iFi audio ZEN Stream - The Official Thread

[AMR / iFi audio]

Hi @gryphondiablo ,
thanks for asking.
Perhaps you are on NAA streaming mode. Try to move to exclusive mode 3 (or 1) and see if there is any difference.
The change of the mode may take a few minutes before it kicks in.

 

[gryphondiablo]

Hi @gryphondiablo ,
thanks for asking.
Here is the list of the excusive modes:

1. All-in-one (AIO) covers all modes
2. DLNA streaming
3. NAA streaming
4. Feature coming soon – ROON Ready
5. Tidal streaming

It seems that you are on NAA streaming. Try to move to exclusive mode 5 (or 1) and see if there is any difference.
The change of the mode may take a few minutes before it kicks in.

Hi thanks for the reply
I had selected Tidal streaming which is written on Mode 3 on my zen stream .

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

@gryphondiablo ,
So just to confirm, did you upgrade it to the 2.29.4 firmware? Did you try moving to mode 1? Also, can you try any source other than Tidal and see if that drops too? Does Tidal drop if you play it on your computer/laptop/phone?

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

@gryphondiablo ,
Let me know if it got any better, otherwise I am here to identify the source of your Tidal drops.

 

[michael.s]

Just connected my iFi Zen Streamer - really easy to connect & works beautifully. I'm using TIDAL exclusively, but a couple of questions however. When connected via TIDAL Connect my DAC shows OFS 96khz (on this track), but using mconnect (dlna) it shows MQA. Is there any difference? My interest is to stream MQA files so wondering if that's actually what I'm getting when it says OFS? How should I set the System Selector?
Also, although connected to the ethernet it makes no difference if I disconnect it - it seems to be taking the feed from my iPhone which of course runs down the phone's battery and I wonder if that's the best quality. Is this how it's supposed to work?

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

By the look of it, Tidal Connect doesn’t pass MQA to Stream, it comes through as renderer. OFS is MQA renderer only. Your Dac is probably a full decoder if it shows MQA.

The best idea would be to use DLNA with mconnect to get full MQA decoding.

To use the ethernet cable, try to go to Network Settings > Wireless Network > Wireless Networking set to off.

 

[michael.s]

By the look of it, Tidal Connect doesn’t pass MQA to Stream, it comes through as renderer. OFS is MQA renderer only. Your Dac is probably a full decoder if it shows MQA.

The best idea would be to use DLNA with mconnect to get full MQA decoding.

To use the ethernet cable, try to go to Network Settings > Wireless Network > Wireless Networking set to off.

Thank you for your reply, yes my Dac can do the full MQA unfold. But if I turn off the WiFi (is that what you mean?) then how can the app (iPhone) connect with the streamer? Does the iFi Zen Streamer connect automatically to the WiFi without there being a way to input the network password to it?

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Network settings in iFi-Stream app or web browser. Perhaps, you will find this video helpful

 

[michael.s]

Network settings in iFi-Stream app or web browser. Perhaps, you will find this video helpful

This video shows wi-fi turned off. When doing this, then neither Tidal Connect nor mconnect can see the iFi Zen streamer.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Do you have your Ethernet cable connected?

 

[michael.s]

Do you have your Ethernet cable connected?

Yes definitely connected to the ethernet - white light showing fast connection speed. Since posting above I find that sound does after all stop when I disconnect the ethernet, so clearly this is the pathway for streaming. What has been concerning me is that I believed my mobile phone was doing the streaming and so compromising the sound quality, while at the same time running down its battery. As far as I know the streamer has not connected to my Wi-Fi, but if I turn off Wi-Fi then sound stops. How does the phone (or other app) communicate with the streamer?

 

[SpaceKook]

What a pleasure, after two nightmarish experiences getting Rasp Pi streamers going in the past, to have the IFI Stream streaming music in less than five minutes. An attractive device is also a welcome change. Still some hiccups though. Using the iOS IFI app to update the firmware would not work, no matter the device, the download would freeze at 40%. Using the web portal worked fine. A Mac based way of using Qobuz via network at full resolution would be great as the Stream is nowhere near my computer. Currently, Airplay is the limit. Using ethernet for the network connection, if only the Qobuz Mac app could see the Stream life would be fantastic. Will it be possible to access Qobuz via the IFI Stream web portal in the future? Being new, I've been trying to set the Stream to play for hours on end while I'm away at work to break it in, but for some reason, the Stream hasn't been playing when I arrive home. Still working on this one. LMS may hold the solution.

Update: God Bless Logitech Media Server. Found a UPnP plugin and the IFI Stream popped right up, streaming now from Qobuz through LMS. I've been using LMS since the early 2000's and in tech years, it's two days older than dirt. It's old and it's ugly but it works and...it's free.

 

[Rawlit]

Hello all,

First post for me here

Just got my Zen Stream today, quite happy with sound and setup, the Android app definitely needs improvement, iFi should create a meta app for all streaming platforms to make this an excellent product

I do have an issue with volume control over Spotify and Tidal, when using the Tidal app, volume slider has no effect on volume; when used on Spotify volume is only slightly affected, getting mixed results on Android.

