With the Pioneer N 70A review plays the high-end card on the network drive. Successor of the Pioneer N-50 (click on the reference to discover the complete test of the product by the editorial office of NSmartphone.com), it takes again some elements but it includes many improvements intended to offer him behavior called “audiophile” Thus focusing on the subtlety and extraction of the smallest details of the sound message.
In the first place, Pioneer N 70A review has a new heart. It is based on two Saber Ultra Dac converters (ES9016S) of very high quality, capable of working in 384 kHz / 32 bits. A first improvement compared to the N-50 which “contented” with a converter with more modest performance: a 192 kHz / 32-bit Dac. While the N-70A’s fine tuning and sampling frequency may seem excessive, the best of the Hi-Res audio files is limited to a 192 kHz / 24-bit format, allowing it to perform complex operations Interpolation and to compute additional samples that further refine the conversion of the digital flow into an analog signal.
A treatment that also includes the exclusive Hi-Bit 32 Pioneer music player technology, already present on the N-50. It should be noted that these enormous digital processing capabilities open the Pioneer N 70A review to the decoding of the most extreme audio streams, including DSD streams, which the N-50 did not do. Other consequences of this processing finesse: the signal-to-noise ratio and the distortion reach remarkably low values which make the N-70A an exceptional link in an audio chain.
However, in order to fully benefit from the qualities of this Dac, it is also necessary that those of the elements surrounding it and, in particular, those housed on the signal path also be of excellent quality. Pioneer has therefore completely revised the analog amplification section and has not hesitated to equip it with high-quality analog components at strategic points. This search for excellence is immediately visible on the back of the Pioneer N 70A review. Indeed, in addition to the traditional RCA connectors of analog output, it is adorned with two XLR sockets.
These make it possible to connect the Pioneer N 70A review to any other element, also equipped with an XLR connector, by delivering a symmetrical signal, that is to say, two signals in opposition of phase conveyed jointly in the cables.
This mode of operation greatly reduces the effect of interference that may affect the transmission. Indeed, the interference affects the transmission of the two signals at the same time, therefore in phase. Since the asymmetrical link is based on the transmission of the useful signal in phase opposition on two separate conductors within the cable, any signal transmitted in phase on these same conductors is ignored. The noise is thus eliminated and the signal-to-noise ratio preserved.
However, managing balanced signals involves the use of operational amplifiers. As the aim of the game is to increase performance, it is also necessary that the operational amplifiers used here are of good quality and therefore expensive. One point that explains that symmetrical links are reserved for high-end equipment.
Another novelty that we particularly appreciated, the Pioneer N 70A review incorporates a headphone amplifier. Here again, Pioneer music player opted for the sound reproduction with a Texas Instrument TPA6120 chip. It is thus possible to use the N-70A as the unique link of restitution. It deserves to be associated with the best helmets.
With a generous power of 2 x 100 mW, the amplifier thus manages without worry any helmet whose impedance is between 16 ohms and 600 ohms. Note that if a headphone volume level control button is on the front panel, we regret that Pioneer music player has not thought of offering one to the remote control.
It is, therefore, necessary to stay close to the N-70A to be able to adjust the volume of listening with the helmet. However, this is only a point of detail which is not dramatic. Namely, it is also possible to control the N-70A via the free application ControlApp or cont app store.
Finally, to ensure an excellent signal-to-noise ratio combined with good dynamics at the N-70A, Pioneer music player has revised its power supply. The digital and analog sections have dedicated power supplies. Similarly, in order to limit the interference radiation inside the cabinet, three different sections are delimited, clearly separated and isolated from one another by internal shields.
On the connector side, the N-70A is well supplied. The novelty in this area concerns essentially the presence of the outputs on XLR socket, as already explained. Apart from this particularity, one finds the traditional RCA outputs. Two digital audio outputs, an optical and a coaxial are also present. They allow, possibly, to connect the N-70A to an amplifier, for example, to transmit to him, among others, the raw digital streams coming from a USB key. An option which seems to us superfluous, the quality of conversion (digital-analog) of the N-70A being infinitely superior to that of many amplifiers
Not surprisingly, we found that all entries were dedicated to digital flows. There are thus two conventional optical inputs, a coaxial and an optical. Similarly, two USB ports, one on the front and one on the back accept both the contents stored on a nomadic hard drive or a key and the management of an iPhone.
Another advantage of the Pioneer N 70A review is that an asynchronous USB-B port provides the ability to connect to a computer so that it can play audio files stored internally, including DSD. Finally, an RJ-45 Ethernet socket is dedicated to connecting to the network and UPnP audio gateway function ( DLNA ) for example to access the audio content of a Nas disk ( MP3, WMA, Flac, AAC, AIFF, Alan, and Wav insured).
