Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra Music Streamer - Black

Best Product Award – EISA

Recommended Component 2022 - Stereophile Magazine

Outstanding Product Award - Hi-Fi News Magazine

Upgrade Your Favorite DAC with Future-Proof Streaming

Pro-Ject Audio has designed a completely new product in the streaming world. The Stream Box S2 Ultra features never-seen-before control scenarios and unprecedented audio performance. Its main goal is to be a universal device that can get any USB DAC into the network, upgrading your present favorite high-end DAC with modern, future proof streaming capabilities.

Award-Winning Performance

The Stream Box S2 Ultra was honored with a Best Product Award from EISA, the Expert Imaging and Sound Association, a unique association of over 50 trade publications from 23 European and other countries.

EISA praised its excellent streaming capabilities, offering high-quality audio performance at a reasonable price point, making it a great choice for those looking to integrate network streaming into their hi-fi setup without breaking the bank.

"Strongly recommended to those who don't want to drop big bucks on a networked digital music system," notes John Atkinson in Stereophile magazine, which awarded Recommended Component status to the S2 Ultra.

"Here’s a network audio bridge, a USB player and computer audio cleaning device, and a Roon Ready endpoint – all in one tiny (and affordable) box. Is there anything it can’t do?" asks Andrew Everard in Hi-Fi News magazine, which gave the S2 Ultra an Outstanding Product Award.

"Very Versatile"

"All up, the Stream Ultra is a very versatile piece of kit," observes John H. Darko at darko.audio.

"The Stream Box Ultra S2 is a Raspberry Pi-based network bridge – wifi/Ethernet in, ‘optimised’ USB out – loaded with low noise power supplies that have this fist-sized unit do double duty as a USB pipe cleaner… I’ve lived with the Stream Ultra for a while now. I know from experience that it’s good. Also that it’s price competitive."

A Really Good Streaming Solution

Thanks to internet streaming services, such as TIDAL or Spotify, the interest of many music lovers has shifted towards network enabled devices. But a lot of great sounding products do not offer any network ability, either because they are too old or because their main focus was not on this area.

The solution has often been to replace them with a new and modern device or stream audio via Bluetooth – or to compromise and use a smartphone or tablet via their analog output to feed active speakers or amplifiers. There never was a really good solution, until now.

Stream Box S2 Ultra is the Smart Addition

Stream Box S2 Ultra closes the gap by offering modern connectivity with its network inputs and USB A output. This USB output is optimized for audio signals. It uses a dedicated internal power supply and only top audiophile grade components.

You won't run into file-support issues. Stream Box S2 Ultra acts as a network bridge, passing the files directly to your DAC. And because most DACs only have one USB input, Pro-Ject designed Stream Box S2 Ultra to also be a 'USB detox' device. Simply connect your PC to the micro USB input of the unit and connect your DAC to the audio output. This way you can clean the noisy signal of your PC, while enjoying your music with it.

Pro-Ject's new remote-control iOS and Android App are based on an opensource project and have a large community behind them. This guarantees full support and future improvements.

A Design That's Rich with Feature

The Stream Box S2 Ultra is fully controllable via smart devices and a regular web-browser. It offers support for the most popular streaming services: Spotify, TIDAL, Qobuz, HRA Streaming. These services offer you an endless amount of music. By implementing TuneIn, Pro-Ject also gives you the option of listening to internet radio stations. Discover new channels from all around the world – with just a few clicks.

"A Nifty Little Product"

"Pro-Ject’s Stream Box S2 Ultra is a nifty little product with lots of applications. Pair it with a compact USB DAC like Pro-Ject’s Pre Box S2 and you have a very nice, small-footprint digital source for streamed and locally stored music," observes Gordon Brockhouse in his review for soundstagesimplifi.com.

"As it stands, it’s a solid component. And the fact that it’s software-driven means that you can confidently expect it to improve over time."

The Ins and Outs

An HDMI video output lets you connect your monitor to the Stream Box S2 Ultra, displaying a graphic user interface, ready to act on your commands. With the implementation of Shairport, Pro-Ject allows iDevice users out there another means of sending data to Stream Box S2 Ultra.

There are two USB inputs on Stream Box S2 Ultra: one on the front panel and one on the back. Both let you connect an external drive. Using one of the various control scenarios (App, Webbrowser, external monitor), you can pick from your own selection of audio. The file system support goes up to PCM 32bit / 352.8 kHz and DSD256.

Pro-Ject is a big supporters of Roon software, and the Stream Box S2 Ultra is Roon Ready and fully certified. This way you can simply select your Stream Box S2 Ultra in the Roon interface and send bit-perfect audio streams to it over your network. This great feature set makes Stream Box S2 Ultra bullet-proof for the future.

Note: Operation requires an outboard DAC