iFi Zen Stream Wireless Network Music Streamer Review

[@Currawong]

Just a note: I found after I shot the review, that when streaming to the Zen Stream, the output device will be determined by the settings in VolumeIO. I have both S/PDIF and USB connected to DACs, and while Roon can pick up the USB DAC connection directly, for S/PDIF output, VolumeIO needs to have its output set to S/PDIF in settings.

[@lesarnolfinis6775]

If the sound quality is not discussed and compared to a computer-based solutions using USB or to other streaming solutions, what is left to this review. In my opinion the digital transport is nearly as important as the dac for sound quality. Yet we get plenty of sound impressions of dacs but most streamer reviews talk about functionality and ease of use. Very few focus on how they impact the sound; I guess this is the heritage of the old 0's and 0's and 1's are 1's. Currawong seems to have tens of dacs but just one streamer? That's an imbalance. I have a Zen stream, compared it to Sotm sms200, Project S2 ultra, Node 2, Microrendu and it is by far the best sound quality I have had from digital in my speaker based system.

[@lanx0003]

Thank you for sharing this which gives me the confidence going with this possibly most economical option. I am assuming that you imply the Zen also performs better than the computer-based solution thru USB SQ wise? How much better? 10%, 20%?

[@klepp19]

Did you compare to Node N130 with usb out. I'm on fence whether Zen will impact the audio chain. If there were no connection glitches I would have bought it already.

[@davidzwicker9988]

Added Ifi powerx 15v and noticed difference. Bigger difference (maybe collectively with the power upgrade) was switching from Allinone setting to Tidal specific setting. Better imaging, soundstage and attack.

[@FlashbackArrest]

Thanks for going into detail about sound. I find it absurd when people claim transports don't have a sound signature. Tidal connect works beautifully and the exclusive mode sounds slightly warmer in a good way than the all in one mode.

[@markg3789]

I bought one of these and it kicked out my Auralic Aries Femto (now 7 years old) and my Allo Digione Signature. SQ is great and the form factor is much simpler than the Digione that requires two power inputs. I power it with my Uptone JS-2 and use the wifi connection via my 5G network and have used both an attached SSD and drawing from my NAS. Like you, I haven't tried Tidal or Spotify connect and usually just airplay Apple Music when I'm looking for new music. It works flawlessly. Thanks for the review!

[@jeffg6479]

Hi Mark, in terms of sq how does it compare to the allo digione signature ?

[@JP-zh6ss]

I own two of these, wired Ethernet, using both with USB connected to Topping 90S. Absolutely flawless with Roon, sounds way better than Bluesound Node IMO and from my experience way more reliable.

[@PlagueSergeON]

With the wired ethernet, you can still control everything from your phone right?

[@nwr99nwr99]

​@@PlagueSergeON yes

[@xyanide1986]

Would really like to own one of these at some point, but a little rich for me currently.

[@Luvdac62]

Great review! I have one and am very happy with it. For Roon users its a good idea to check the about page in roon settings. Updates to ifi roon Bridge show up here. This seems to be different from ifi's own updates in the volumio settings. Just wish ifi had released a more comprehensive manual.

[@willmac5642]

thought 399 price was high but thanks to your review, see it's more justified. Guess not possible to use MoOde instead of Volumio?

[@jupitalynho2303]

the LPS makes an audible difference. I should know as i have one connected to this ZEN Stream

[@meljove7187]

Brilliant review. It would have been good to know how the Zen Stream performs with a streaming service, especially Qobuz.

[@dangerzone8408]

My guess is it would be a killer combination.

[@heerodevries944]

I run it with Qobuz, wireless with airplay, it is limited till 44kHz. I have the app on my iPad and iPhone. It sounds pretty good with my Exogal converter. Although sometimes there is a hickuo, it could be my router that installed with only 2,4 GHz network. Spotify, withmy chromecast audio always functions and play, it takes less bandwidth ….

[@sardine158]

Covers need to be tagged using something like easytag. Can be excruciating so automatic cover tag in roon is a real boon.

[@circattle]

I’ve been using Volumio sporadically for years and started with its predecessor Voyage MPD Linux over 10 years ago. I’d never considered it was pronounced “Volume IO”; I’ve always said “Volu-mee-o” because it is Italian.

[@Currawong]

I hadn't realised it was Italian until today. Thanks for that thought.

