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

[iFi audio]

It seems this thread is now devoted to promotion of iFi products rather than support for ZS owners - I'm signing off.

As per @Mr BubbaHyde's post, our LAN iSilencer is a product designed for network devices including streamers, so we posted our announcement here to let everyone interested that we now have such a product. As for support, there's Bubba here, me and our entire support staff ready to help customers in need, so please feel free to ask about anything and we'll gladly help, thanks

 

[twrr]

I feel that way too, for fe is It's unbelievable to me that for a product that has more than enough bugs they don't try to fix it ASAP.
I will probably swithc to Auralic Femto with Sbooster

 

[twrr]

I feel that way too, for fe is It's unbelievable to me that for a product that has more than enough bugs they don't try to fix it ASAP.
I will probably swithc to Auralic Femto with Sbooster.

I tried with tech support about non indexing all folders but they stopped answering me and the problem remained unresolved.
The device often freezes, so I have to restart it and the loses all all loaded folders...

 

[rwelles]

It seems this thread is now devoted to promotion of iFi products rather than support for ZS owners - I'm signing off.

​

I'm glad iFi posted about a new product to work with the ZS (among others). I decided to order one.

If you drop a thread because of a single post, then you have a much lower tolerance than I have...

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

I tried with tech support about non indexing all folders but they stopped answering me and the problem remained unresolved.
The device often freezes, so I have to restart it and the loses all all loaded folders...

I also tried addressing your indexing issue, but as with many things, problems for one are not problems for all. I am sorry you never got it working but I did try to give you a hand with this.

Cheers!!

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

I'm glad iFi posted about a new product to work with the ZS (among others). I decided to order one.

If you drop a thread because of a single post, then you have a much lower tolerance than I have...

I plan on getting one myself, it will be interesting on my end to compare the ZS with this and compare it against the NEO Stream, the way I'm looking at it then both will have an "Optibox Like" component to them.

I am certainly looking forward to your thoughts on it after you have had a chance to give it a whirl!

Cheers!!

 

[moriez]

It seems this thread is now devoted to promotion of iFi products rather than support for ZS owners - I'm signing off.

I felt the announcement of the LAN iSilencer might have been of some interest to ZS owners, as it could bring an "Optibox Like" experience to the ZS.

To be fair, page 56 does have more unnecessary announcing than related to the streamer.

For the most part, the ZS is rock solid, and looked at in perspective most users are just like you and me, and many more will never even see this thread.

But most here are tinkerers and are always trying to squeeze another tick of greatness out of our gear, and sometimes that leads to issues. Also, many of these pages of posts are simply brought on by incorrect setup, missed steps, or Network issues sometimes completely unrelated to the actual ZS itself.

So this thread is best viewed thru a skewed lens, as most who never have issues, will not only never look for it, but also have no need to!

Those are the many we don't hear from.

Cheers!!

I felt a bit in disagreement at the time of your reply. Different lens. Now that I see you've taken on a new role as a sponsor I'm curious if you have been an employee since starting the thread or it happened in the course of. Not that I think the answer makes a difference. I mean the thread has been useful to me and other owners.

 

[SiF123]

I have a simple use case for the ZS - using it as a Tidal Connect bridge to my DAC over wifi. But I have exactly the same issues as others, with frequent disconnections, and an inability to re-connect. I have tried all of the fixes described so far in this forum, but to no avail. As an ex-software engineer I couldn't help but try to localise the issue.

I used the Tidal app. Now, it isn't a connection issue as the other Chromecast devices are seen, albeit the list may take a few seconds to populate. The ZS connection can take 10 minutes to appear. Frequently, on trying to connect, it has a go and times out. A number of attempts are then required. This suggest that ZS is not responding to peer-to-peer requests, or is heavily loaded (doing what, it is a powerful processor!).

I used different android and iOS devices to see if it was the OS stack or chipset implementations, such as low-power modes. Still didn't work.

I tried the DNS settings to 8.8.8.8. Didn't work, and couldn't see how it would affect it anyway.

Turned everything off on the ZS, including queued playlists to see if it was a processor loading or memory issue. Still didn't work.

Tried a wired connection to a wifi repeater. Still didn't work.

However, when trying to connect directly via wifi (mode 1) it frequently STILL fails to connect. This suggests that it isn't the Tidal app that is the issue.

It is definitely the ZS not loading the network stack, or managing the request thread from a peer, either through prioritisation or because of processor overload. Others have made the same comment a long time ago and it should have been addressed by now.

Given that this is a fundamental aspect of its design, why hadn't it been tested before it was sold! Even in my simple use case, I have spotted a number of other software-related issues, and, combined with 57 pages of bug-reports above, in my experience such flaky software is down to poor software design, poor development discipline and a lack of quality and testing.

So when are iFi going to stop the development of new products and divert focus into getting a new software issue released?

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

To be fair, page 56 does have more unnecessary announcing than related to the streamer.



I felt a bit in disagreement at the time of your reply. Different lens. Now that I see you've taken on a new role as a sponsor I'm curious if you have been an employee since starting the thread or it happened in the course of. Not that I think the answer makes a difference. I mean the thread has been useful to me and other owners.

I have only just recently gone to work for iFi, mostly because of my posting here on Head-Fi.

When I tell you my Zen Stream has always been Rock Solid, I mean that with all honesty, I have rarely had such issues, you can even search my posts in the Main Zen Stream thread and have been an avid supporter of it since I first purchased it.

