[Kiats]

The iFi Zen Stream has finally arrived. Pretty easy to set up and run. Have Roon running. Tried Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect. Also set up QQ Music for QPlay via wifi to the ZS. Interesting one is KK Box which does not show the iFi ZS. Oh well…

[edit: now it does. Just took a while to register]

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

The iFi Zen Stream has finally arrived. Pretty easy to set up and run. Have Roon running. Tried Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect. Also set up QQ Music for QPlay via wifi to the ZS. Interesting one is KK Box which does not show the iFi ZS. Oh well…

[edit: now it does. Just took a while to register]

Thanks! Hope you enjoy!

 

[Kamil21]

Here is a review in French where a user using Kii Three speakers compares the Zen Stream with Grimm MU1 and Lumin. If the ZS is a giant killer here, I wonder what the Neo has in store. Users of the Kii whose preference is AES input, like me, lament that that the ZS does not have AES output like the Grimm.

http://forum-hifi.fr/thread-542-page-394.html

 

[Coastal Bluff]

Having spent ages trying to decide which streamer to buy, I finally pulled the trigger on the Stream.

I have only used it with Tidal Connect and it has been brilliant.

It only took me twenty minutes to get it connected and up and running.

Having read some previous posts here, I was a little concerned there might be some problems with Tidal Connect. I am so pleased mine has worked pretty much perfectly.

 

[Kiats]

I use the ZS with Roon and QQ Music primarily. Am happy with the functionality of that. KKBox is still via airplay. Pity it does not have Chromecast as this stage.

It is fine. That’s why I have Chromecast Audio. Gives me alternatives. Ditto for FiiO BTA30 Pro and LDAC.

 

[Maxpain]

Hello...can someone explain what happens with the led colours on the zen stream after firmware update to 2.31.7? Why some mqa songs are presented with green colour and others with blue or magenta? Are they not all supposed to be high res?

I am trying to find online the specs of the new firmware that was declaring the colours but I just can't find it anywhere.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Hello...can someone explain what happens with the led colours on the zen stream after firmware update to 2.31.7? Why some mqa songs are presented with green colour and others with blue or magenta? Are they not all supposed to be high res?

I am trying to find online the specs of the new firmware that was declaring the colours but I just can't find it anywhere.

MQA led colours was changed a few updates back to be more in line with Tidals color scheme.

Older devices will still report original MQA formats, and colors.

Not everything on Tidal is "hi Rez" so green n blue should be your major colors you see, with yellow for 16/44 and possible Magenta or whatever that is lol for other MQA files!

Hope that doesn't make it worse, lmao

Cheers!!

 

[Maxpain]

MQA led colours was changed a few updates back to be more in line with Tidals color scheme.

Older devices will still report original MQA formats, and colors.

Not everything on Tidal is "hi Rez" so green n blue should be your major colors you see, with yellow for 16/44 and possible Magenta or whatever that is lol for other MQA files!

Hope that doesn't make it worse, lmao

Cheers!!

Thanks for the answer...do you know where can I find the ifi's sheet that indicates what colour is for what?

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Thanks for the answer...do you know where can I find the ifi's sheet that indicates what colour is for what?

Here you go,...

https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/ZEN-Stream-User-Manual-Ver1.41_ok.pdf

Cheers!!

 

[Maxpain]

Here you go,...

https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/ZEN-Stream-User-Manual-Ver1.41_ok.pdf

Cheers!!

Thanks again!

 

[Maxpain]

After some research I found out that magenta colour means that software has done the first unfold of the mqa decoding...now my chais is -zen stream-zen dac signature-zen can signature....does that mean that I have to turn the mqa passthrough in zen streams options to ''on" or ''auto"? Is my gear even possible for fully decoding mqa? And if so...what settings should I be using? I would definitely appreciate some input from ifi

Cheers!

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

After some research I found out that magenta colour means that software has done the first unfold of the mqa decoding...now my chais is -zen stream-zen dac signature-zen can signature....does that mean that I have to turn the mqa passthrough in zen streams options to ''on" or ''auto"? Is my gear even possible for fully decoding mqa? And if so...what settings should I be using? I would definitely appreciate some input from ifi

Cheers!

I believe I had mine set to auto, it all gets fixed in the wash per say, lol

But I am no longer a Tidal user, so those more into the "MQA Scene" might be better versed in whats proper!

Cheers!!

 

[endless402]

After some research I found out that magenta colour means that software has done the first unfold of the mqa decoding...now my chais is -zen stream-zen dac signature-zen can signature....does that mean that I have to turn the mqa passthrough in zen streams options to ''on" or ''auto"? Is my gear even possible for fully decoding mqa? And if so...what settings should I be using? I would definitely appreciate some input from ifi

Cheers!

Use your ears to decide.
It depends if you like the first unfold filter that mqa uses, which makes the sound “sharper” and “more dynamic”.

If you set it to “on”, it will bypass the first unfold and send the original file to your dac.

 

[Maxpain]

Use your ears to decide.
It depends if you like the first unfold filter that mqa uses, which makes the sound “sharper” and “more dynamic”.

If you set it to “on”, it will bypass the first unfold and send the original file to your dac.

Yes but the zen dac signature is not capable of fully decode the mqa file as the manual says...it is an mqa renderer...my goal is to use the best settings for my gear to have the optimal result...I mean in paper...I mean there are those who doesn't use mqa at all and just stream the hifi version of the albums..personaly I like mqa in most cases...

BUT....I find that when an album triggers the blue led on the stream...which means that is an mqa studio album the quality is good...when an album is triggering the green light...the quality is much worse and I do prefer the hifi version.

That is why I want to understand the colours and what does my gear sends eventually to the dac.

Cheers and enjoy Sunday

 

[endless402]

Yes but the zen dac signature is not capable of fully decode the mqa file as the manual says...it is an mqa renderer...my goal is to use the best settings for my gear to have the optimal result...I mean in paper...I mean there are those who doesn't use mqa at all and just stream the hifi version of the albums..personaly I like mqa in most cases...

BUT....I find that when an album triggers the blue led on the stream...which means that is an mqa studio album the quality is good...when an album is triggering the green light...the quality is much worse and I do prefer the hifi version.

That is why I want to understand the colours and what does my gear sends eventually to the dac.

Cheers and enjoy Sunday

You’re just missing the final unfold when you get the zen stream to render the file. Mqa is a multi stage process.

I’ve had both types of dacs. Mqa and non mqa decoding. Trust your ears, not the theory. When playing masters level quality and turning on mqa passthrough I prefer my non mqa dac over my mqa dac.

If you’re listening to masters level, and do mqa passthrough, you get 44 and 48khz of the original master vs on hifi, you only get 44khz. At least on masters quality level, you get the original (or original multiple) sampling rate.

In the end, trust your ears and do whatever works best for you.