[@ionutplesea5693]

Hi there and thanks for the review. Did you try internet radio on the ifi stream volumio interface? I’ve been having a lot of problems with this feature. It won’t connect at all to a lot of different radio stations, it’s taking a lifetime, more than 30 seconds to connect, when it does. It’s a very frustrating experience this web radio option on this device. Other than that sound quality wise I’m very happy. Did you encounter the same issues like me with web radio? Thanks

[@xstensl8823]

i bought one of these in August and it had PSU problems that where common with the IFI ZS at the time so i sent it back for a refund. a second unit was sent and it too was defective, the dealer in Singapore would not give me a refund after he determined it to be defective, but only a replacement. using Roon/Tidal this thing crashes repeatedly, but sounds very good. i have updated the firmware and it will sometimes work for an hour or two. i bought a Bluesound 2i and it has worked without issues on the same network for a month now. no disconnections! i think the iFi could be network dependent ? i hope that iFi will eventually make us customers whole and release a fully functioning V2 version that we can exchange for.

[@jasonp.8371]

Great review! I have been looking into this player for a bit and now believe I will take the plunge. One question I do have is in regards to your use of a linear power supply, could you elaborate. I'm currently powering my gear from a dedicated 20 amp PS audio outlet and all components are plugged into a Panamax In my rack. Would that suffice or is there an additional cable I should look out for. Thank you in advance from a fan in Maine USA

[@andrewmccorkell652]

It's a shame you did not actually try some streaming services, as your experience of the stability of this product could have been totally different. As someone in one of the forums mentioned, it's a buggy little bastard. But OK it does sound way better the other budget streamers that I can compare to, which is the only reason it's still in my system.

[@werner134897]

I'm pretty sure that the power supply of the streamer has 0 effect on the sound, assuming a DAC that filters out any analogue noise on the input. The DAC should just read th edigital stream, which is not affected by the power supply.

[@Just_Pele]

I mostly use VLC's DLNA server built into its player, and connect it to my media shares on my NAS, but that does require running the server on my computer (that does take a small amount of CPU power, but I haven't been able to notice it). The NAS does have its own DLNA server built-in but it's pretty awful and has a great many issues and limitations, like being unable to update its file index without restarting it.

[@mat.b.]

little confused around the 17:00 mark: you say when using the ifi power supply on the zen....the spidif out of your SU1 sounds better than....what? And then you say the USB out from the Zen is comparable to the SU1. I'm so confused!

[@Currawong]

Better than with the stock power supply feeding the Zen Stream. Some people ask if they need an SU-1 (or similar) with the Zen Stream, which the don't, unless they want more outputs. I've also found that the Zen Stream will crash after a few hours if I don't use a good power supply. I've noticed other people have had a similar experience. They seem to be sensitive to power supply quality.

[@deangale4496]

What do you think of the Singxer Su1 ?

[@lawyer1165]

iFi should provide more complete instructions for setting up and using the Zen Stream. For example, the Stream is supposed to work with music files stored on HDDs and SSDs, but it doesn’t see my HDD or SSD. The Stream did see my older USB thumb drive, but that device holds less than 10 percent of my music library. The music folders on my HDD and SSD are located in a sub-subdirectory, whereas the thumb drive just has music folders for each artist. Some artists have multiple albums. I’d like to learn how to tell the Stream to look for the sub-subdirectory containing all of the music folders on the HDD or SSD. Or does the use of subdirectories confuse the Zen? Is this too difficult for iFi to explain to its customers?

[@Currawong]

It's more of a Volumio issue, if anything.

[@lawyer1165]

@@Currawong Thanks for responding. Actually, it turned out to be a formatting issue-FAT32 is required.

[@allansh828]

Does MScaler pick up differences of digital inputs?

[@tasosbelesis9709]

great review thanks !does it work with a dragonfly black DAC?

[@Currawong]

I don't see why not.

[@davidzwicker9988]

Using cobalt now. Works great

[@Fenom60]

I just bought a Holo Spring 3 KTE,and currently have ifi Pro iCan Signature to drive my headphones only setup. Does this ifi zen stream work well with Holo Spring through USB? Or does Spdif soundbetter to Spring 3? Thanks

[@strongchallenger2269]

It looks like you connect from Zen usb (INPUT From Storage? ) to SU1 usb B since there is only one input. Saw that you connected by Ethernet on Zen. Will it still work by wifi instead of hard-wired? I have a SU6 and thinking of getting Zen Streamer.

[@Currawong]

Yes. It’s basically a mini computer running a Linux distro.

[@strongchallenger2269]

@@Currawong Thank you for your reply. I have just bought Zen Streamer yesterday however I am having problems in playing foobar through the streamer. Foobar is not picking up any device since the laptop is no longer hooked up via usb to the Dac. Usb is hooked up to the SU6.

[@liamporter1137]

Thanks for sharing.

[@mugenoesis]

Has there been any word yet on the Chromecast functionality. I really want to get a dedicated streamer. I use Deezer and Plex for my music and I've been stuck on a Windows machine for all my music needs.

[@Currawong]

That would depend on whether it's added to VolumeIO or not.

[@richardsaila8073]

Excellent. 👍

[@aceofspades6667]

Rep from headfi.. saw your post in the thread.

