iFi audio ZEN Stream - Streaming elevated to a higher plane

[jjazzy]

I have exactly the same configuration, but it refuses to connect.

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

I understand, the best answer I can give you is that it's simply a processes thing.

In the exclusive modes, Roon etc. the only thing that runs is strictly related to the functionality of the mode you are in and nothing else. This devotes all resources of the ZS to only that function and only what's necessary.

In AIO mode other things can run, you can cut down on these in the menu of the Stream-iFi app, but it was my understanding that it's not everything, as some processes may still be used (resources).

Cheers!!

Just an update on Firmware. I've installed the latest beta version (from January 23) and the previous issue with the ZS not recognizing the SPDIF output until you'd go to settings and select it again is now gone. I can switch between the USB and the SPIDF cables with the unit turned on and the settings change accordingly, both within the ZS and the Roon App. This is great. However, the Roon Mode doesn't work with this beta version, so I keep it in AIO mode all the time (with the other functions turned off), but I guess this has been extensively described, so iFi should be working on it for the next firmware update. Cheers

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Just an update on Firmware. I've installed the latest beta version (from January 23) and the previous issue with the ZS not recognizing the SPDIF output until you'd go to settings and select it again is now gone. I can switch between the USB and the SPIDF cables with the unit turned on and the settings change accordingly, both within the ZS and the Roon App. This is great. However, the Roon Mode doesn't work with this beta version, so I keep it in AIO mode all the time (with the other functions turned off), but I guess this has been extensively described, so iFi should be working on it for the next firmware update. Cheers

Duly noted, and I will pass it on to those who need to know this!

Thanks for the heads up, as for me I am sort of avoiding the betas after I had an issue and for my general uses it doesn't make much sense for me to have more self inflicted headaches, so I do appreciate those that do, as I used to...LMAO

Cheers!!

 

[DudeMusic]

I have exactly the same configuration, but it refuses to connect.

Hmm, you might need to contact ifi regarding this then.

 

[jjazzy]

Hmm, you might need to contact ifi regarding this then.

I already did. Found a way working, I actually had to enable NFS including ip rights to get it working, but SMB/Cifs, impossible

 

[SHXMD]

Hello!

Need a little assistance from the experts.

Posted on tips and tricks and referred here as well.

After getting past a couple of Mac Mini M 1 quirks with Tidal connect I decided to try my luck with connecting a SSD through USB-A upper with my ripped music. I did not establish a name or password on the SSD.

The Zen actually sees the files but cannot “locate” them for scanning.

They are ex-Fat files individually stored and there is less than a third of a Terabyte

I am aware I need to fill out the categories (on source page) and was hoping for some guidance (direct), elsewhere in this forum or externally (volumio).

Unfortunately, filing out one category incorrectly can lead to an extended headache.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jjazzy]

Hello!

Need a little assistance from the experts.

Posted on tips and tricks and referred here as well.

After getting past a couple of Mac Mini M 1 quirks with Tidal connect I decided to try my luck with connecting a SSD through USB-A upper with my ripped music. I did not establish a name or password on the SSD.

The Zen actually sees the files but cannot “locate” them for scanning.

They are ex-Fat files individually stored and there is less than a third of a Terabyte

I am aware I need to fill out the categories (on source page) and was hoping for some guidance (direct), elsewhere in this forum or externally (volumio).

Unfortunately, filing out one category incorrectly can lead to an extended headache.

Thanks in advance!

What do you mean categories? Can’t you browse or see the files?

 

[jjazzy]

I found out something else yesterday, I have a qutest and connected the ifi stream through usb, and after a while I thought is it me, or do I get irritated by the music? Where is the bass? And midd bass. Even using the red filter of qutest wasn’t enough.

Then I start connecting the latop through usb, with foobar and hq player, both sounded nice, with USB. then I tried bluesound (less detailed, but still really good) with optical also sounded nice.

Both were smooth and detailled sounding.

Then back to ifi-stream usb connected awfull again!!! No I hated it!, thin sounding, bass totally absent (well sort of) it sounded to me like someone turned the treble up and bass all the way down. I use a decent supra USB cable (and with laptop it sounded nice)

What I expected ifi-stream should have sound better than laptop, but it was the other way around??

Is usb bad of the ifi-stream??