Right next door, the last USB port is reserved for powering the optional Wi-Fi adapter (giving access in addition to the wireless DLNA, to the AirPlay function). Indeed, the N-70A does not directly integrate wireless transmitters here again, probably, to avoid degrading its performance in terms of signal-to-noise ratio. To be complete, you must add Spotify Connect compatibility to these features.
COMPETITION: REVIEW
Marantz has the NA-11. A network player, also oriented audiophile, equipped with XLR sockets and able to handle both PCM streams and DSD streams. It also performs oversampling. Here two frequencies are possible: 352.8 kHz or 384 kHz to work on integer multiples of the basic frequency of digital files, namely 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. A headphone amplifier is also integrated but its indicative price, € 3,999, is much higher than that of the Pioneer N-70A.
The Lumi A1 is also a network player very clearly dedicated to audiophiles … the most fortunate. Designed around specifically selected components, it offers full compatibility with Hi-Res PCM audio streams such as the DSD. If like the N-70A, it has an internal DAC working in 384 kHz / 32 bits, its price has, however, nothing to see since it is about 6 500 euros.
TECHNICAL SHEET: PIONEER N 70A SPECS
- Type: network drive
- Connectivity: stereo audio output, digital audio output (optical and coaxial), XLR output, USB host port, asynchronous USB port, Ethernet port
- Compatibility: MP3, WMA, AAC, Flac, Alac, DSD, Jpeg
- Network: UPnP (DLNA), Airplay, Web radios
- Video management: without
- Power consumption: 45 W (0.3 W standby)
- Finish: black or silver
- Dimension (W x H x D): 435 x 121 x 338 mm
- Weight: 11.5 kg
TECHNICAL VERDICT: PIONEER N 70A REVIEW
Commissioning the Pioneer N 70A review is simple. The source selection is clear and the navigation tree on the front panel is very user-friendly. For example, as soon as a USB flash drive is connected, the 3.5 “(8.89 cm) screen displays the different directories and their contents, in addition to the album art in Wav format, Jpeg is included. Once the reading is triggered, the flow type and its characteristics are specified.
The same is true for navigation on the network. Here again, the media servers are detected and it is easy to navigate in their tree by following the indications that carry the screen. It is the same to select a Web radio. Here, everything is done via vTuner, a great classic. Again, we find the conventional trees by country, genre or proximity. The screen and the remote control are very effective during these searches.
For our listening, we pretty much used the headphone output. Indeed, associated with a helmet of good quality, with the certified characteristics to ensure the restitution of audio Hi-Res, the experience is quite interesting. First marking point, directly concerning the quality of listening, the facade carries three LEDs, small blue LEDs, specifying the numerical treatments that the N-70A applies to the signal.
Pioneer elite manual and each mode is accessible from the remote control and is selected through it. The first, called Direct, does not apply any processing except the digital-analog conversion. Thus, a 44.1 kHz / 16-bit stream, for example, will be decoded as such, without any resampling. The second mode, called Hi-Bit 32, optimizes the quantization to 32 bits. Its fineness is thus improved.
The Upsampling function, for its part, fully exploits the processing capabilities of the internal Dac and works in 384 kHz / 32 bits.
Listening, these different treatments are perfectly perceptible. Even if a processed 44.1 kHz / 16-bit stream may not have the same clarity as a true 192 kHz / 24-bit Hi-Res audio stream, the qualitative gain is still very appreciable. Here, at the level of the sound, is the same sensation as when, in an image, an HD video stream is upscaled in Ultra HD: the gain is sensitive but not worth the true Ultra HD.
Anyway, our listening to the helmet allowed us to appreciate the finesse and dynamics that the N-70A was able to offer restitution.
The sound image is accurate. It enjoys a lot of relief and the respect of the stamps is remarkable. One point that is probably explained by the ultra-wide frequency response that Pioneer elite manual has offered to the N-70A, including its headphone output.
Connected to a conventional amplifier, one finds the same feeling of ease and naturalness in the restitution. Here, the magnitude of the dynamics is perhaps even more tangible than with the helmet. In this way, it is not exclusively at the level of listening sustained that this dynamic expresses itself. It also offers to listen to a multitude of details sometimes “erased” by some equipment.
With the N-70A, Pioneer music player offers us a real listening tool that audiophiles will appreciate precision to “dissect” their favorite music. Finally, if the price of this network player may seem high, we find it fully justified and usually very much lower than that of its most direct competitors. A must, a real one!
Title: Pioneer N 70A Review Hi-Res Audio Player Network
Updated: 2017-01-21
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