[@Malangsufi]

Wait is that LP6 Gold, I never knew you tried it.

[@Currawong]

I did, briefly, but while it sounds great, the software was faulty.

[@AakashKumar]

Would you be able to recommend a linear PSU for the Zen Stream? I think I also read zen stream had issues with cheap 9v PSUs and 12v was recommended, I’m not sure about that.

[@Currawong]

I don't have a recommendation. There are numerous ones available on places such as eBay. The voltage shouldn't matter as long as it is within the range that the device is able to accept.

[@circattle]

@@Currawong I had a look at the specs on the Zen Stream and it accepts a power input of 9V (1.8A) to 15V (0.8A) which reminds me of the Alix boards I used to work with years ago. This puts good linear supplies aimed at amateur radio (13.8V) in the frame, along with the iFi Elite power supply in the 12V and 15V option. iFi claim significantly better performance with these than audiophile linear power supplies.

[@jupitalynho2303]

ZEN accepts 9V - 15 V

[@werner134897]

Hi all, I am looking for a streamer that allows more than 1 user account configured for online streaming services (Deezer, Quobuz) and that comes with an app for your phone to control the streamer which automatically links with the streaming service account of the the user that owns the phone. I.e. Two people can use the streamer interchangeably, each being presented with their own streaming playlist. Does a streamer exist that does this?

[@werner134897]

I realize now this is solved through use of tidal connect. I switched from Deezer to Tidal. And it works with my bluesound node 2.

[@mindhead1]

I appreciate the thoroughness of the review, but the Zen Stream does not seem any better than a Raspberry Pi. Many of the critiques of the RPi are resolved with an RPi 4. I’ve had an RPi 4 running MoOde Audio in my system for about a year ad it’s been very reliable and sounds great. Total cost of my build, RPi 4, case, Power Supply, SD Card and 128GB USB drive for FLAC was around $150.

[@amdenis]

I use various RP, iFi, Sonore and other devices. I retired an old RP3, replacing it with an RP4. Whether there is any advantage to the iFi vs a homemade depends on as much what you are connecting to and how much electronic noise is being introduced, as it does whether you have the time and interest to build-up a streamer. Unless we listen on higher quality gear (Focal Stellia, Abyss 1266 HP’s, or comparable levels of monitors and supporting electronics), even at 57, and obviously my younger engineers can hear a consistent ABX difference across most source material moving from the RP 4’s to the higher-end gear- and to a lesser degree the iFi streamer. However, if listening on typical few hundred dollar headphones or comparable monitors, much of the difference has not been audible to any significant degree. The same is not true if put on noisy segments, as having an optical electro bridge is quite noticeable, albeit is addressable with an external hardware.

[@RedTTHayo]

You will be amazed when you put a denafrips iris between your Rpi4 and DAC. I did. And I found out that USB isn't that great

[@heerodevries944]

It is not plug and play….I had mine running in 15 minutes…

[@leo11877]

Is Qobuz supported using UPnP renderer only? or native?

[@Currawong]

It doesn't have Qobuz Connect, if that's what you're asking, so you'd need to set it up in your UPnP software.

[@leo11877]

@@Currawong Not Qobuz Connect. I mean by supplying my username password and allowing Qobuz to talk directly to the iFi.

[@Tendervittle]

Can you recommend a linear power supply?

[@circattle]

iFi make their own Elite power supply that comes in 4 different voltage outputs - you’d need the 9V version for this. I have the 15V Elite on my iFi Pro iDSD 4.4 which makes a huge difference compared to the included Pro supply. They don’t come cheap though - they are 300 GBP Edit: There is no 9V version. I was incorrect. The 12V and 15V versions are suitable for the Zen Stream

[@jupitalynho2303]

I Use Teradak. A little expensive in the $ 250. Its 200 W power. Its a beast. I did some custom work on mine… making it an ultimate power supply.

[@ee22oo]

Wow, spotted a Curta calculator in the opening sequence. Content of this channel is now considered absolutely irrefutable.

[@weldon7828]

Why do you no longer use TIDAL?

[@Currawong]

Basically because even the non-Master tier uses modified versions of the lossy MQA files now. For the music I like, the MQA processed files sound very clearly worse than the originals. If you look at their site, they've removed any mention of "lossless", because their music now isn't lossless any longer.

[@dangerzone8408]

When you consider the amount of digital processing involved in every track why would you worry about bit perfect?

[@Currawong]

Depends what you listen to. Some of the minimally-processed music out there is absolutely amazing.

[@dangerzone8408]

@@Currawong Ok. So is there a list of minimally processed music somewhere?

[@xyanide1986]

Digital processing at which point exactly?

