Mission 778S streamer explained: UK speaker brand launches first hi-res network music player

Speaker brand Mission has unveiled its first-ever network music player. A half-width design, the new 778S is designed to sit alongside the company’s 778X integrated amplifier, released in 2022.

The 778S mirrors the proportions and design language of the 778X, measuring just 236 × 98 × 357mm. Compact and contemporary, its front panel sports twin rotary dials flanking a dimmable OLED display.

Dual-band Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet handle network duties, while USB-C enables direct connection to a PC or Mac. Two USB-A ports support local storage, allowing the 778S to function as a self-contained digital library player.

Analogue outputs include both balanced XLR and single-ended RCA, alongside coaxial, optical and USB-A digital outputs for those who prefer an external DAC. There’s also a 6.35mm headphone socket, backed by a dedicated amplifier stage, enabling the 778S to operate as a standalone head-fi streamer.

Rather than developing a streaming platform from scratch, Mission opted to collaborate with specialist Silent Angel…

Partnering with Silent Angel

Rather than developing a streaming platform from scratch, Mission opted to collaborate with Silent Angel, a specialist whose reputation has been built on stable, performance-led network audio products. Founded in 2014, Silent Angel has spent the past decade refining a streaming ecosystem that prioritises signal integrity and usability over feature bloat.

The result is a custom implementation of Silent Angel’s streaming engine within the 778S, running on ARM Cortex-A72 and Cortex-A53 multi-core processors. Control is handled via a dedicated iOS and Android app derived from Silent Angel’s VitOS platform.

All expected services are present and accounted for: Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect and TuneIn Radio are embedded directly, each supported at its highest available quality. AirPlay 2 adds Apple-friendly flexibility, while full UPnP/DLNA compliance ensures seamless integration with NAS drives and third-party control apps.

For many music fans, Roon readiness will be the clincher. The 778S supports RAAT natively, allowing it to function as a transparent endpoint in a Roon-managed system.

At the heart of the 778S lies ESS Technology’s ES9038Q2M DAC, a 32-bit chip from the Sabre family.

The post-DAC stage uses a Class A active filter designed specifically for the ES9038Q2M, maximising dynamic range while maintaining low noise and distortion. Balanced analogue circuitry feeds the XLR outputs directly, preserving signal integrity for users with compatible amps.

Built for hi-res, made for listening

The 778S supports PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD up to DSD512, alongside a comprehensive list of lossless and lossy formats including FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, APE, MP3, AAC and OGG. In short, it plays everything.

PCM streams are upsampled internally to 352.8kHz or 384kHz before conversion. By pushing artefacts further from the audible band, reconstruction filtering can be gentler, helping to preserve transient detail and spatial coherence, says the company.

Users who prefer a more hands-on approach can disable upsampling and choose from five DAC reconstruction filters to tailor the sound.

The Mission 778S network music streamer is available late January in black or silver, priced at £799.