Yamaha np-s 303 streamer

[nbaptista]

Anyone has or heard this streamer? It has nice reviews, but I wonder if the musiccast app is any good?I would like to get some feedback.

[Made in 1968]

If feel these kind a products can easily be obsolete before you know it.. I would never in a million years rely on a streaming device as a source..

[RMutt]

If feel these kind a products can easily be obsolete before you know it.. I would never in a million years rely on a streaming device as a source..

I’ve been using a Squeezebox Duet for over ten years. I have a Touch in the main system that I’ve had for almost as long. I suppose it’s a matter of opinion whether this is very long but compared with the box swapping of some it seems a reasonable length of time. Compared to a Garrard 301 short I suppose but CD players seem to come and go fairly quickly.

[Stryder5]

I feel sometimes people make comments just to be provocative, which is all well and good recognised as such.

Gary

[Made in 1968]

NO I DONT IVE HAD NOTHING BUT TROUBLE WITH STREAMING PRODUCTS + Things like this can be obsolete before you know it..

[ReggieB]

I've been looking at a number of streaming options recently. The Yamaha MusicCast system looks interesting and I have been tempted to try the pre-amp WXC-50 (https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/wireless_streaming_amplifiers/wxc-50/index.html) as a way of streaming records I'm playing on my turntable, around the house.

For me, I think the limitation of the Yamaha system is the limited choice of compatible speakers, but perhaps I'm wrong.

[Made in 1968]

Rob
By streaming records you must be converting the Analogue signal to a digital signal, which i find odd! As with you guys its all about improved sound, why not just stream a digital signal in the first place from a File or CD?

Im not being argumentative of a Nay sayer for the sake of it like certain people think i am, im just trying to see the Logic in an Audiophiles eyes of such notions!!

[struth]

Not sure if it only accemts streams from an app say on phone or if it uses its own app inbuilt. If latter, then the software will require constant upgrading. If its just taking it via dlna airplay etc from the phone app then only the phone app will require it so that way your going to be much better protected from the dreaded extinct app issue that will eventually happen.
That said its not especially expensive

[Made in 1968]

Im glad you are better explaining things than my Cryptic replys

:D

[AJSki2fly]

Anyone has or heard this streamer? It has nice reviews, but I wonder if the musiccast app is any good?I would like to get some feedback.

OK so I will try and put some perspective on it as I understand things.

Firstly the Yamaha WXAD10 Wireless Streaming Adapter has been around for some time and has got some very good reviews for a good streaming solution giving high sound quality at a sensible price, and supports Musiccast as well, so I doubt Yamaha will just dump support for mussiccast in the near future. I suspect the NP-S303 has built on the WXAD10 internals and gone further. I would expect the NP-S303 to be at least as good but with more features and from what I can see the main ones are it supports DSD and has digital out (optical and coax), so if you want optical out to your amp then its going to work, as well as analogue, its about twice the cost as the WXAD10, the NP-S303 on amazon at £249.

The reviews of the np-s 303 generally point out that if you are looking for SQ then it performs best with high-resolution material, but then this is generally the case with most digital solutions IMO. It can stream digital music content from your smartphone, PC or NAS drive, if you have CD's then you could rip them to PC or NAS drive as FLAC or WAV and access them from the Yamaha and still get good SQ when streaming. If you are going to purely Stream music from the internet then I personally would subscribe to TIDAL, which has a large hi-res catalogue and I find easy to use. Even Spotify premium which is supposed to be good I do not find that great, but then I am fussy and others are fine with it.

So if you want a nicely boxed simple easy to use solution then IMO the Yamaha np-s 303 streamer is probably a good one and not that expensive, its DLNA 1.5 compliant so you should be able to connect it to any other DNLA device on your network and send music to it.

At one time I considered the WXAD10 as a simple streaming try it out solution but went a DAC and Raspbery Pi route for other reasons, but I might consider the np-s 303 streamer in the future.

I hope I may have helped in some way.

[ReggieB]

Rob
By streaming records you must be converting the Analogue signal to a digital signal, which i find odd! As with you guys its all about improved sound, why not just stream a digital signal in the first place from a File or CD?

I have my main system in a dedicated room, which I love and where I listen to music.

However, reasonably often I want to be able to play music in other rooms (or even my garage/garden), as background music, when we have a party, and just because I'm doing something else in another room and want some music on while I do it. When streaming to other rooms, I'm less worried about out and out quality. It's more about what format the music is in. For example, my favourite Jazz albums I only have on LP. It would be nice to pipe whatever music I have no matter the format, to the room I'm in.

