Primare NP5 Prism MK2 – small powerhouse

Listening

What does a streamer sound like? It’s just a link in the audio chain. You judge a streamer just like any other piece of equipment: by listening and recording what you hear. The Primare NP5 provides an open and transparent sound. It is precisely placed and detailed, but not tiring. In the mids and highs the sound is clear and crisp, which makes it sound open, but the sound does not become sharp or unpleasant.

On a beautiful summer day in Sweden, the sun makes all the colors sparkle and everything you see stands out against a deep blue sky, but the light doesn’t dazzle. That’s what this Primare sounds like.

The NP5 is slightly more forgiving of bad-sounding recordings, but it doesn’t cover the flaws. Alison’s Moyet “This House” does what you hope for: Moyet’s voice is grand and penetrating in front of you, but the bare sound of the synths and drums is pushed back more. Queen’s “Innuendo” is still a demonstration for how lousy you can master a track: every time you expect to go to a climax, the dynamics are squeezed rock hard by limiters. “I’d Rather Go Blind” shows in breathtaking fashion the intention with which Etta James sings every word. The live recording makes you feel the interaction with the musicians, Etta has them tightly on the leash. You can see it all in front of you, though you are just listening. Cinematic Orchestra, on the other hand, actually feels bare, while you want to be immersed in a sound bath majestically draped around Roots Manuva’s dark voice.

The emphasis on clarity in sound makes it easy to follow what someone is singing and how it is being sung. It is noticeable in both classical and rock or pop that words being sung come across crystal clear.

Primare NP5 versus Naim ND5XS

Comparing with the streaming board of the Naim is not quite directly a 1:1 comparison, there is an SPDIF cable that also affects it. I can only compare the combination of the NP5 with the ArtSpeak SPDIF. The Naim is clearly warmer in tone and the sounds flow more together. The NP5 is more detailed, tighter defined and more precise in terms of placement in the stereo image. You can hear the result of progression in technology, the NP5 is better on all fronts.

A deep dive for sound freaks

How sensitive is the Primare NP5 to the way you play music? To explore that, three ways of playing the same music are compared:

1. From the Qobuz app via Chromecast
2. From Qobuz via BubbleUPnPServer. BubbleUPnPServer is set up so that the incoming FLAC stream from Qobuz is translated to WAV and the NP5 is offered a WAV stream.
3. Files from your own NAS via Asset UPnPServer. Asset UPnPServer also converts the files to WAV.

As a test, the Mammal Hands track and Fanny Robilliard’s track were used from the playlist. The track by Fanny Robilliard was purchased from Qobuz. I use these tracks because they show very clear differences for your reviewer. The differences are subtle, but audible. From method 1 to 3, the richness of the tones of the instruments becomes deeper and the reverberation clearer and thus longer.

The NP5 is not immune to the different ways of presenting the same music, but at the same time it is so good that subtle differences can be heard. In daily practice you are not going to do this, you choose a way in which you prefer to play music and the good news is that for the NP5 the sound quality of the preferred method is close. Above all, choose the way that suits you best.

A small but powerful upgrade

The NP5 comes with a 5-volt external power adapter. This type of adapter is often not made specifically for audio applications. If you replace the adapter with an iFi iPower2 adapter ($69), performance improves audibly. The stereo image grows in width and height, comes slightly closer to you, which increases engagement with the music, and the sound sounds more open and transparent. It’s like taking the music out of the drop shadow of a bush and into the full, sparkling light of the sun.