This is just iFi beingā¦ iFi, like the very core of iFi. On one had they put in useless things like M12 Ethernet like someone will ever need an IP67 rating on that connection, and a fibber optic Ethernet connection because audio files are so huge that gigabyte will not really cover the data transfers, BUT not include a BNC connection. I may be wrong, but I am ready to bet that more people are using a BNC connection to their DAC then a fibber optic inside their home, not to mention the professional M12. this is so iFi to include over the top things and still not cover all your needs.
Sorry to hear the multiple connection options havenāt suited your setup needs though I appreciate the feedback and have sent a note to our staff! We are excited to have evolved the original NEO iDSD into the NEO Stream and continue adding value to folksā listening experience at home and on the go.
Just in case you donāt already know, the NEO Stream is Roon Ready out of the box. This is what Roon have to say about our partnership "Roon is an incredibly rich and engaging way to browse and organize your music. It runs on most Mac, Windows, and Linux PCs, or on other products which include Roon Core.
Being Roon Ready means that iFi network players transparently discover and connect to Roon without any configuration, and bit-perfect audio is delivered from Roon to your network player.
Together, Roon and iFi deliver the power, flexibility, and performance of networked audio, with the easiest setup and highest reliability available.
You can discover more about Roon at Roon partner programs.
@CarterK_iFi out of curiosity whatās the reasoning behind the inclusion of an M12 and also SC instead of just a SFP port? Just curious, since imo a sfp would have given more flexibility when it comes to fiber connections, and I would have assume been cheaper to implement? M12 wise, I just donāt really know anyone who uses m12 for anything audio related, do you plan to have a iFi NEO Server or something to use that down the line? And if thatās the case, why not just use fiber or regular ethernet?
Excellent question, while I check with my staff on a more detailed response, I can say that in our R&D process, we aim to provide a variety of connections (as you can see in predecessor NEO iDSD) with the NEO range and M12 is simply one of many connections we found appropriate to give customers options to utilize. Stay tuned and I may be able to shed some more light on M12 inclusion. Fair questions all around though!
I guess thatās my main question, what sort of customer do you see using the M12? Only thing I can think of if you were going to put the device in an outdoor or exposed to elements location, which would be super risky to do, assuming thereās a group of people who want to do that in the first place
I totally get having a fiber connection for sound quality benefit, and rj45 is necessary, but I really just have never seen anyone run anything M12 outside of rough industrial/plant or exposed to elements environments, and even then itās not all that common. If anyone was running m12, they could also always just easily adapt it to rj45, so it just seems like an addition that the mass mass majority of people within a niche wouldnāt ever end up touching. I just might be missing something, but I just canāt think of any situation where the device would be used that it would ever encounter a M12 network for either convenience or sound quality benefit
Toslink and ADAT would have been nice.
Also this. SFP would enable RJ45 and Fiber, instead it isā¦ weird.
In response to the inquiries regarding iFiās inclusion of an M12 LAN and Optical SC input port:
iFi audio prioritizes both high-quality performance and our customersā needs in the design of each product. We chose the M12 input based on its ability to supply optimal signal quality in addition to its popularity amongst our users in Japan. We chose the SPF SC connection as its size, durability, and high number of mating cycles (1000-SC vs. 500-LC) proved a worthy inclusion in our multiple input options on the NEO Stream.
Thanks for the information, didnāt know that the M12 was popular in Japan 
Iāll have to keep an eye out next time I go over there lol
Please keep an eye out and let us know what you notice! The āAudio Sceneā is quite varied that we appreciate notes, trends, and feedback that anyone notices and wants to chat about. I love going to headphone shows to do just that.
The NEO Stream has been sent to me on loan by iFi Audio for me to try it out and for me to share my opinions by means of this review. As always with iFi, they have not requested anything specific, therefore I will do my best to remain sincere and unbiased throughout this review. It is always good, however, to take into consideration that it has not cost me anything to try out this device.
You can find the official page for the iFi NEO Stream here: https://ifi-audio.com/products/neo-stream/
As always, this is a non-affiliate link.
Introā¦
The NEO Stream is a streaming device that offers a lot of functions in one device. I reviewed the Zen Stream a while back, which is also a streaming device from iFi, however the NEO Stream is what could be considered the high end streaming device from the brand.