 

[jjazzy]

I've completed my homework, in comparing SPDIF to USB output. Both feed into a Chord Qutest. Initially, like I mentioned, SPDIF sounded unconvincing but, thanks to your advice, I went back and tried to figure out why. Since I only had a BNC-BNC cable, I had to deploy an RCA adapter; suddenly my attention was captured by the fact that such adapter had dielectric inside.....it means that it was 50 Ohm and not 75 Ohm....this is what I hate of these things. Long story short, I had to purchase a 75-Ohm BNC-RCA cable...selected one with the right properties and not one from the stupid producers....connected it and......yes it was better. No longer affected by impedance mismatch, the SPDIF output proved a bit better than USB. My criterion is to look for when the sound has definite spatial soundstage, with as little as possible distortion.
To understand the reason why USB is still missing something, it would be necessary to measure electrical noise up to the GHz region, knowing that a non-linear system can generate output harmonics that are a linear combination of the input harmonics, impacting by intermodulation also the audible frequencies. This is the trouble about noise: even though it is high frequency, it can generate components in the audible range by intermodulation.

One request for Ifi. SPDIF output suffers from buffering and consistently misses the first seconds of a track, whereas USB doesn't. It would be nice to minimize this.

Another request for Ifi: would it be possible to know measured noise of both output SPDIF and USB ports? It would help people choosing the best one.

In the end, Zen Stream took over the place of Allo Digione in my system.

Hope it helps, thank you

have you solved the usb issue? I tried yesterday and I am literally disgusted how bad USB - Ifi-Stream sounded connected to the Chord Qutest, so badly even, If I didn't have something else to connect it to, I would have returned the Cutest for the worst sounding dac EVER.

I tested with optical bluesound, and usb laptop connected (foobar wasapi & hqplayer usb) all sounded really good, going back to ifi through usb was awfull again (in a way actually unlistenable, like someone piercing my ear with too much treble and no midbass and bass at al

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

have you solved the usb issue? I tried yesterday and I am literally disgusted how bad USB - Ifi-Stream sounded connected to the Chord Qutest, so badly even, If I didn't have something else to connect it to, I would have returned the Cutest for the worst sounding dac EVER.

I tested with optical bluesound, and usb laptop connected (foobar wasapi & hqplayer usb) all sounded really good, going back to ifi through usb was awfull again (in a way actually unlistenable, like someone piercing my ear with too much treble and no midbass and bass at al

I've been using the Zen Stream for 18 months now and never sounded thin over USB (or SPIDF). It sounds transparent, with good tonal balance and timber. At the moment I use USB out to a Zen Dac Signature V2 and it sounds great, not thin. I also use it with the internal DAC of the Hegel H120 via SPDIF. This sounds rather similar to the former setup thought with a slightly boosted but less defined bass. I guess you need the opinion of people who use the Stream with the Qutest. Cheers

 

[jjazzy]

I've been using the Zen Stream for 18 months now and never sounded thin over USB (or SPIDF). It sounds transparent, with good tonal balance and timber. At the moment I use USB out to a Zen Dac Signature V2 and it sounds great, not thin. I also use it with the internal DAC of the Hegel H120 via SPDIF. This sounds rather similar to the former setup thought with a slightly boosted but less defined bass. I guess you need the opinion of people who use the Stream with the Qutest. Cheers

Maybe connected to a zen dac signature v2. And transparant is not the issue, missing midbass and lower bass does.

What I noticed, tested.
Chord Qutest - USB
- Laptop: Foobar Wasapi : dark back ground, everything transparant and clear, but still supbase
- Laptop: using HQ player and several filters : dark back ground, sounds amazing nothing missing
- Two different Android phones OTG using usb player pro: dark back ground, everything full and warm sounding and still clear
- Iphone 14 pro OTG : dark back ground, clear and sub/mid base still there
- Ipad OTG : dark back ground, clear and sub/mid base still there
- Ifi-stream : indeed clear but really really fatiqueing treble because of the missing midbass and lower bass pushed away (try to figure out what causes that????)
(unless you propably use a darker amp or headphone, not using a soloist 3xgt and planar headphones)

Chord Qutest - optical
bluesound node 2 : dark back ground, less detail (but still very good) but full and warm sounding

Chord qutest BNC
Have to test, cable bnc - rca Is coming today
- Bluesound node2: ....
- Ifi-Stream: ....
- Hiface 2 + laptop + foobar/hqplayer: .....

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

Maybe connected to a zen dac signature v2. And transparant is not the issue, missing midbass and lower bass does.

