DenonDNP-800NE Network Audio Player with Built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2 Connectivity + HEOS Technology | Exceptional Sound Quality | Compatible with Amazon Alexa, Black

I originally began looking at network music streaming devices so that I could upgrade my Amazon Music Unlimited account to Amazon Music Unlimited HD. The Echo Dot I had connected to my amp couldn't stream the "Ultra HD" fies available on Amazon Music Unlimited HD, as this streamer can. But the cost of these type of units put me off, and I was making due with just an Echo dot plugged into my amp using a mini-jack to rca jacks cord. That sounded pretty good but I was wondering if the Ultra HD would be even better.When the Denon DNP 800NE suddenly went on sale one day for a little over half the normal price I jumped on it. It was fairly easy to set up and figure out how to use the many different features, using either the on unit buttons or the remote to switch between music loaded on a USB thumb drive, internet radio, Sirius XM, and Amazon Music Unlimited.The Sirius XM and Amazon Music Unlimited are accessed using the HEOS app on your phone. Again, its pretty easy to use. Once you connect your Sirius XM account to the 800NE you can save the stations you like to listen to as favorites on the 800NE, and then you’ll be able to access them directly from the 800NE without having to go through the HEOS app. You can also save internet radio stations as favorites.Amazon Music Unlimited must be accessed through the HEOS app, and I haven’t been able to figure out a way to save anything from it as a favorite. Unfortunately the HEOS app is not the same as the Amazon Music Unlimited app, and lacks some of the features of the Amazon Music App. For instance, when you access Amazon Music through the HEOS app, there is no “my library” where you can quickly call up all the albums you have saved. You would have to call up the album using the HEOS search function, and can then play it.The 800NE does work with Alexa, but that requires opening the Alexa app on your phone to speak with Alexa. You can then say something like “Alexa, play the new Jason Isbell album on Denon” and it will start playing it over the 800NE. You have to add the “on Denon” or it won’t work.Another option is to just use the regular Amazon Music app on your phone and connect to the 800NE with bluetooth, instead of through the HEOS app. Still sounds really good and then you have access to all the features you normally would using the Amazon Music app and can find and play songs the way you normally would.Other services featured in the HEOS app include Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, Deezer, Tidal, Soundclous, etc.The sound on the 800NE is superb. So superb I don’t think it would really pay to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited HD. One of the features of the 800NE is “Advanced AL32 Processing Plus” which apparently upscales everything to close to CD quality anyway. It does sound better than what I remember playing the music through the Echo dot connected to my amp, although that wasn’t really bad sounding.To see if there is a difference between the regular Amazon Music and Amazon Music HD, I signed up for a free trial of Deezer Hifi, which uses FLAC files like Amazon HD. I then listened to songs on Deezer Hifi, and then he same songs again using the regular Amazon Music Unlimited. For almost all the songs I compared, there was virtually no difference between the Deezer Hifi FLAC version and the regular compressed version from Amazon Music Unlimited. In many cases the song sounded slightly better from the regular Amazon Music Unlimited service than the Deezer Hifi FLAC version.At least for me, I don’t see where there’s enough of a difference, or any difference, warranting paying more for the HD or Hi-Res service. I've also been reading comments in audio forums that there is no or an imperceptible difference between a CD quality file and a hi-res or Ultra HD file to the human ear. However, I haven’t heard any of the “ultra-HD” hi-res songs from Amazon Music Unlimited HD, so I can’t comment if those would sound better.I haven’t tried using the 800NE to cast music to other speakers in the house, which is another feature, as I don’t have a need to. Other features such as internet radio, playing from a USB drive, and bluetooth all are useful, work well and sound great, depending on the original source.All in all I give this 4 stars, because there is room for improvement. The screen works fine, but is limited to white on black text. Some more expensive network streamers have larger color screens that display the album artwork or a picture of the artist. That would have been nice for this unit. Also if the HEOS app could incorporate all the same features of the regular Amazon Music App I would have given it 5 stars.