Now, before I go into details, letās mention the price, as this step up from the Zen Stream does come at a price. The NEO Stream comes in at just under 1300ā¬, which means it is not a cheap device by any means but at the same time is quite a bit lower priced than some of the other alternatives from the high end manufacturer names.
Let me warn you that this review is going to be quite a long one, as there is a lot to go over. I will break it down into the usual categories but please forgive me if there is any jumping around as I realize I have missed something 
Presentationā¦
The packaging follows the usual iFi standard, a simple white box with the logo which is inside a white sleeve with the product image and details on the exterior.
Inside the box, everything is packed in a simple but effective way, making sure it is well protected during shipping.
The contents we receive are:
iFi NEO Stream
iFi 9v power supply
5v USB power supply
WiFi antenna
RCA to RCA cable
USB to USB-C cable
Stand
Ethernet cable
iFi Opti Box
Fiber cable
Instructions card
iFi Sticker
That is quite an array of contents. Itās possible that certain things will go unused by some people and there will be things that some wish were included but to be honest, with the amount of connection possibilities that the NEO Stream has, it would be impossible to cover every scenario.
Personally, this is just a wish and not a complaint, I would have liked a balanced connection cable to be included. But again, in my case, the perfect cable would have been a 4.4mm to dual XLR cable, whereas other people may need a 4.4mm to 4.4mm balanced cable, so again, it is difficult to cover all possibilities.
In general, no complaints with the presentation of the NEO Stream, it keeps up with the usual standard that iFi has set for themselves.
Build and aestheticsā¦
At first glance, you may think that you have seen this device before. That is because it matches the build and aesthetics of the NEO iDSD DAC/Amp that iFi released in the past and that I reviewed previously on here. A closer look and you will notice that the headphone outputs of the NEO iDSD have been replaced with a USB-C port and that the screen is a little larger (only noticeable with the unit powered on), other than that, the form factor and build quality is identical.
Personally I really liked the aesthetics (and build) of the NEO iDSD and the NEO Stream is no different. Of course, aesthetics are a very personal preference and each will have their own opinions but I like the fact that iFi always have their own designs that move away from the typical black boxes that we see over and over again.
Another feature of the build that is shared by both devices is that they can be used both horizontally and vertically, with the screen automatically adjusting to the orientation chosen. There is a small stand included in the box that allows the NEO Stream to be stood on end (vertically) in a more secure manner than if it was just on the deviceās side. This is something that can be very useful for those that have space constraints.
As with the previous unit, the build quality is good and I have absolutely no complaints.
Functionalityā¦
This is going to be probably the longest section out of all of them, as there are so many things that can be done and so many ways of connecting things.
Letās start off with a look at the connections and layout of them on the unit.
On the front, from left to right, we have the screen, a large (and very nice) volume wheel in the center which is also a push button, the settings and input button, the power button and finally the USB-C port.
Moving around to the back of the unit, again from left to right, we have the 9v power connection, an M12 network connection, an RJ45 network connection, a fiber optic network connection, a reset button, a USB-C connection (for system upgrade only), 2x USB 3.0 connections, an I2S output connection, a 4.4mm balanced analog output, an analog RCA unbalanced output, an optical audio output, a digital coax audio output, an AES output and finally the connection point for the WiFi antenna.
Now that is a lot of connectivity! I really canāt see most people needing more than a couple of these connection points but whichever the connections you need are, the NEO Stream has them available.
I am not going to go into details on what all of these individual connections do as most of them are self explanatory (such as the S/PDIF outputs or the RJ45 network connection etc.) but I am going to briefly mention what some of these connections that are not so commonly found on home HiFi equipment are for.
M12 Network connector: This is a connector that is very rarely found on even pro audio equipment, even if it has been around for quite some time. In fact, the only time I have come across these connectors is in the industrial sector, when using sensors and other machinery via network.
As far as I am aware, the only difference between an M12 connector and an RJ45 connector is that the M12 is more durable (standing up to industrial use) and can also be IP rated. As far as network benefits, I am not aware of any (that doesnāt mean they donāt exist, just that I donāt know of any).