So yes - when I'm streaming to another room, I'm happy to accept a lower fidelity than I would when sat listening to my main Hi-fi system. Saying that, I'd still want it to be of a pretty good quality.

[ReggieB]

OK so I will try and put some perspective on it as I understand things.

Nicely done :)

[AJSki2fly]

I have my main system in a dedicated room, which I love and where I listen to music.

However, reasonably often I want to be able to play music in other rooms (or even my garage/garden), as background music, when we have a party, and just because I'm doing something else in another room and want some music on while I do it. When streaming to other rooms, I'm less worried about out and out quality. It's more about what format the music is in. For example, my favourite Jazz albums I only have on LP. It would be nice to pipe whatever music I have no matter the format, to the room I'm in.

So yes - when I'm streaming to another room, I'm happy to accept a lower fidelity than I would when sat listening to my main Hi-fi system. Saying that, I'd still want it to be of a pretty good quality.

Ok so you want to listen to streamed music in other rooms, but also want to listen favourite albums you have on record. My advise is go for the Yamaha get tidal if you want to listen high sq steamed in the lounge, if not the use Spotify I would be surprised if your records are not on there unless they are rare recordings. Hope I have helped


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[ReggieB]

Hope I have helped

Thank you.

[nbaptista]

I’ve been reading a few reviews, and seems the musiccast app is not so great.The Bluos from Bluesound seems much better, so I might save a bit more and buy the Bluesound node 2i.

[Mystic Mac]

I have owned a Node 2, Audiolab 6000n and a Yamaha NPS303.

Bluesound Node 2: good sound quality although sounded better via my NAD D1050 dac. Great app.

Audiolab 6000n: better sound quality than the Node 2 IMO.... app was pants and no gapless playback

Yamaha NPS303: sounds as good as the node to my ears. When playing music stored on a USB drive it is better than the Node IMO. The app is good, but not as intuitive as the Bluesound. However, I have found the MusicCast app to be less buggy than the Bluesound.

[nbaptista]

The app is good, but not as intuitive as the Bluesound. However, I have found the MusicCast app to be less buggy than the Bluesound.But how is the musiccast app when streaming from a NAS?Is it ok? I have read is a bit slow...

[Mystic Mac]

But how is the musiccast app when streaming from a NAS?Is it ok? I have read is a bit slow...

Can’t help you on the NAS front, sorry

[nbaptista]

The Np S 303 seems a good buy, but I´m affraid the Musiccastapp is not so good, reading the NET users….
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yamaha.av.musiccastcontroller&hl=en_US

[AJSki2fly]

The Np S 303 seems a good buy, but I´m affraid the Musiccastapp is not so good, reading the NET users….
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yamaha.av.musiccastcontroller&hl=en_US

Hi Nuno,

The reviews show it is in the middle of stability, but remember it tends to be those who have issues that report problems and not this that are happy with a product, so what you are seeing may be giving a inaccurate view.

A thought I had is if you have a Yamaha dealer near you then why not go along and demo the Np S 303 or one of the very similar Yamaha products to see how good/bad musiccast actually is.

[nbaptista]

And the Denon DNP 800 NE, might be a good alternative...anyone had the chance to hear it?

[StanleyB]

The Onkyo CS-N755 is another one to consider. It's more than just a streamer though. It's a receiver, CDP, etc. I bought one for the kitchen/dining room area and have been really impressed. The Onkyo remote app that goes with it is one of the best I have used.

[Made in 1968]

The Onkyo CS-N755 is another one to consider. It's more than just a streamer though. It's a receiver, CDP, etc. I bought one for the kitchen/dining room area and have been really impressed. The Onkyo remote app that goes with it is one of the best I have used.

Can you stream your own files?

[StanleyB]

Can you stream your own files?
Yes you can. It supports DNLA, Bluetooth, wireless streaming from PC or phone, etc. Unfortunately I gave away my NAS, so I might need to buy another NAS again. But it streams great from the memory card in my phone. It also handles the files on a USB stick.
I am so impressed with this Onkyo, I wish I had bought one ages ago.

