Quad’s Platina Stream is the digital half of the company’s new flagship Platina range: a full-width network player designed to sit alongside the Platina Integrated amplifier, share its industrial styling, and act as a “do-it-all” front end for modern streaming systems. It’s also significant for what it represents: Quad’s first real swing at a premium, feature-rich streaming DAC rather than a nostalgic throwback box.
Design & build: unashamedly substantial (and it looks the part)
If you’ve been conditioned by featherweight streamers, the Platina Stream is almost comically serious. At 11.8kg, with a steel chassis, thick aluminium front panel, side-mounted heat sinks, and anti-resonance feet, it’s built like an old-school integrated amp rather than a “digital puck.”
Up front, Quad goes for a clean fascia: a 4.3-inch colour IPS display (800×480), a rotary encoder, and minimal buttons—more “modern studio gear” than vintage hi-fi jewellery. The screen can be configured for artwork-heavy views, info-heavy views, or even a VU-style display, and you can dim it for late-night listening.
Practical takeaway: this is a rack-friendly, full-size component that visually belongs in a high-end system—especially next to the Platina Integrated.
Streaming platform & control: Quad’s app exists, but you may never need it
Quad pitches the Platina Stream around its dedicated QUAD PLATINA control app, plus a “unified library” approach (network shares, USB storage, and services indexed together). The official feature list is broad: search by artist/composer/label/year, playlist building, and service-quality indicators (e.g., hi-res tiers).
But the more important story is compatibility with the ecosystem you already use. The Stream supports:
Roon Ready
Spotify Connect
TIDAL Connect
Qobuz Connect
AirPlay 2
UPnP
Plex
TuneIn Radio
Gapless playback
That matters because the moment you use Roon/TIDAL/Qobuz/Spotify Connect, you’re largely bypassing “how good the in-house app is.”
Connectivity: it’s a streamer + DAC + (almost) preamp, and it plays nicely with other gear
Quad has clearly tried to make the Platina Stream flexible in how it joins a system:
Network & storage
Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4/5GHz)
USB storage playback (with FAT32/exFAT/NTFS single-partition support)
Inputs
Network streaming
PC USB (USB-B) for direct computer audio
12V trigger input
Outputs
Balanced XLR analogue out
RCA analogue out
Coax + optical digital outs
12V trigger out
A key nuance: the unit has variable analogue output (0–2.05Vrms), so it can behave like a digital preamp for power amps / active speakers (at least for digital sources).
DAC architecture & engineering: the “ES9038PRO done properly” approach
At the heart is the ESS Sabre ES9038PRO DAC (a flagship-tier chip), with dual precision master clocks and published performance figures that are genuinely ambitious for an all-in-one streamer:
PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz
Native DSD512
THD quoted <0.001%
SNR >116dB (RCA), >120dB (XLR)
What Hi-Fi adds an important detail: Quad includes a Class A post-DAC circuit stage tuned to get the best from the ES9038PRO. That matters because ESS-based products can sound wildly different depending on output stage, clocking, power supply, filtering, and analogue design.
Sound: what you should expect (and what early owners are hearing)
Without a pile of third-party bench tests and long-form professional listening reports on the Stream specifically (yet), the fairest way to talk about performance is:
What the engineering suggests, and
What early listeners are reporting.
What the design points to
A well-implemented ES9038PRO + serious clocking + Class A output stage usually aims for:
very low noise floor (black backgrounds),
high detail retrieval (microdynamics, reverb tails),
crisp but controlled transients,
solid channel separation (especially via balanced outs).
Quad’s own published SNR/THD specs support that “low noise, low distortion” intent.
What early owners are saying
A Roon community owner described:
deep, tuneful bass,
treble that’s “not harsh,”
a “very focused” soundstage.
Forum chatter elsewhere also repeatedly mentions the physical heft and a “serious” presentation, though these are informal impressions rather than controlled comparisons.
My read: the Platina Stream is likely to land on the “high-resolution but not edgy” side of the ESS spectrum—especially if you run its balanced outputs into a transparent integrated/preamp. The big caveat is software maturity: early firmware can influence stability, library handling, and even subtle DSP or output behaviour.
Spotify Lossless note: timing is finally on Quad’s side
Quad’s product page explicitly calls out support for Spotify Lossless (via Spotify Connect), framing it as “true CD-quality” playback.
That claim is more plausible than it would have been a year earlier: Spotify officially announced Lossless in September 2025 and rolled it out across many markets, with Spotify’s own support pages documenting how lossless playback works (including device requirements).
Translation: if Spotify is your main service, the Platina Stream is positioned to be a high-end “Spotify-first” front end without forcing you into a different ecosystem—though real-world availability can still vary by region, account, and device support.
Value & competition:
rock-solid streaming stability,
a polished control experience,
and credible long-term firmware support.
Quad’s strengths here are clear:
flagship DAC implementation + Class A output stage
very wide format support (PCM 768 / DSD512)
balanced XLR outs and proper “system integration” thinking
Roon Ready + all the major “Connect” options
genuinely premium build
Verdict: who should buy it?
The Quad Platina Stream makes the most sense if you want a reference-grade streamer/DAC that:
looks and feels like a flagship component,
integrates cleanly into a serious two-channel system,
and lets you use Roon / TIDAL Connect / Qobuz Connect / Spotify Connect without friction.