Fiber Optic Network port: Now this is something that many more people will be familiar with, although it is still not something that is commonly found on home audio equipment (it does appear on some equipment in the pro field but RJ45 running from a fiber network switch is still much more common here also). However, in this case, as far as I can understand from the documentation, the NEO Stream has a proprietary network protocol for the optical port, in other words, you canāt just connect it to a fiber optic network.
In this case, iFi includes the āOpti Boxā, which is labelled as a high speed optical transceiver. Now iFi states that āThe LAN signal from the router is regenerated, reclocked and rebalanced by the OptiBox; true galvanic isolation is applied, with zero parasitic capacitance and inductanceā.
It is great that they could offer all those benefits by using the Opti Box to convert your RJ45 to Fiber before connecting to the NEO Stream, howeverā¦ Seeing that it is actually a proprietary protocol and the only way to use the fiber network port is by using the āOpti Boxā transformer first, and that the use of it creates so much improvement, wouldnāt it have made more sense to just mount the internals of the āOpti Boxā inside the NEO Stream and just have a singular RJ45 connector on the unit?
I understand that there probably isnāt much space left inside the unit but I feel that the M12 and the fiber network ports are something that could have been left out and maybe made room for the āOpti Boxā to be internal?
Dual USB 3.0 Ports: Now there is nothing strange about having USB 3.0 ports on a device, however, the NEO Stream has two because one serves as a connection point for external storage (hard drives etc.) while the other port serves as an output, allowing you to connect the NEO Stream to an external DAC via USB. There is also a USB-C port on the front of the device which can be used for either of the above (storage connection or digital output).
I2S & AES connections: These are more commonly found on audio devices, specially in the pro world (in the case of AES) but are also becoming more popular in the HiFi world. These are basically two digital protocols/connections that allow the NEO Stream to be connected to external DACs digitally (these can also be DACs built in to speakers like on some of the Genelec models, for example).
According to the documentation, the AES (along with the Coax Digital output and the Optical output) are run through the built in iPurifier. The USB ports use the iFi ANC II noise cancellation technology and the digital signals also use the built in āfemto-precision GMTā (clock) to reduce jitter. These is much more information about this on the iFi website (and other resources) if you are interested in learning more, letās just say that I have experienced no issues
So, letās get on with how all of this works and what the NEO Stream is capable ofā¦
First off, this is a device that can stream Ultra-res digital (in other words, up to DSD512) over the network from your central music server. The NEO Stream is Roon ready, so it will appear as an output device in Roon.
Personally I do not use Roon but that is only one of the possibilities with this devices, as it also supports DLNA/UPnP, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, Apple Airplay along with being able to play back from a locally connected hard drive or even NAA (Network Audio Adapter, for use with something like HQPlayer).
All of that is great and you can set up the device to work specifically as whichever you prefer (set it to be a Roon endpoint only, for example) or you can just choose AiO (All in One) mode and use it however you feel at the time.
For the purpose of this review, I have been using the NEO Stream as an AiO, streaming music from my home server, from Tidal and also from Spotify. So please forgive me for not going into details on the other options, I am going to focus on what I have found with said setups.
Before going into this though, let me quickly mention how you can control the NEO Stream from its own webpage in your browser.
Once you have the NEO Stream set up and connected (I am not going to go into details on how to do so as I feel this review is already going to be extremely long, but you can find the info on the iFi web page), you will see an IP address on the screen, which you can type into your browser and access the control page for the NEO Stream.
On this page you will find basic playback controls in the center, with a list at the top left that allows you to browse your personal media servers, deal with playlists, search, etc. There is also a Web Radio option which allows you to listen to live radio streamed via the web.
Please note that if you are using any streaming service, such as Tidal or Spotify, controlled from your phone or PC etc., the page will not show any information on what is playing or even that it is currently playing. In other words, streaming to the NEO Stream from an external device cannot be controlled or monitored from the web browser.
Also available from the browser page are the settings. From the settings page you can choose what mode you want the NEO Stream to work in, set up networks, change appearance (of the page, not the device), choose outputs etc.
