iFi Zen Stream: Setup, Tips, Tricks...

[iFi audio]

I successfully installed the update, however I still had problems connecting over wifi to Tidal Connect.

So I decided to follow good practice and start from a factory reset. However, on re-setting, both lights went red, waited, and waited for it to power down but nothing. Re-cycled power and I get the power led but no Red LED on the LHS. Tried ethernet (it connects) and wifi, and several further re-sets and it still does not work.

I have done this a number of time but it looks bricked. Anyone else experienced this?

Sorry this happened to you, we can get you going for sure.

First things first, Do you have a Windows PC to use for this process?

Cheers!!

 

[SiF123]

Sorry this happened to you, we can get you going for sure.

First things first, Do you have a Windows PC to use for this process?

Cheers!!

All done. Your help desk sorted in no time thanks!

 

[iFi audio]

All done. Your help desk sorted in no time thanks!

Awesome! Glad to hear that!

Cheers!!

 

[iFi audio]

As a reminder folks...

The new update 2.32.10 can take 5 minutes or more to complete, please give it time.

It may even look like it has stalled at 60-70% resist the urge to power off or unplug!!

Once finished you can access ifi.local and go to settings- system settings- and take a moment to run the first config again, this should setup the new firmware and zen for use.

Cheers!!

 

[SiF123]

Yes, I have experienced that - twice!
Do you happen to have a new internet provider or new network device since your ZS was first established on your network?
I’m no internet expert and in fact the IT department where I used to work nicknamed me “Kryptonite” for my ability to mess up all things computer…
That said, my ZS worked problem and hassle free until my internet service provider updated my service to fiber, and provided a new router. After that, I wasn’t able to connect to Tidal Connect and instead was relegated to using AirPlay UNTIL I found Mr BubbaHyde’s repost of another poster’s advice to try using custom DNS settings of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 if one experienced issues with Tidal not being able to “see” the ZS.
In short, I had the same exact issue as you after installing the update last week.
My solution was to buy a new ZS, and send the old one in to be refreshed.
I don’t have a computer anymore to do the refresh myself, only an iPhone, so my choice was limited. If I had a computer here, I understand I could have “refreshed” it myself with iFi’s help.
The new ZS I received and initiated/established on my current network worked great out of the box using Mr BubbaHyde’s initial set up video using wired connection. (Not the reset procedure on the first post.) And, I performed the update yesterday with the ZS still wired and the ZS has worked flawlessly since. (It is now not wired via Ethernet and is performing perfectly via WiFi, and without needing the 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 trick.)
In my case, I chose to buy a 50’ Ethernet cable this time so I could set up the unit connected to both Ethernet and USB, rather than initially to Ethernet only and then moving the unit to another room as I have done previously.
Apologies for my rambling!

Hi. Yes, there was no change at all to the environment! And ifi just send a tool to reflash and all was good. Took about 1hr including logging the support request! The instructions were very good. You do need a pc however.

 

[Lvivske]

Was comparing the Zen to another streamer tonight and decided to see how the ZS fared with my A32 LPS (which I was just relegating for networking) instead of the Topping P50 just out of curiosity. It's honestly wild how much the power affects this thing. I haven't picked a winner yet, but the vocal presentation shift is so prominent. Dont know if it's from noise, or from them being different voltages, or just different design....magic?

 

[hatbox]

Hi all!
Zen Stream does not scan the music library on an external USB drive - Seagate 512 GB. On firmware 2.31.7, out of 80 folders, only 9 are visible. I formatted the hard drive in NTFS and FAT32 - the result is the same. I installed the latest firmware - 2.32.10 - does not see the USB drive at all. How to overcome this?

 

[twrr]

There is no solution for that, i have the same problem.
ZS uses some kind of modified Volumio that they are unable and do not know how to upgrade. The same thing happened with the RPI4 and PI2AES card until latest Volumio upgrade and since then it loads the whole disk immediately.
I have solution for that but it is not practical if you constantly loading new music on your hdd.
First you have to buy something like this or extension usb cable to avoid damage usb port on ZS


When is stops loading pull out usb cable of your hdd for a 1/4 of second and return it back, you will see that led on your hdd will start flashing, when it stop after few seconds do that again and again and again...
Don't even have to take the whole out of the port, half is enough and put it back right away.
You can check after first time on Volumio is there any change. For 500gh hdd i need to do this ten times.

 

[hatbox]

I appreciate the advice,
but unfortunately this method did not work for me. after a certain amount of poking around, a dozen more folders appeared, but then everything was reset to the previous numbers.
I did it a little differently. connected the hard drive to the router. over the wire, Streamer saw the entire music library.

I wonder if anyone tried to format the hard drive in ext3 or ext4?

 

[georgev]

So i just updated my Zen Stream firmware yesteday.
After the update, i(from the app), asked it to restart and now it does not power on.
The light does not come on and i cannot even do the "Hard Reset".
Help please?

 

[iFi audio]

So i just updated my Zen Stream firmware yesteday.
After the update, i(from the app), asked it to restart and now it does not power on.
The light does not come on and i cannot even do the "Hard Reset".
Help please?

Sorry, this has happened to you.

If there are no lights at all on the unit it's best to start a support ticket as they will be the most help.

https://support.ifi-audio.com/

Cheers!!

 

[georgev]

Thanks.
I spoke to the local supplier and he said to bring it in.
Later, i moved the power supply to another socket, and we are up and away again.
Thanks.

 

[iFi audio]

Thanks.
I spoke to the local supplier and he said to bring it in.
Later, i moved the power supply to another socket, and we are up and away again.
Thanks.

That's good news, glad to hear it!

Cheers!!