What I noticed, tested.
Chord Qutest - USB
- Laptop: Foobar Wasapi (everything transparant and clear, but still supbase
- Laptop: using HQ player and several filters, sounds amazing nothing missing
- Two different Android phones OTG using usb player pro: everything full and warm sounding and still clear
- Iphone 14 pro OTG : clear and sub/mid base still there
- Ipad OTG : clear and sub/mid base still there
- Ifi-stream : indeed clear but really really fatiqueing treble because of the missing midbass and lower bass pushed away (try to figure out what causes that????)
(unless you propably use a darker amp or headphone, not using a soloist 3xgt and planar headphones)

Chord Qutest - optical
bluesound node 2 : less detail but full and warm sounding

Chord qutest BNC
Have to test, cable bnc - rca Is coming today
- Bluesound node2: ....
- Ifi-Stream: ....
- Hiface 2 + laptop + foobar/hqplayer: .....

I just tried "Bite Nitegown", from Donald Fagen's "Morph the Cat" and compared the Ifi rig (Zen Stream+Zen Dac sigv2) with the H120 Streaming engine+Dac, both with the same integrated amp (H120) and loudspeakers (Revel). It's full bodied, plenty of bass. I'm not telling you how your system should sound, that would be foolish. I'm just making a point that "sounding thin" is not a trait of the Zen Stream. Is it with the Qutest? Is there anything else that's contributing to such sound characteristic, when coupled with the ZS, notably your amp and headphones? I don't know. In any case I'm following your experience with the Qutest because that's a DAC that always caught my attention. Good luck

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Hello!

Need a little assistance from the experts.

Posted on tips and tricks and referred here as well.

After getting past a couple of Mac Mini M 1 quirks with Tidal connect I decided to try my luck with connecting a SSD through USB-A upper with my ripped music. I did not establish a name or password on the SSD.

The Zen actually sees the files but cannot “locate” them for scanning.

They are ex-Fat files individually stored and there is less than a third of a Terabyte

I am aware I need to fill out the categories (on source page) and was hoping for some guidance (direct), elsewhere in this forum or externally (volumio).

Unfortunately, filing out one category incorrectly can lead to an extended headache.

Thanks in advance!

I think you may be thinking about two different areas for music playback and mixing up the two, I will try to expand...

This is the area in the menu that pertains to USB drives connected to the Upper port on the back of the Zen...

There is nothing to fill in here, you simply connect the drive and it automatically scans it, a big hint is file structure, better to have things in folders, best is a structure like this,
Music (name) > Artist > Album > "files"

The other option is a "Network connected drive" This gets trickier and would best be handled by someone else, so let's say you have a Drive connected to a network switch with all your music stored there.

This is what you will see in that scenario...

SO depending on which one you are using the setup will be a bit different, but connected USB drives directly to the Zen should be plug and play, assuming your file structure is valid.

Hope that helps!

Cheers!!

 

[jjazzy]

I just tried "Bite Nitegown", from Donald Fagen's "Morph the Cat" and compared the Ifi rig (Zen Stream+Zen Dac sigv2) with the H120 Streaming engine+Dac, both with the same integrated amp (H120) and loudspeakers (Revel). It's full bodied, plenty of bass. I'm not telling you how your system should sound, that would be foolish. I'm just making a point that "sounding thin" is not a trait of the Zen Stream. Is it with the Qutest? Is there anything else that's contributing to such sound characteristic, when coupled with the ZS, notably your amp and headphones? I don't know. In any case I'm following your experience with the Qutest because that's a DAC that always caught my attention. Good luck

Trying to figure that out now, with hqplayer and laptop it is almost unbelievable how good the chord qutest sounds.

I came from conductor 3xrgt, had serieus issues with the usb dac part, not playing dsd, dropouts with several usb streamers. (Burson is actually looking into that now, because it has a design issue/ thing that can cause this I think)

So went for soloist 3xrgt + chord qutes, instead. sounds amazing.

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

Trying to figure that out now, with hqplayer and laptop it is almost unbelievable how good the chord qutest sounds.

I came from conductor 3xrgt, had serieus issues with the usb dac part, not playing dsd, dropouts with several usb streamers. (Burson is actually looking into that now, because it has a design issue/ thing that can cause this I think)

So went for soloist 3xrgt + chord qutes, instead. sounds amazing.

Forgot to mention that all comparisons were made using Roon