Although it is common, it is worth noting that you can only choose one output āgroupā at once. That is, you can select Analog (so RCA and 4.4mm are active), USB (USB ports are active) or digital, where all of the digital outputs are active. As I said, this is common on all similar devices but I am still hoping for an option where I can have both USB and Digital outputs at the same time. This is probably a scenario that is very specific to my use case but I would love to be able to feed (for example) the EF400 DAC (USB only) at the same time as sending digital audio to my other processors and systems.
But anyway, letās get on with functionality and talk about streaming services, starting off with Spotify.
The NEO Stream appears without fault in the Spotify Connect devices and is very quick to start playback once selected. The same goes with changing tracks etc., it is quick to respond (not instant but almost) and doesnāt usually have any problems. It is possible to confuse the device by making fast and random track changes very quickly but I have yet to see a Spotify Connect device that doesnāt struggle when you try to confuse it
The screen is also fairly quick to update, showing the album art, along with the track title. The only negative here is that the track title does not scroll, therefore you will only see the first 12 characters of the track title on the screen. At the bottom of the screen, you will see the audio format that is being played back (such as PCM 44.1 KHz).
Moving on to Tidal, functionality is also good and seems to have improved from the Zen Stream, where there were some issues swapping between Spotify and Tidal. I donāt know if this is something that iFi have improved or something that Tidal have done (my guess is on the latter, due to their software not being the greatest).
The NEO Stream can passthrough MQA to your DAC (if that is something that interests you) and in general I found Tidal to be just as responsive as Spotify. In fact, it tracked better than Spotify when trying to āconfuseā it (which is a step forwards for Tidal 
).
The only issue I found with Tidal was when leaving the track on pause for an extended period (such as to answer a phone call while working), it was impossible to get Tidal to play again. It needed the Tidal app to be closed and reopened before it would work. Again, my money would be on this being an issue with Tidal as Spotify doesnāt suffer from the same issues.
When streaming from my home server (which is where the NEO Stream would get most use), I have to say that it was pretty flawless. The main ways I stream while at home are either from PC (using Foobar) or from an android device (phones, tablets, etc.) using BubbleUPnP. In both cases, there were no flaws and everything seemed to work fine.
The majority (99.9%) of my music is in 44.1KHz FLAC and this is absolutely no issue for the NEO Stream at all. I did try a couple of DSD256 test tracks that I have and they also seemed to work fine over my gigabit (wired) connection. I tested out the Opti Box briefly but to be totally honest, I did not notice any change in performance between the normal RJ45 connection and the āconvertedā connection.
Iām afraid I donāt use HQPlayer, so I couldnāt comment on using the iFi NEO Stream as an NAA with upsampled tracks over the network.
Soundā¦
What can I say about the iFi sound that I havenāt already said before, I think I have already mentioned many times that I am a fan and the sound from the analog outputs of the NEO Stream are no exception. They have that typical subtle warmth that keeps things from being harsh but still maintains details intact.
I have tried feeding my usual amplifiers (Echo, Asgard, THX, etc.) with the NEO Stream and have absolutely no complaints with the pairing with any of them. It is another iFi DAC that I would be more than happy to use in my system.
As far as feeding my DAC digitally from the NEO Stream, Iām afraid that I am going to say what I have said many times in the past, even if I do receive plenty of comments saying that I am wrong. I feel that if a digital player does its job correctly and outputs exactly what it should output, then there are no differences between the sound from one transport device or another. This is obviously not the case when something is deliberately manipulating the signal (such as EQ or resampling etc.) but when everything is set to be an exact reproduction of the file, then that is what should be expected, an exact reproduction of the file. In this case, in my opinion, that is what the NEO Stream provides.
I suppose what I am trying to say here is that, if you are going to use the analog outputs, then you will get the benefit (if you like it of course) of the iFi house sound. However, if you are planning on using it to digitally feed another device, then focus on functionality and performance, not on sound.
And I think that I can actually end the sound section here, short and sweet
Conclusionā¦
I have absolutely no doubt that the iFi NEO Stream is a great piece of equipment. It does a lot of things and it does them well!