 

[brandtacious]

Is anyone having distortion issues since the latest ZS and Tidal updates?
This week when it turned everything on, it sounded like I had blown both speakers or fried something in my amp.
First, I changed out all the tubes in my amp to known good tubes. No difference.
Next, I hooked up a different pair of speakers. No difference in distortion.
Then, I hooked up a different amp. No difference in distortion.
Next, changed amp power cord, and changed 15V LPS power supply to ZS to the 9V powers supply that came with the ZS. No difference in distortion.
At wits end, I changed the Audio Quality settings on the Tidal app through my iPhone to “Low” on both WiFi and Mobile Data. Distortion completely gone, but sounded like garbage on Low audio quality setting. The good news was at that point, I knew neither my speakers or amp were blown. Instead, the issue had to be one of three things: the ZS; the iFi Signature DAC V2; or the stream from Tidal.
So, turned to Google. Apparently, some DACs of different brands from time to time have difficulty streaming Tidal, where it produces sounds like one has blown speakers or serious amp problems.
Next, I googled iFi Signature DAC V2. It is updateable, if you have a computer. I don’t, because I’m retired and never was good with those things. However, it looks like there are three (3) updates one can load on one’s Signature DAC V2. So, I thought maybe I’d contact support and get a ticket to send it in to be updated. But, thought I better wait - I had two ZS in service to be refreshed, so thought I’d wait until I got those back in order to eliminate the possibility that the ZS I currently have hooked up wasn’t the culprit.
I hooked all my original equipment back up Wednesday and just listened on Tidal’s “Low” quality setting.
Yesterday morning, I listened again on the “Low” quality audio setting, but experimented changing from “Low” to “High” to “Max,” and while there was still distortion on “High” and “Max,” it wasn’t nearly as bad. Still not good, but it no longer sounded like my speakers were blown on “High” and “Max.”
Yesterday afternoon, received in the mail from iFi the two ZS’s that I sent in for refreshing - fantastic and super fast service!
Today, I set up one of the newly refreshed ZS’s.
I also noticed today that the Tidal app had an update, so I updated it and played several songs. Still distortion - not like the speakers were blown, but still annoying. I have a very resolving system and any distortion is annoying.
Anyway, I’m sitting here now streaming music and wondering if anyone else has come across this issue, and/or what solutions may be available.
Some songs sound great now. Here are screen shots of the songs that are still particularly annoying to listen to because of distortion.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Would sending my DAC in for an update be helpful, or is this something that Tidal is just going to continue to present problems with phasing out MQA, or maybe something else completely?
Apologies for the epic length of this post!

 

[brandtacious]

Is anyone having distortion issues since the latest ZS and Tidal updates?
This week when it turned everything on, it sounded like I had blown both speakers or fried something in my amp.
First, I changed out all the tubes in my amp to known good tubes. No difference.
Next, I hooked up a different pair of speakers. No difference in distortion.
Then, I hooked up a different amp. No difference in distortion.
Next, changed amp power cord, and changed 15V LPS power supply to ZS to the 9V powers supply that came with the ZS. No difference in distortion.
At wits end, I changed the Audio Quality settings on the Tidal app through my iPhone to “Low” on both WiFi and Mobile Data. Distortion completely gone, but sounded like garbage on Low audio quality setting. The good news was at that point, I knew neither my speakers or amp were blown. Instead, the issue had to be one of three things: the ZS; the iFi Signature DAC V2; or the stream from Tidal.
So, turned to Google. Apparently, some DACs of different brands from time to time have difficulty streaming Tidal, where it produces sounds like one has blown speakers or serious amp problems.
Next, I googled iFi Signature DAC V2. It is updateable, if you have a computer. I don’t, because I’m retired and never was good with those things. However, it looks like there are three (3) updates one can load on one’s Signature DAC V2. So, I thought maybe I’d contact support and get a ticket to send it in to be updated. But, thought I better wait - I had two ZS in service to be refreshed, so thought I’d wait until I got those back in order to eliminate the possibility that the ZS I currently have hooked up wasn’t the culprit.
I hooked all my original equipment back up Wednesday and just listened on Tidal’s “Low” quality setting.
Yesterday morning, I listened again on the “Low” quality audio setting, but experimented changing from “Low” to “High” to “Max,” and while there was still distortion on “High” and “Max,” it wasn’t nearly as bad. Still not good, but it no longer sounded like my speakers were blown on “High” and “Max.”
Yesterday afternoon, received in the mail from iFi the two ZS’s that I sent in for refreshing - fantastic and super fast service!
Today, I set up one of the newly refreshed ZS’s.
I also noticed today that the Tidal app had an update, so I updated it and played several songs. Still distortion - not like the speakers were blown, but still annoying. I have a very resolving system and any distortion is annoying.
Anyway, I’m sitting here now streaming music and wondering if anyone else has come across this issue, and/or what solutions may be available.
Some songs sound great now. Here are screen shots of the songs that are still particularly annoying to listen to because of distortion.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Would sending my DAC in for an update be helpful, or is this something that Tidal is just going to continue to present problems with phasing out MQA, or maybe something else completely?
Apologies for the epic length of this post!

Well, ZERO noticeable distortion now through my set up is the good news - bad news is only some songs on my Tidal playlists will play at all, and the stream stops after every song.
Each time I start a song, it plays through my iPhone, and I have to manually connect to Tidal Connect again each song (of the songs that play today).
I haven’t changed any settings in the ifi.local, where it has been set to “Continuous.”
So, while I’m no good at all with computer stuff, looks likely my distortion issue last week may have been due to Tidal changing stuff around to get rid of MQA, and today’s one song at a time may also likely be Tidal-related. I hope the one song at a time issue sort of just “goes away” relatively quickly like the distortion issue did.
Is anyone else experiencing this one?