Atonemo Streamplayer Review
In the last decade at least, streaming music has become an essential part of an audiophile's listening habits, and accessibility has been key to this success. The use of smartphones and advances in technology have reached a point where streaming music from your phone has never been easier. There are so many apps that let you access high-resolution music content from your favourite artists, making it so easy. I first heard about the Atonemo stream player in a press release I received, and it certainly piqued my interest, as this new startup has gone for a product that will make streaming even more accessible to many more people, allowing any speaker system to take advantage of it. Not everyone has new HiFi, and there are a lot of enthusiasts who own older and even vintage audio systems, which will not have the advanced features of streaming, so their product, even though it can benefit everyone, focuses on this group and rightly so.
I remember back in the days when my streaming was handled by the Logitech Squeezebox Touch, roughly around 2010-11. This device provided access to streaming music, albeit it was rather crude and had many connection issues. Still, it was the cheaper entry into the world of streaming, and high-resolution music files were thin on the ground. Luckily, all that has changed, and the market is now saturated with great content, especially with high-resolution music, thanks to Qobuz, Tidal and now even Spotify, which all offer high-res music on tap. The Atonemo even has Google Cast to stream from your smartphone, and you can use multiple devices to stream your music to other rooms in your home.
I have said in the past that social media is the new way to connect with people in this ever-changing industry. Leo Ballesteros, one of the founders of Atonemo, which is based in Stockholm, Sweden, contacted me to see if I would like to try out the new Streamplayer. Of course, I was interested in seeing what this device was capable of, how a £99 streaming device would fare against my current Bluesound Nano Node streamer and Chord Electronics DAC, and the overall sound quality of this pocket-sized device.
Build Quality and Features
The Atonemo Streamplayer is very compact; in fact, it is not much bigger than a box of matches or a Zippo lighter. The dimensions of this petite but potent Streamplayer are 50mm x 70mm x 18.5mm, so it fits snugly in the palm of your hand and is ideal for slipping into your pocket and taking it anywhere you wish. For a device that is just under £100, the build quality is actually very good for its size and price. On the front of the player is the Atonemo logo, and on the rear are rubber feet that allow the small unit to sit on a table or rack without movement. On one side of the player is a button used to connect to your phone's Bluetooth, and on the other side are a USB-C input and a 3.5mm AUX jack output, which also supports the smaller SPDIF connector for optical digital output. In the box, you have the player, one USB-C cable and a 3.5mm AUX cable. I would have liked to see a cable with RCA connectors in there too, as connecting to one of the analogue inputs of my Cyrus 8 amplifier requires this, but I quickly found what I needed in a box full of cables that I have. The Atonemo features an integrated Realtek DAC that supports up to 24-bit/192kHz streaming from the player, and the chipset includes the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming options. It will also allow for over-the-air firmware updates from the Atonemo team. For such a small unit, it is cleverly designed and feature-packed, with all features listed below.
Features list
Audio
24-bit / 192 kHz playback
Gapless playback
Low-noise output architecture
10-band graphic equaliser
Streaming
AirPlay 2
Chromecast built-in (Google Cast)
Spotify Connect
Tidal Connect
Compatible with
All speakers
All amplifiers and hi-fi systems
Vintage audio gear
All major music apps
In the Box
Streamplayer 50 x 70 x 18.5mm
USB-C power cable
AUX cable
Quick Start Guide
Networking
Wi-Fi 6
(Dual-band (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz) 802.11ax
WPA2 & WPA3 security
OTA firmware updates
Outputs
3.5 mm Analogue Line Out
3.5 mm Optical SPDIF Out
USB-C power input
(5V, 1A)
Setting up the player is very easy, thanks to the Atonemo App, which really does make life easy and steps you through each part of the way. I have made a video showing how easy it is to set up the stream player, which is below. Once you have completed the setup, you can use your favourite apps to stream your music; the GUI and the app are consistent and reliable. I am using Spotify and Tidal Connect to stream high-resolution music to my Cyrus amp and ProAc D2R speakers, but I am also using the 8player app to stream my own high-resolution content from my various NAS HDDs.
Sound Quality and Performance
Listening to a variety of music from high-resolution streaming services is such a painless task, and the Atonemo makes it easy. It has been faultless the whole time I have been using it with a solid connection. I am deliberately making a point about how easy it is to use, as there are many streamers on the market that require much more input to get them up and running, and this is certainly a strong point for the Atonemo player, which deserves highlighting. It really does simplify the whole process and takes the hard work out of enjoying your favourite music via streaming. Overall, sound quality is very good, given that the Atonemo uses a mass-market DAC chipset. Even though it cannot compete with my Chord Electronics and Bluesound Nano combination, considering the price differences, it does do an excellent job with the music I have been listening to, which has been very pleasing. I have noticed that the higher the resolution, the more improvement I hear. The bass certainly carries some weight, and listening to multiple electronic tracks from Housenatic, Ghostrider, Woo York, and Zabo's Drown, the dynamics and bass are firm and well-defined; it is the convenience and the player's ability to simplify the task that also make it enjoyable and fun to use.
Playing The Alan Parsons Project Turn of a Friendly Card in High Resolution 24-bit 176.4 kHz via Tidal, the quality of the music certainly improves, with a much grander scale, better dynamics, and shifts in pace compared to the lower-resolution recordings. Listening to the same album through the Chord DAC, though, it is clear that the difference in quality is noticeable, with a much wider soundstage, improved resolution, better instrument separation, and greater musical clarity. I have to say, though, for a device that costs less than £100, it is certainly a rare bargain and extremely flexible in terms of how you can use it.
Pink Floyd's The Wall album, streaming in high-resolution 24-bit 96kHz from Tidal, once again sounds really good and makes for an enjoyable listen to one of the band's best albums. I have this on various formats, and this recording is of the highest quality. The small Atonemo player certainly impresses with a well-composed, balanced performance in my system across the various tracks I have listened to, and as the resolution increases, it seems to offer better results, with greater clarity and improved dynamics.
Conclusions and Final Thoughts
The simplicity and ease of use are what this compact and extremely portable Atonemo Streamplayer brings to the mix. With some clever tech from this Swedish company, they have introduced a product that can rejuvenate any speaker system and bring it into the digital age. The Atonemo app makes setting up a breeze, blurring the lines between complexity and technology into a highly usable package that makes listening to your music enjoyable and fun. It certainly excels with high-resolution music, and all for less than £100. It is hard not to recommend, though my only gripe is that you may need extra cables to get it up and running; other than that, it is an absolute bargain.
The Speaker Shack awards this pocket player from Atonemo with a Highly Recommended award and stamp of approval.
Price at time of review: £99
Web - https://atonemo.com/
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