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

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Sorry late for the party. Don't know if it was discussed. We have a lenghty discussion of this mod on the R26 thread w/c I think would benefit much for the Zen Stream. WHICH iFi Audio has impelemented too on their NEO Stream: Fiber Media Converter (FMC)

Explanation is here:



Materials needed (Min 75Eur, w/ LPS around 200Eur) is in this post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/gus...ve-decoding-music-bridge.963630/post-17295101

Picture of Setup:

Since on this setup the Topping P50 LPS has an empty 15V out (2 5V outs are used by FMC). You could power it too to your Zen Stream.

Awesome!! Thank you for sharing it here!

Cheers!!

 

[Vangelo]

Sorry late for the party. Don't know if it was discussed. We have a lenghty discussion of this mod on the R26 thread w/c I think would benefit much for the Zen Stream. WHICH iFi Audio has impelemented too on their NEO Stream: Fiber Media Converter (FMC)

Explanation is here:



Materials needed (Min 75Eur, w/ LPS around 200Eur) is in this post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/gus...ve-decoding-music-bridge.963630/post-17295101

Picture of Setup:

Since on this setup the Topping P50 LPS has an empty 15V out (2 5V outs are used by FMC). You could power it too to your Zen Stream.

Yah....I did post here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-zen-stream-setup-tips-tricks.961425/page-35#post-17245726

.....didn't generate much interest which is a pity because it is a worthwhile tweak!

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Yeah it is a worthwhile tweak that won't cost much. Maybe another post might give interest to some.
Sorry I did do a search on the thread and the search returned none.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Yeah it is a worthwhile tweak that won't cost much. Maybe another post might give interest to some.
Sorry I did do a search on the thread and the search returned none.

All suggestions and tweaks are greatly appreciated and welcomed here!!

Gonna try to get this one myself, as a NEO owner as well, I am anxious to try this for comparison! Any links you have to what's needed, if you post them I'll be sure to put them in the first post!

Thanks again!

Cheers!!

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

The basic Fiber Optic mod Costs only €75:
Pair of 10Gtek FMCs (€54) 10Gtek a Pair of 1.25G Media Converters(Kit #1), SFP Slot, with a SFP Module, MMF, 850-nm, 550-m
FO Cable (€8) 10Gtek OS2 LC a LC Cable patch in fiber duplex 0.5m
Short Lan Cable (€13) Cat8 25cm RJ45

Options:
LPS (€129): TOPPING P50 LPS
DC Cable (€13): 2 x CableCC USB to Barrel 2.5mm

Total cost of MOD: €217

Throw in another barrel plug for Zen Stream since the Topping LPS has an additional vacant 15V output.

IME, the Delock Lan Isolator after the FMC helps a bit more. Some don't hear nothing BUT Its only €22.

 

[NRW1]

Cover Art Issues

Folks,

I've had my ZS since September. It's been a fantastic add to the system (connected via USB to Topping DAC). I play downloaded Flac files via USB Flash Drive. I'm a Mac user so applications are on my MacBook Air and Apple phone. All my downloads are from HDtracks which are originally downloaded to MacBook Air. They are copied over to flash drive for portability.

Until recently, I've been able to see all the artist's cover art for each album when clicking on the interface's "Album" tab. However, it seems that some of the cover art pictures for some of the albums have disappeared and have been replaced with iFi's logo. I can still access the album and play the songs, but no cover art. A bit of an annoyance if anything since they were all there (all the jpgs are still in the folders on the flash drive).

Things I've done include: 1) ensure Fat32 format, 2) tried other flash drives, 3) soft and hard resets, 4) upgraded to Beta version

Again this just started to happen recently and I've noticed more album covers disappearing. If needed I can add a screenshot for clarity. If there is some insight, I'm open to all suggestions.

Many thanks in advance for the help.

 

[NRW1]

-

 

[skrzyp]

Cover Art Issues

Folks,

I've had my ZS since September. It's been a fantastic add to the system (connected via USB to Topping DAC). I play downloaded Flac files via USB Flash Drive. I'm a Mac user so applications are on my MacBook Air and Apple phone. All my downloads are from HDtracks which are originally downloaded to MacBook Air. They are copied over to flash drive for portability.

Until recently, I've been able to see all the artist's cover art for each album when clicking on the interface's "Album" tab. However, it seems that some of the cover art pictures for some of the albums have disappeared and have been replaced with iFi's logo. I can still access the album and play the songs, but no cover art. A bit of an annoyance if anything since they were all there (all the jpgs are still in the folders on the flash drive).

Things I've done include: 1) ensure Fat32 format, 2) tried other flash drives, 3) soft and hard resets, 4) upgraded to Beta version

Again this just started to happen recently and I've noticed more album covers disappearing. If needed I can add a screenshot for clarity. If there is some insight, I'm open to all suggestions.

Many thanks in advance for the help.