Anyone had similar issues? Appreciate your response and possibly advise for a solution, thank you

Alex

Firmware has been updated to latest

 

[ynotliew]

Hi ifi, i just bought the zen stream and unfortunately did not read the instruction properly and doing the wrong factory reset and now the stream is not working, any solution to it, please help. Thank you.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Yes definitely connected to the ethernet - white light showing fast connection speed. Since posting above I find that sound does after all stop when I disconnect the ethernet, so clearly this is the pathway for streaming. What has been concerning me is that I believed my mobile phone was doing the streaming and so compromising the sound quality, while at the same time running down its battery. As far as I know the streamer has not connected to my Wi-Fi, but if I turn off Wi-Fi then sound stops. How does the phone (or other app) communicate with the streamer?

@michael.s let's deal with your questions one by one.
1. Music stops when you disconnect ethernet cable - if you set the wireless network off in your Zen Stream app then the default connection is Ethernet.
2. If you are using your phone as a source it is not necessarily compromising the sound quality just because of the fact that it is a phone. The sound quality will be limited by the sound file/format you are feeding into the Zen Stream and your DAC capabilities. Are your files high quality downloads, ripped CDs or are you using a software such as Tidal or Spotify? The Zen Stream is capable of streaming any file format you feed to it up to PCM384/DSD256.
3. The sound files are transported through your local network. In your audio setting the Zen Stream is connected to your router via Ethernet. However, you need to have your source somehow connected to the router as well. In case of your phone the best solution is to connect to your network via Wi-Fi, which means that you need to keep the Wi-Fi on.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

What a pleasure, after two nightmarish experiences getting Rasp Pi streamers going in the past, to have the IFI Stream streaming music in less than five minutes. An attractive device is also a welcome change. Still some hiccups though. Using the iOS IFI app to update the firmware would not work, no matter the device, the download would freeze at 40%. Using the web portal worked fine. A Mac based way of using Qobuz via network at full resolution would be great as the Stream is nowhere near my computer. Currently, Airplay is the limit. Using ethernet for the network connection, if only the Qobuz Mac app could see the Stream life would be fantastic. Will it be possible to access Qobuz via the IFI Stream web portal in the future? Being new, I've been trying to set the Stream to play for hours on end while I'm away at work to break it in, but for some reason, the Stream hasn't been playing when I arrive home. Still working on this one. LMS may hold the solution.

Update: God Bless Logitech Media Server. Found a UPnP plugin and the IFI Stream popped right up, streaming now from Qobuz through LMS. I've been using LMS since the early 2000's and in tech years, it's two days older than dirt. It's old and it's ugly but it works and...it's free.

I am more than happy to hear that you found the solution.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

Welcome ynotliew to wbf.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Hello all,

First post for me here

Just got my Zen Stream today, quite happy with sound and setup, the Android app definitely needs improvement, iFi should create a meta app for all streaming platforms to make this an excellent product

I do have an issue with volume control over Spotify and Tidal, when using the Tidal app, volume slider has no effect on volume; when used on Spotify volume is only slightly affected, getting mixed results on Android.

Anyone had similar issues? Appreciate your response and possibly advise for a solution, thank you

Alex

Firmware has been updated to latest

My recommendation would be to go to settings > General playback option > Volume control > Set Mixer type to “Software''

It should solve your issue.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Hi ifi, i just bought the zen stream and unfortunately did not read the instruction properly and doing the wrong factory reset and now the stream is not working, any solution to it, please help. Thank you.

Hi @ynotliew ,
unfortunately, if the firmware is under V2.25 and you made a factory reset, it needs sending to our distributor or our office to rebuilt the image. It depends on who you bought it from.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

What a pleasure, after two nightmarish experiences getting Rasp Pi streamers going in the past, to have the IFI Stream streaming music in less than five minutes. An attractive device is also a welcome change. Still some hiccups though. Using the iOS IFI app to update the firmware would not work, no matter the device, the download would freeze at 40%. Using the web portal worked fine. A Mac based way of using Qobuz via network at full resolution would be great as the Stream is nowhere near my computer. Currently, Airplay is the limit. Using ethernet for the network connection, if only the Qobuz Mac app could see the Stream life would be fantastic. Will it be possible to access Qobuz via the IFI Stream web portal in the future? Being new, I've been trying to set the Stream to play for hours on end while I'm away at work to break it in, but for some reason, the Stream hasn't been playing when I arrive home. Still working on this one. LMS may hold the solution.

Update: God Bless Logitech Media Server. Found a UPnP plugin and the IFI Stream popped right up, streaming now from Qobuz through LMS. I've been using LMS since the early 2000's and in tech years, it's two days older than dirt. It's old and it's ugly but it works and...it's free.

Also,
The Zen Stream currently supports Airplay 1 and Airplay second generation will be introduced soon.