iFi audio ZEN Stream

Discussion in 'Product Announcements' started by iFi audio, Jun 25, 2021.

  1. schnesim

    schnesim New

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2019
    Likes Received:
    23
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    north
    It's going to work (again). The current beta firmware already supports the 1st unfold.

    See for details: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi...-a-higher-plane.958391/page-182#post-16709955
     
  2. denny_dow

    denny_dow Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2021
    Likes Received:
    98
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    thank you. I have to say, I am considering switching to Qobuz... thing is, I am on Tidal since May 2020 I think, and back then Qobuz was considerably pricier - that, and, supposedly a larger music database, was what settled it for me at the time if I remember correctly. but today I checked Qobuz, and lo and behold - it's EUR 12.50 against EUR 19.99 I am currently paying to Tidal...
     
  3. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Tidal HIFI (lossless, 44.1kHz) is $9.99 now.

    Tidal HIFI Plus adds MQA and Dolby Atmos for $19.99.

    I switched to Qobuz few months ago (for the cheaper price and “f**k MQA” position) and the transition has been mostly seamless.
    I used a free online service to transfer my Playlists and Albums/Artists. Mostly worked out.

    A few albums were missing on Qobuz (no Ori and the Blind Forest :(), but it’s okay.

    I think the most annoying part is the search on Qobuz sucks balls! It’s super slow and the first results aren’t relevant to what I like and “own”. When I search for “Rolling St” it takes a while for the search to give me access to the Stones artist page. It should be obvious that that’s what I’m looking for, not some unknown tracks with “rolling” in the title…
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
  4. denny_dow

    denny_dow Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2021
    Likes Received:
    98
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    actually, I came to Tidal from Spotify and I thought, and still do, that search on Tidal sucks balls compared to Spotify :) makes me wonder about Qobuz. also, the very useful function of 'controlling' Spotify on one device from another seems to be missing still on Tidal (I think it's in the works though). indeed, I am considering a player, but back in the day with Spotify my poor mans solution was to hook up my MacBook Pro, start Spotify, and lounge in my listening chair with an iPad browsing and controlling playback. does Qobuz have something similar?

    and thanks for this:

    >>I used a free online service to transfer my Playlists and Albums/Artists. Mostly worked out.

    may I ask which service have you used? I have not even considered this... I still peek into my Spotify account from time to time for long forgotten favourites :)
     
  5. Metro

    Metro Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,590
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    San Francisco
    It is called Tidal Connect and has been available for almost a year. However, Spotify Connect is supported on many more devices. On Raspberry Pi, Tidal Connect is supported on Volumio (Premium tier).

    On Tidal Connect, you can control a streamer device from a Tidal mobile app, but not yet control a Tidal computer desktop app (Tidal says they are working on it).
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2022
  6. schnesim

    schnesim New

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2019
    Likes Received:
    23
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    north
    Qobuz seems to have an agreement with Soundiiz to transfer playlists from other services and without having to pay for it. (Tidal and Deezer have similar agreements)

    http://blogsv2.qobuz.com/qobuz-blog-en/2017/09/05/import-your-playlists-into-qobuz-with-soundiiz/

    But let's not derail this thread any further.
     
  7. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    It's OK, we're still in the streaming subject after all :)
     
  8. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
  9. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    Folks, we're giving you the chance to win a SupaNova cable worth £349!

    The SupaNova is a multi-faceted active power cable that eradicates noise from dirty mains power and adds clarity to your favourite sounds.

    All you have to do is:
    The winner will be announced 22/04/2022!

    Good luck!

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  10. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    Folks, just a quickie to let you know that ZEN Stream is now officially a Roon Ready device and we already got feedback that used as one it sounds better than it used to :)
     
  11. Lindyschoe

    Lindyschoe New

    Banned
    Joined:
    May 7, 2021
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Canada
    It's a great device! I doubt I'm an audiophile, but to some extent, I am. I have expensive Yamaha HS5 equipment installed, a sound card installed, and all the music I listen to I download in FLAC format. I store all my music on an external hard drive, which I had a bad experience with. I dropped it off the table one day, and it fell on the floor. After that, half of my music stopped playing. I was very scared and immediately decided to contact a data recovery company. The good thing is that it all worked out, and all my music was left intact. I think that later I will buy a more powerful hard drive.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2022
  12. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    I'm not sure what data recovery has to do with ZEN Stream, but OK, I'll take it :rolleyes:
     
  13. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    As you guys now know, our ZEN Stream is officially Roon Ready!

    iFi has teamed up with our partner, Roon Labs, to offer 2,000 lucky applicants a free 60-day trial of their service which delivers hi-res, bit-perfect audio streaming. This is open to all ZEN Stream users. All you need is your serial number.

    Fill in the form below to receive your unique registration code and details of how to use it.


    https://ifi-audio.com/roon-get-a-free-60-day-trial/
     
  14. Seaner

    Seaner New

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2020
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Seattle
    I heard a new Zen Stream is coming out later this year. iFi audio, are you able to comment? Thanks
     
  15. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,284
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Many places.
    Home Page:
    Hi! Sorry, but we don't comment such info. What I can say however is that our R&D is busy with multiple projects and it's been like that for years ;)
     
  16. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2020
    Likes Received:
    885
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Ann Arbor Mi
    Can anyone share on comparising between stream and pi devices (mercury? ) just on ease of use and sound quality.
    best,
    Josh
     
  17. sheldaze

    sheldaze Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    May 28, 2016
    Likes Received:
    977
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Land of Merriment
    Ease of use, the iFi - you simply cannot go wrong. There are physical buttons, and you can always get back to factory settings. The lights tell you if it is working or not, online or otherwise. I have no experience with slow Internet, as the lights always indicate high speed. But basic information, like if the music is high resolution, is also indicated by the lights.

    Even with the pre-built Mercury, you can still screw up and need to reload the image onto the O/S media. And I did sit and stare at mine at a meet, without the cables or computers to get back to a factory setup.

    Sound quality is two things for me.

    From my personal experience with all these except the NEO, I thought there was a little something extra in the original Pi2AES. It had high resolution, but I always thought a good disc spinner could provide the same resolution but with a more relaxed, more analog sound.

    iFi ZEN Stream had a little less resolution (very little - your mileage may vary depending on the overall system), but it was smooth. Things like Allo USBridge Signature and Pi2AES had more resolution. Mercury bests both these in resolution and is smooth like the ZEN Stream.

    Just my 2-cents.
     
  18. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2020
    Likes Received:
    885
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Ann Arbor Mi
    Appreciate your post, I do not understand the sound quality difference between the zen and the stream? The Neo has a dac which I do not need. Even after reading about the neo the case and the dac was all I could see thats different, what am I missing?
    best,
    Josh
     
  19. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,268
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The NEO Stream has a I2S output over HDMI and an optical network input with an ethernet to SC (optical) converter box included. This allows you to decouple it from your noisy router and avoids using WiFi to doing the same.
    It's effectively like a Sonore opticalRendu with more than just USB outputs (and a DAC, that only a few will ever use...).
     
  20. Josh Schor

    Josh Schor Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2020
    Likes Received:
    885
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Ann Arbor Mi
    thanks Clemmaster, sonnically have you compared it to the Mercury?
     

Share This Page