I'm not sure, but this may be caused by the way Volumio handles cover art: If "Web Album Art" in the Sources settings is on, Volumio will use Last.FM to find artwork. Album art embedded in tracks is ignored and will be replaced with one from the web source unless the image is included in the album folder as a separate jpg/png file (e.g. "cover.jpg"). In this case, the local image will be recognized and displayed. I have artwork embedded in all my tracks, but had to use an app (Mp3tag) to extract the cover art in each folder and now my artwork shows up. I keep "Web Abum Art" off since the online source is missing many of the artists/albums in my collection. The forum post linked below has some relevant info: https://community.volumio.org/t/album-art-whats-going-on/11628

 

[NRW1]

I'm not sure, but this may be caused by the way Volumio handles cover art: If "Web Album Art" in the Sources settings is on, Volumio will use Last.FM to find artwork. Album art embedded in tracks is ignored and will be replaced with one from the web source unless the image is included in the album folder as a separate jpg/png file (e.g. "cover.jpg"). In this case, the local image will be recognized and displayed. I have artwork embedded in all my tracks, but had to use an app (Mp3tag) to extract the cover art in each folder and now my artwork shows up. I keep "Web Abum Art" off since the online source is missing many of the artists/albums in my collection. The forum post linked below has some relevant info: https://community.volumio.org/t/album-art-whats-going-on/11628

Many thanks for the reply and link.
Each of the folders do have a cover jpg, and used to display which I assumed meant that the "Volumio" was looking in the local folders on the flash drive.

I did switch off "Web Album Art", but this time clicking on "Artists" tab removed all the artist pics (which I assumed were gathered from a web source). In addition album covers never reappeared. I had used previously "MusicBrainz Picard" which I thought had similar functionality as Mp3tag, but that didn't work out. However, I'll give Mp3tag a shot and see what happens.

Again many thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated.

 

[iFi audio]

iFi Audio has impelemented too on their NEO Stream

Yup, NEO Stream has its very own converter - OptiBox!

Here is a tip for everyone using Mconnect on ios as a controller for streaming Qobus (or Tidal). Use the new Jplay app instead. Much better user-experience and SQ. It's subscription based. First 14 days free, then $50 a year. Totally worth it instead of using the glitchy Mconnect app.

https://jplay.app/

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1608773457

Thanks for flagging! Marcin (JPlay/JCAT founder) does cool things!

 

[NRW1]

I'm not sure, but this may be caused by the way Volumio handles cover art: If "Web Album Art" in the Sources settings is on, Volumio will use Last.FM to find artwork. Album art embedded in tracks is ignored and will be replaced with one from the web source unless the image is included in the album folder as a separate jpg/png file (e.g. "cover.jpg"). In this case, the local image will be recognized and displayed. I have artwork embedded in all my tracks, but had to use an app (Mp3tag) to extract the cover art in each folder and now my artwork shows up. I keep "Web Abum Art" off since the online source is missing many of the artists/albums in my collection. The forum post linked below has some relevant info: https://community.volumio.org/t/album-art-whats-going-on/11628

Problem Solved

Combing through the link you attached, I found this link: https://volumio.com/en/get-perfectly-organized-music-library-guide-bliss-founder-dan-gravell/

Seems like using "cover.jpg", "Cover.jpg", etc. fixed the issue. When I would buy/download albums from HDtracks (or even Qobuz), the artist name was attached to the jpg. For instance "Madonna.jpg" was the jpg cover title. At one point that cover did show but later disappeared. Just changing "Madonna.jpg" to "cover.jpg" solved the issue. Interesting that a large amount of my downloads are still showing their covers with artist name attached to jpg. It was a handful that stopped showing.

Anyway this seemed to have solved the issue.

Can't thank you enough.

 

[bagwell359]

OK, some clarity. I have my iPhone 13 w/ IOS 16.2 working. When I first logged in to my new (old) 13 it updated to 15.*, and then set the auto update off. Update to 16.2, But before that was real Xfinity issues
.
The other issue is: Win 11, Firefox, Wise Care 365, CCleaner (tools/anti virus - all up to date). I get a red line thru the lock glyph, and a click gets you a pop up window that says "Connection not secure". When I go to the network wireless connections page inside the IFI, and click password box, I get "This connection is not secure. Logins entered could be compromised. Learn more."

It's complaining that IFI don't have a certificate. I probably have to add the address to a whitelist - but I could not locate where that is. Anybody have a tip? Or tell me to chill out because the warning isn't actually real.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

In an effort to try and come up with some solutions to the "Cover Art" issue and some other problems, I have made my ZS very angry!

Even my reset procedure is not working this time...

So until I get a working solution, for the time being, unless I have a definitive answer for you guys, I'll have to hang back and wait till I get this going!

Hope you all had a great holiday and a happy new year!

Cheers!!

 

[twrr]

is there a solution to the problem why zen does not load folders from an external drive or is it normal, i.e. it only reads in the brochure

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

is there a solution to the problem why zen does not load folders from an external drive or is it normal, i.e. it only reads in the brochure

Some have had posted issues about reading drives connected, I have found that having FAT32 as a format for the drive and then individual folders by Artist has never caused me an issue.

So artists, then individual albums inside each folder as their own folder. There is also a link posted above relating to the way "Volumio" systems handle this, you may want to take a look at that.

Do Artists or Albums show up for you or nothing at all...

Cheers!!