “connect” unfortunately.

I use Qobuz from my iphone (native application) and send the stream to my streamer via airplay, practical, but limited in cd quality (already good).

If I want to play in high resolution, I use my Android tablet (idem on smartphone) on which I've installed Bubble Upnp (5 euros), very simple to use, but powerful, and upgradeable with a bubble upnp server.

This application is compatible with Qobuz, Tidal, local, samba, dlna/upnp, really complete and stable for the very reasonable price, it's not a subscription, but a one-time purchase. You can even use the native qobuz application, and send to bubble, which will launch a high-resolution stream to the streamer. You'll need to have both applications open, but any modern equipment can easily support this.

Roon is excellent, but given my simple needs and low usage, I've bypassed it with this free method.

 

[Vacceo]

In the past, I have talked about "push" vs "pull" streaming and how I am in favor of the former. Push streaming means another app is in control of the network device, running on a rich platform such as a phone or PC. The DAC then looks like a local DAC, albeit over a network. This is why I sometimes call these "bridge" devices when they have digital outputs as is the case.

The advantage here is that you don't have to learn a new UI to figure out how to play something. That is what would be required if your streamer was a pull device. In that case, the intelligence is local to the device, initiating/pulling content to its DAC. These require ton more software development and far higher chance of bugs. This workload also causes companies to cease supporting these devices, all else being equal.

In this testing, ARSY Ne-2 immediately showed up as a device for my Roon player to play to. Nothing new to learn. All the rich functionality of Roon at my disposal just as if this was a local DAC. Contrast this with streamers with their own players where it takes me half hour just to figure out what is what.

So in practical terms, something such as google cast is prefereable to an ecosystem such as Heos (just to consider two easy examples). What if the app actually controls the device itself for elements such as EQ, switching connectors and, in a nutshell, what you´d do with a remote?

 

[JamesYeomans]

What would be the reason for that? It already has good enough DAC.

Connecting direct to actives such as Genelecs SAMs that have a digital input, is a valid use case I can think of. Thanks for the review.