I started this thread because of my desire to help folks with the set-up procedure I had done, and at that time to take myself away from the Main thread, as (at that time) I was becoming very disappointed in the tone of some of the posts. I thought perhaps by starting my own thread I could escape that somewhat, and continue to help newcomers here.

Hope that helps you out!

Cheers!!

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

I have a simple use case for the ZS - using it as a Tidal Connect bridge to my DAC over wifi. But I have exactly the same issues as others, with frequent disconnections, and an inability to re-connect. I have tried all of the fixes described so far in this forum, but to no avail. As an ex-software engineer I couldn't help but try to localise the issue.

I used the Tidal app. Now, it isn't a connection issue as the other Chromecast devices are seen, albeit the list may take a few seconds to populate. The ZS connection can take 10 minutes to appear. Frequently, on trying to connect, it has a go and times out. A number of attempts are then required. This suggest that ZS is not responding to peer-to-peer requests, or is heavily loaded (doing what, it is a powerful processor!).

I used different android and iOS devices to see if it was the OS stack or chipset implementations, such as low-power modes. Still didn't work.

I tried the DNS settings to 8.8.8.8. Didn't work, and couldn't see how it would affect it anyway.

Turned everything off on the ZS, including queued playlists to see if it was a processor loading or memory issue. Still didn't work.

Tried a wired connection to a wifi repeater. Still didn't work.

However, when trying to connect directly via wifi (mode 1) it frequently STILL fails to connect. This suggests that it isn't the Tidal app that is the issue.

It is definitely the ZS not loading the network stack, or managing the request thread from a peer, either through prioritisation or because of processor overload. Others have made the same comment a long time ago and it should have been addressed by now.

Given that this is a fundamental aspect of its design, why hadn't it been tested before it was sold! Even in my simple use case, I have spotted a number of other software-related issues, and, combined with 57 pages of bug-reports above, in my experience such flaky software is down to poor software design, poor development discipline and a lack of quality and testing.

So when are iFi going to stop the development of new products and divert focus into getting a new software issue released?

Having that many disruptions/disconnects are not normal for the ZS, if you haven't already please open a support ticket thru the iFi Audio website, under the support Tab at the top right, perhaps you have got something more going on than the common Tidal interruptions.

Cheers!!

 

[twrr]

Hire someone to fix software bugs and make proper update of volumio.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Hire someone to fix software bugs and make proper update of volumio.

I again point out bugs for some are not bugs for all!

As far as updating Volumio, if I see or hear anything I will be sure to let you know, but I think it's important to realize the Stream-iFi software was based on Volumio and not just Volumio, if it was then it would look just like normal Volumio, which while it is similar it isn't Volumio.

If I was to look at it from my perspective, I personally see no need for any update to the Software, notice I said (I) and not iFi, as I know they are always taking things into consideration. I (I) Have no issues loading my entire hard drive into the player, you do...see how that works? I had previously suggested to you that you start with a single folder from the (UN)readable drive and add one at a time until you encounter an issue,... I never heard back from you if you tried that or not.

Look folks bottom line is no streamer is "perfect", there are layers of issues in one way or another with almost all of them out there, I have owned many, and I read about them always. One would need to look no further than update logs for every other streamer manufacturer to see that "Tidal Issues" are present in every one of them, and always the same... skips, disconnects, not playing... Even the Wiim mini is not immune, I know as I own one of them as well.

Now the last thing, I started this thread to help ZS users, that was Waayyy before I took a position with iFi and at that time I wrote this in the very first post...

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-zen-stream-setup-tips-tricks.961425/post-16740713

So insulting iFi product or the company was always a priority here in my thread, so my suggestion is to take that kind of Talk to the Main thread about the ZS sponsored by iFi

Thanks for listening, and hearing me out!

Cheers!!

 

[SiF123]

Having that many disruptions/disconnects are not normal for the ZS, if you haven't already please open a support ticket thru the iFi Audio website, under the support Tab at the top right, perhaps you have got something more going on than the common Tidal interruptions.

Cheers!!

Thanks, I will.

But I disagree. There are many such comments that point to exactly the same symptoms. But the answer is always the random walk approach to problem solving, as opposed to a systematic investigation into the causes of the bugs. I tried to eliminate the non-obvious ones from the source perspective, recognising that the developers don't have control over the entire stack. Tidal works fine for me on other streamers/dacs for instance, so to keep blaming it is a dereliction.

It can't be hardware as quality manufacturing processes are ubiquitous nowadays. It must be software by elimination, and most of this is off-the-shelf nowadays and so it comes down to design.

 

[SiF123]

Hire someone to fix software bugs and make proper update of volumio.

If this is true of all their software enabled products they will not be around for much longer. The Technical Director needs to get a grip. It isn't new or particularly complex technology.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Thanks, I will.

But I disagree. There are many such comments that point to exactly the same symptoms. But the answer is always the random walk approach to problem solving, as opposed to a systematic investigation into the causes of the bugs. I tried to eliminate the non-obvious ones from the source perspective, recognising that the developers don't have control over the entire stack. Tidal works fine for me on other streamers/dacs for instance, so to keep blaming it is a dereliction.

It can't be hardware as quality manufacturing processes are ubiquitous nowadays. It must be software by elimination, and most of this is off-the-shelf nowadays and so it comes down to design.

If you are willing to I have on occasion offered my assistance thru PM if you would like to share with me how you have diagnosed the issue to be the ZS software, I would gladly pass that on to R&D.

I will also challenge you to use any of the "other" streaming services that the ZS works with, by using their free trial procedures to see if the ZS exhibits the same behavior with them as it does with Tidal.

Again, not looking to be argumentative just trying to help

Cheers!!