[Made in 1968]

I think we need a thread of how this is performed cos it maybe what im looking for but do not have a clue! If i could stream my own FLAC files that be great. but not a an amp i want to use the amp i have i just want a unit with the facilities to stream

[AJSki2fly]

I think we need a thread of how this is performed cos it maybe what im looking for but do not have a clue! If i could stream my own FLAC files that be great. but not a an amp i want to use the amp i have i just want a unit with the facilities to stream

I looked Onkyo do 2 steamers, to do what you want it needs DMLA and/or usb hard disc drive capabilty so you need to more expensive one. You can plug it into your amp. https://www.whathifi.com/onkyo/c-n7050/review looks good and VFM


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[Tim]

I had the Yamaha WXC-50 and reviewed it here https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?61574-Yamaha-WXC-50-Streaming-Pre-Amplifier&p=1038011#post1038011

I meant to update the post and never got around to it, but I returned it to Richer Sounds. I was very happy with it, sound quality was excellent, ease of use was simple and it worked as a DNLA renderer from JRiver. The issue was with Spotify, specifically Spotify Connect, which is mainly what I bought it for. It kept freezing and play would stop, with the only solution being to reboot everything, only for it to happen again maybe an hour or so later. After some Googling it seemed a common problem at that time, so I gave up with it. Had that worked OK I would still have it. I didn't like the Music Cast app, but didn't need to use it, so binned it. A lot can change software wise in 2 years though, so I'm sure that's been updated as well.

You can read the Spotify issues by Googling 'yamaha wxc-50 spotify connect problem' (https://www.google.co.uk/search?ei=0SpZXrmnOpKU1fAPz4qTkAo&q=yamaha+wxc-50+spotify+connect+problem&oq=wxc50+spotify+connect+yamaha+problem&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i8i13i30j0i333.5896.7657..8779...0.2..0.12 5.538.5j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i13j0i8i7i30.NNt04RkJjjU)

From other reports the issue was more with Spotify, rather than Yamaha and I just had a look again and can't see any recent problems, most seem historical to around 2018, so it looks like they sorted it.

From research at the time the NP-S303 is pretty much the same thing as the WXC50 operationally, in a more 'HiFi' rack box, which is a good thing. I think for the money it's a good unit, I would try it out if you can?

I have used a Node 2i and spent a lot of time setting one up on a Network for a friend. I've also reset and installed new firmware on all his other Bluesound devices (Vault and Node2), so they can be kept up to date, or fixed if the firmware has problems, which does happen.

That's what I would go for personally, very good unit the Node 2i both sound wise and ease of use. Everything works well, Spotify Connect, Roon streaming from a NAS etc and the Bluesound app is straightforward to set-up and use.

But Yamaha devices are good too, so choose which suits best?

[Made in 1968]

I came off Spotted on because of issues. The most annoying is Crackles & click like you are listening to a Record. This is apparently a well moaned about issue. People come up will all sorts of try this & that but nothing works. So i cancelled my subscription. Much easier & reliable listening to my own Files.

However looking at the prices of those Network players today, they really need to come down in price cos even £3-400 might seem cheap to some i would not trust this kind of technology with a barge pole hence really really begrudge paying such prices.

Until then its Computer headphones or Medicore Vinyl. Is me or is it getting so hard moving forward these days.. Im just having some mega trouble deciding on stuff.

[Tim]

The most annoying is Crackles & click like you are listening to a Record. This is apparently a well moaned about issue.

Never had any trouble with that André, Spotify itself has pretty much worked flawlessly for the 10+ years I've been using it, streaming from both my Music Server or phone.

Did you have a Premium account or the free version? There's a big difference in the sound quality between the free version and the paid version

[Alex_UK]

Never had any trouble with that André, Spotify itself has pretty much worked flawlessly for the 10+ years I've been using it, streaming from both my Music Server or phone.

Did you have a Premium account or the free version? There's a big difference in the sound quality between the free version and the paid version

+1 took me about a week to subscribe to Premium, god knows how long ago but I was a very early adopter and I’ve never had those sort of problems ever, listening for on average 8+ hours a day over at least 10 years. Ogg Vorbis at 320 Kbps is fine for most of my listening - Tidal Masters I can tell the difference, but not really with Hi-Fi or streaming my own FLAC.

[Made in 1968]

It was premium

[nbaptista]

And a transport streamer like the Primare np 5 prisma?Is it better than a streamer with the DAC? Btw, I have the DAC, only the transport was ok.

[nbaptista]

So this week I made a Spotify subscrition and so far is great.I have the small Nad mt2 media tuner, and so far I have to decide if I upgrade to Yamaha NP S 303 or the Bluesound node 2i. Really, I know the Bluesound is the best streamer, however the Yamaha seems a bargain for all the features.

[nbaptista]

As the Nad has a optical out, I tryed it connecting to the optical in of My Rega DAC. The results were great, I think that I´m done, no need anymore another streamer. This was an easy solution, why I didn´t realised it before ? :doh:

[nbaptista]

The Nad desconnects often, so I guess I have to try another streamer. As I’m using Spotify, the Yamaha might be my best choice.I guess the Bluesound is better for people that want play high resolutions audio file, likeTidal.