When testing some other iFi devies in the past (such as the Zen Stream), there were a few issues that needed to be ironed out with firmware updates, however, the NEO Stream seems to have addressed these before release. Well, to be honest, I did update the firmware as soon as I set it up, so I am running version 2.15.17 (from October 11th 2022) and I can only comment on how it stands at this point in time. If there are any strange connectivity quirks, I didnāt come across them.
But the one thing that is not easy to ignore is the price. 1300ā¬ is a lot of money for many people and, while I know there are much more expensive alternatives out there, it does make me focus a little more on certain things that are not really issues but I would prefer to see at this price point.
One of them is the network connection I mentioned earlier, where I donāt see the need for the multiple network connectors and the external box, I would much rather it do its āmagicā inside the device and just give me one network connection (and one deviceā¦ and one power supply). I know manufacturers get good pricing on the items they purchase but I canāt help but feel that the M12 connector is something that is not useful on a device like this and just takes up space and increases the cost (again, I would love to know if there is any performance value to the M12 connector).
Another thing I would have liked to have seen is a headphone output. I know that this device is meant to serve other devices but I feel that a headphone amp would have made this a truly incredible all in one. I am not asking for a headphone amp that has the levels of the Diablo, even a single ended amp capable of running efficient headphones and IEMs would have been nice. The savings from the M12 connector, fiber connector, fiber cable and aluminum enclosure of the Opto Box may have even covered the cost
But then I guess people would complain if it wasnāt balanced, or if it was, that it didnāt have IEMatch, or XBass or something. So I guess they would never have won anyway, unless they included it all and put the price up by a fair bit, and then Iām sure we would find something else to complain about.
I feel that the wrap up to this review is that the NEO Stream is a great piece of equipment that lives up to the iFi way of doing things and is something that I personally would get a lot of joy out of using, being able to replace a PC and a DAC from my current system.
This review is also available in Spanish both on my blog (www.achoreviews.com) and on YouTube (www.youtube.com/achoreviews)
Thank you for the articulate thoughts and impressions! Always appreciated.
It has come to our attention that some of you have discovered and uploaded beta firmware for your iFi streamer.
We do not recommend updating your iFi streamer to beta software. Beta software is considered to be in a testing phase and may not be fully stable or reliable. It could cause issues with the functioning of your streamer and may also lead to loss of data or settings.
It is important to use only official and stable software releases for your iFi streamer, which can be found through the device system settings. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to our technical support team via https://support.ifi-audio.com/
Thank you for your understanding and support and we wish you the best with your iFi streamer.
Hello,
How do I update the firmware on my ifi neo stream?
It is on 2.15.8 as at 14th Jan 2023.
It currently experiences numerous disconnections from the internet.
It is connected via Ethernet cable to my modem.
Nothing else in the home experiences this. Some other devices are wifi some are Ethernet, all are rock solid except the ifi neo stream.
When I go to the ifi āupdateā area the neo stream is NOT listed amongst the many options!
So I am at a lossā¦.
Regards
Rob
Hey Rob,
I see this is your first post, welcome to the HiFi Guides community! So the NEO Stream is able to auto update in the web portal you would open up when first connecting the device. Check out point ā4ā to show how to connect your NEO Stream to your audio source, but more importantly, show you how to get to the Streaming portal that will show āauto updateā feature. Neo Stream Wi-Fi Set-Up Guide - YouTube Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
Hi ,wondering if anybody could help me figure out ,why my ifi Neo stream is stuck on Wi-Fi mode. I have turned off Wi-Fi in the settings and I have turned on ethernet connection ,power down ,reset ,tried everything and it wonāt connect without Wi-Fi any ideas? Thanks.
Hi there, new to this forum!
Purchased neo stream since Christmas 2023. Its purpose is to loop and play about 2000 tracks over and over as a radio type service, and play local files from a server PC via UPNP. Player is JRMC which is installed on the music server (i7, 64GB RAM, about 10,000 albums).
Finding that playback is fine for about 3 days, then stops. JRMC advises the neo stream is lost and couldnāt playback anymore and the neo stream just displays the IP address. Upnp is switched on at the router, but is not mapped externally to any device.
1GB switches and routers. Ethernet is fed from the A side of an Uptone EtherRegen.
AC power is not prone to drop outs and remains stable for months at a time, even during storms.
What could be the problem?
Hifiguides Link