While I've only had this online for just over a week and haven't put it through all of its paces yet, I've come to a few conclusions that probably won't change. My first impression was that this player puts out very good quality sound, and the build quality is good too. I'd read an answered question on Amazon where one buyer confirmed that the front panel on the DNP-800NE is plastic. To me that alone would have been a deal breaker, indicating cheapness of build. I went to the Denon website where the specs stated the front panel was in fact aluminum, which certainly had more credibility than an Amazon customer, and it is in fact aluminum, NOT plastic. (Why would anyone not check with a manufacturer before asking some pedestrian buyer is beyond me, but I guess that's just me and my need for facts over speculation.) That aside, the downfall of this player is not the player itself but the HEOS app, and it's extremely limited smart phone only use. That's also just me and the fact that I don't really consider or use a smart phone as a part of my home AV system, and don't like that I am now forced to use it, since this HEOS app can not be used on a PC or smart TV (At least not on my Sony Android TV). So, now you must fumble around for your smart phone, like in the bad old days of fumbling around with multiple remotes!So, let's go developers and manufacturers, if it's really about choices then shouldn't this type of home AV component be run with an app that can actually be used within that same AV system? What may have been 5 stars for the Denon DNP-800NE was turned into 4, not by its hardware, but by the limitations we are handcuffed to in controlling it.Obviously, this changes if a HEOS app is developed for smart TV's and/or PC's to control the DNP-800NE.

Purchased Apr 30, 2020, but I had a series 6 Samsung phone, and that didn't work. I had an Amazon tablet, and that didn't work. The tablet seemed to get closer than my phone to working. I tried to figure out a way to connect to my brand new Denon amplifier, but that didn't work. I talked to a friend of mine who was really into the streaming audio scene, and he explained to me I needed a newer better phone. So, I bought another and newer phone, a Samsung S10e, the economy version of the Series 10, and paid it off monthly, because by then, I finally managed to get an Amazon Prime card. But I was raised to waste not, want not. So, I continued to use my series 6 phone, until it finally pooped out, and was waiting for burial. And I got phone the service transferred over to my new phone, preserving, my old phone number. Then, I spent a month learning how to use my new phone, and finally discovered the Bluetooth settings. It worked, and finally got to hear music from my Amazon Music HD account through my phone supplying the files via Bluetooth to my Denon DNP-800NE Network Audio Player with Built-in Wi-Fi. I had also had bought a pair of SENNHEISER HD 660 S - HiRes Audiophile Open Back Headphones that are plugged into the Denon DNP-800NE Network Audio Player. For an audiophile like myself the end result was like heaven. I'm now able to without CD, DVD, Tape, Phono play over the air the highest quality files through a dedicated DNP-800NE with the best Sennheiser Headphones ever made. Virtually no distortion, and no loud music to piss off my neighbors who have never once complained about my loud anything. I live in a seniors building, and it is so very important to me to not disturb my neighbors. The quality of sound I can now hear from my 3 part system is so good that I have discovered a strange phenomime, I do not need to play the music loud at all. I have the volume on my DNP-800NE turned up only a little. I have no listening fatigue at all, and I am in music heaven. This is not for everyone, but for someone like me, it is heaven.

The sound quality of the Denon DNP-800ne is truly excellent. For the money, I think the unit is an excellent value. I haven’t heard the Blue Node units, which are about the only comparably price streamers/DACs, but Denon’s implementation of digital to audio conversion is excellent. Single Burr Brown chip, but they do work magic with their proprietary ALA 32 processing. I have a Denon DCD A110 CD player as well, a unit that costs 6 times as much, and side by side listening of the same tracks shows the DNP-800ne to be very close in sound quality. My only quibble is the Heos app. It can sometimes be a bit unstable, and music will suddenly stop. When this first happened, I couldn’t get the music to resume. I deleted the app, reloaded it, redid the player set up steps, nothing worked. I was all set to return the unit, when I tried one last thing. Unplugged the DNP-800ne, waited for a minute or so, replugged it back in…boom, back in business. Glad I figured it out, because it does sound so very good, and with streaming, you have the largest musical catalog in the world, right at your fingertips.

Excelente network player. Qualidade do som até acima do esperado.