Who is using the Pro-Ject Stream Box Ultra?

[arcman]

Right now (don’t laugh), I’m running a super long active usb cable from my Mac ( with AQ jitterbug) all the way to my S2 pre box Dac in my audio room. Actually, believe it or not, the sound is fantastic. I love the sound of the S2 Dac. I play everything they Roon including Tidal and Qobuz. Anyway, I was leaning toward a Teac Nt505 or even a Lumin T2. However, we have some home remodeling projects that need higher priority. 

 

My my goal is to get rid of the long usb cable ( doing some rearranging) and utilize the ethernet connection at my audio rack. The Microrendu looks like a good option. For the same price, the Pro- Ject stream box ultra looks even better. My S2 can run off the same power supply as the stream box

 

the goal of this thread is to get some first hand knowledge and opinions of the Stream Box Ultra. Specifically used as a Roon endpoint. 

 

My system: psaudio bhk pre, Zu omen def speakers, pre box S2, NuForce sta200 amp, Taurus power conditioner. Roon core on my i7 iMac. Oppo 103. 

[George Hincapie]

A Pi and DigiOne would be more cost effective.

[arcman]

Thanks. I know there are cheaper options, however, the Pro-Ject looks like a good step up with a focus on USB stability. 

[firedog]

Anyone know if you can add HQP NAA to this?

[Ray Von]

I'm using one. If you're committed to USB, and so the lack of other outputs isn't a problem, then it's quite a nice option. In terms of sound quality, compared to my music server with sotm USB output (with its own PSU), running Windows server with Audiophile Optimizer, it was a very obvious step up, even with the stock PSU. I made the switch since the next upgrade for the server was going to be a linear PSU, but the cost of this was such that the Stream Box with an aftermarket LPSU was cheaper, and I liked the idea of replacing the server with something much smaller. I use it as a DLNA renderer, with control handled by JRiver, so don't interact much with the native GUI. It runs a version of Volumio, which is simple enough. But this does mean that it's inherited some bugs, which I've reported and will hopefully be fixed soon. The main problem for me - no gapless playback over DLNA - would not effect you if you're using it as a Roon endpoint.

[totlsota]

Has anyone tried the Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra with a linear power supply? Which one? Any improvement? The power section of the device is supposed to be solid so I understand it may expect less (any?) benefit from an LPS. Thoughts welcome!

[higginsd]

I'm using StreamBox S2 ultra together with PreBox digital as Roon endpoint. Works fantastic.

 

Now I'm in contact with Pro-Ject to get NAA running on the Streambox to use it also as output point for HQPlayer.

 

I'll keep you informed.

[Calvin & Hobbes]

Hans Beekhuyzen mentioned in his YouTube video on the Pro-ject Stream Box that adding an SBooster Linear Power Supply added only a slight improvement to the quality of the sound. 

 

[Mark Dirac]

On 8/15/2019 at 10:10 AM, George Hincapie said:

A Pi and DigiOne would be more cost effective.

The designer, John Westlake, far prefers USB to SPDIF. And so perhaps a RPi and USBridge would be better. And it costs a little less.