[@Currawong]

Native DSD produces some, as well as recordings from David Chesky. Recordings made with the original GAIN system, designed by Mike Moffat, such as Muddy Waters Folk Singer (the original, not the messed-up re-master) are some. There's likely a fair bit of classical music from Decca and others, but I don't know the details.

[@dangerzone8408]

@@Currawong thank you very much. I will check them out.

[@nespressoman]

Anyone compared this to the Bluesound Node?

[@mark9118]

Here is a comparison KZbin video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoGUi6aeZZxrpLc

[@cablebrain9691]

If one connects various digital sources, such as different streamers, to a galvanically isolated and practically jitter absent Holo Audio May Dac (for instance), would their be a difference in sound quality between those sources? If so, why? It would seem to me that that particular DAC would mitigate all of the upstream data timing issues (jitter) and prevent EMI/RFI from reaching the conversion portion of the DAC. Is there any other distortion causing element of a bit-perfect signal that I am missing?

[@Currawong]

The USB receiver can generate noise too. The more processing done inside a chip of any kind, the more noise it generates. Some newer designs appear to be double-isolated, that is, with isolation after the chip as well.

[@xstensl8823]

what is a SU1?

[@Currawong]

Singxer SU-1.

[@johnsweda2999]

What Linux OS does it have

[@Currawong]

VolumeIO is based upon Debian.

[@johnsweda2999]

Right can you put AP Linux on it audiophile Linux

[@westernartifact580]

Mostly good video although it’s very hard to tell where you are and what you’re talking about when your screen is showing microscopic fonts on your monitor. Also might have been better not to assume viewers k ow how to even get to those screens (you pass quickly over the software connection). Finally, I think the inclusion of your “digital to digital” converter in the discussion is inappropriate, confusing, and probably detrimental in use. Leave it out.

[@AllboroLCD]

A linear PSU will improve the performance of ANY piece of kit that originally came with a wall wart!

[@gradientnetwork2416]

Anyone who calls this thing plugin play, reliable, consistent, stable or anything of the like is lying or they love fiddling with things. If you want to listen to music DO NOT BUY. Does it sound good? Yeah, all the same as the Node that works all the time. $200 more for the Node is really for your mental health.

[@Currawong]

So I'm lying about it having sat here for months without issues? I suspect it does have weird issues that only show up under certain conditions, in certain set-ups.

[@gradientnetwork2416]

@@Currawong more of a general comment. But maybe you could clarify a few points. Do you ever turn your amp off? Change your source? Or turn off the ifi Stream? How smooth are things after that? Do your setting remain or does it default changing the volume management? Which version of the firmware are you using? Does your ifi app ever crash?

[@mark9118]

I recently bought the Zen Stream and had numerous setup and connection problems, probably similar to you. During initial setup, I had upgraded the firmware (via the Internet connection) in the Settings. After much frustration, I used the reset button to go back to the factory installed firmware, and everything worked perfectly after that. The only issue for me is that the newer firmware added support for MQA passthrough on Tidal to an external DAC. When they get their new firmware fixed, then I will upgrade it.

[@michaelwright1602]

I was going to replace my Node with the Zen Stream, I sent it back, it was the software, total garbage for my application. I kept the Node, and then replaced it with the Pi2 Mercury v2 and erased the Volumio software and replaced with RoPieeeXL. Rock solid and sounds incredible. So much so, I can hear the difference in cables. And I never thought I would hear myself say anything like that, as I used to be a "science" guy. Eating some humble pie. ;-)

[@christopher1800]

As far as I understand, the iFi Zen Stream has all-digital circuity, digital input and digital output. So how can the power supply improve SQ? Digital bits are unaware of power. It’s either a 1 or a 0. And if it gets messed up, it certainly doesn’t know about highs/mids/lows/soundstage or whatever standard one uses for SQ. If it actually does change the SQ, this means there’s a digital processor that does something with the bits. Now, it’s not like I don’t *want to* believe the reviewer, but from a technical standpoint, it doesn’t make sense. By the way, this principle also make me have doubts about this entire unit, and espessially its price. If you have rasp. Pi 4, (not 3) with an SD-card and Volumio or Ropieee running on it, you pretty much have the same thing… and that one *does* in fact do DSD512 (not that it matters much.. I agree with the reviewer on that one).

[@Currawong]

Hi. "The Reviewer" here. A digital signal is more accurately thought of in terms of being a square wave transmitted in the analog domain. (A "1" and a "0" is better for imaging the instantaneous state of something in a digital system when the underlying electronics aren't being considered.) The quality of that square wave also includes any other signals with it, such as noise, coming from connected components, the hardware itself as it corrects for transmission issues, *or the power supply*. Likewise, the ability of the power supply to supply a steady voltage and current to the device, even with inconsistencies with the power being fed into it, must be considered, as the failure to do so will result in performance issues with the circuit. That being said, I don't like how it affects the sound either.