iFi ZEN Stream – Network Audio Transport Streamer – Inputs: Ethernet/Wi-Fi/USB - Outputs: USB/SPDIF

Ordered the ifi Stream from Amazon and have been getting to grips with it over the past couple of days. The device came well packaged and is small but solid and well-built. I'm fairly sure I received a unit that had previously been returned as there were 20 tracks lined up in the play queue which hadn't been deleted - it's wrong that Amazon sells these units as new when they are not - most reputable sellers would offer these products as reconditioned at a reduced price.So far, I'm impressed, though, and have chosen not to return the unit - it's replaced an upgraded Bluesound Node 2i (which itself was previously improved by a Fidelity audio DC power board) and has noticeably better sound quality with less bloat/muddiness and improved clarity and sounstaging. Wifi performance has been perfect and I found that I was able to update the firmware without major issue - this is relatively slow, however, and it does seem to hang at 50% complete as though it has crashed but then eventually completes the process. It's relatively slow to catalog music from a NAS or USB drive, as well, and seems to lose the catalog when it's switched off at the mains, which is annoying, so it's probably best left on standby when not in use. Spotify connect and Tidal connect both work well and the respective apps are fast and responsive. I haven't used Roon. The Tidal exclusive mode does seem to improve sound quality a bit further too.Although it's essentially plug and play, I don't think this device could be confusing for a newcomer to streaming, but it will be plain sailing for anyone who has used a raspberry pi or volumio, on which the player is based. There is no app to control the player itself but there is a very good web-based GUI instead. One quirk I did encounter was streaming Tidal Masters to a non-MQA DAC via the SPDIF output - for some but not all tracks, there was crackling distortion during loud passages. This was present consitently at the same points and occurred with three different cables. It was not present for the equivalent hifi quality versions on Tidal, or when I listened to the same tracks from a USB stick or NAS drive. When I swapped to a USB cable into the DAC it disappeared and I could listen to all formats without any problems, although into my DAC at least, I thought the sound quality from USB wasn't quite as good as from SPDIF. In summary there therefore appears to be some kind of incompatibility between Tidal MQA tracks and SPDIF output into a non-MQA DAC - I'm not sure whether this is an issue with the ifi device or a more general problem when attempting to do this, but an internet search reveals there are many others who have encountered crackling distortion on Tidal with other devices too.At the time of writing it doesn't have chromecast audio but this apparently will be coming as a firmware update later in the year. It doesn't do bluetooth (there's another excellent ifi Zen device that does do this though) but it does have Airplay, and overall seems to be a really flexible device.

On the rare occasions it worked it sounded really good. It has just done an update and I now have a very expensive paperweight. Failed after the warranty so no comeback.

Bought this to try Wi-Fi streaming. Couldn’t get it to work following the written instructions nor the app guide. Was on the point of returning the device, but came across a video by Yorkshire AV on the net, easy to follow and now working. Very pleased really good value, sounds very good.

The ifi Zen stream is the second piece of equipment I have bought from this company the first being the ifi Zen can .The stream has performed far beyond my expectations and they were very high in the first place !It was relatively easy to initially set up but the instructions are quite limited and might confuse someone who is not familiar with this sort of kit, this is my only very minor gripe .If you are looking for a top quality streamer that has the build and sound quality that far far exceeds its price then look no further.This is a truly amazing piece of kit regardless of price and is not out of place in a quite high end system , it’s that good !

I really wanted to like this streamer but ultimately the user experience was terrible for me. I just about wore out the tacky plastic "screwdriver" that needs to be used to change between modes - (eg AIO, Roon, Tidal, NAA and DLNA). The reason was the amount of time I had to use it to go back to AIO mode to navigate to iFi.local to fix something, usually network related or the fact no sound being produced after switching modes. Would it be too much to ask to have a dial type button or knob instead of this cumbersome method of switching nodes. Had to reboot unit many times as well as mode switching alone wouldn't work. I've had a couple of streamers that worked flawlessly with HQPlayer but the Zen Stream failed miserably in NAA mode. My network is very solid and gives me no performance issues, maybe I've just got a flaky Zen Stream?The one thing I was extremely pleased with was the sound I achieved when I did have it working, that was top class. Ultimately I'm going to send back for a refund, if it hadn't been for the poor user experience I would have been a very happy Zen Stream owner. I generously gave it a 3 star rating, but to be honest I could easily have given a 2.5.

Having enjoyed the iFi DAC and Headphone Amp for sometime I was intrigued when iFi brought out the STREAM. This is something you normally find at much higher price-points and often integrated into DAC units. The price was a significant uplift from the other entry-level iFi units but I decided to take the plunge and wasn't disappointed. Definitely cleans up streaming audio and the dedicated modes for Tidal, ROON and others seem to add some additional sparkle. (I use ROON myself). The unit supports WifI and LAN but have always preferred a wired so I have a direct LAN connection to my router. If you can justify the outlay I would thoroughly recommend.

An awful product. It takes ages to get it working and when it does it's very glitchy. Frequent dropouts, then it loses the network. The marketplace retailer is not willing to refund an item that is only 6 months old so I am effectively left with a paperweight. You can do so much better with other brands.

Ran through DLNA and Roon. Works fantastically well. Very clean USB and Coaxial output into Topping D90 and RME ADI 2.One note: cannot use multiple iStreams on same network for DLNA. Always uses the same identifier and BubbleUpnp can't distinguish them. Had to use Roon to run 2 on the same network.

Sound quality is fantastic no doubt. It superbly good.But the OS is trash. Unable to connect to any streaming app like foobar2000, UAPP, Neutron player, spotify connect etc. Only local host sd card playback worked.After a month of returning it back, I am missing it's effect and plan to buy again cause the output of the internal player is hugely superior than PC/Android paid audio professional apps. I think PC/Android usb terminal isn't designed for lossless audio transmission

Un plauso al venditore che ha spedito in tempi brevissimi.Prima di acquistare questo streamer ho provato il Win Pro e il Win Pro Plus con risultati piuttosto deludenti soprattutto per quanto riguarda la stabilità dell'App .Lo streamer in oggetto é solo "trasporto" quindi va collegato ad un dac esterno.L'utilizzo é semplice e immediato, bisogna connetterlo alla rete con cavo LAN o wifi e viene rilevato come dispositivo verso il quale veicolare il flusso dati-io utilizzo Spotify-, inoltre dispone di altre funzionalità che non ho ancora testato.Qualità audio:ho collegato lo Zen Stream in coassiale con un Qed Reference ad un dac di fascia alta-Hegel HD 30- e già da subito ho potuto constatare una qualità al di sopra di ogni sospetto, riconducibile a macchine di ben altro lignaggio .Non mi dilungo sulla riproduzione di alti medi o basse frequenze, piuttosto é interessante notare come a questo livello di prezzo si possa avere una sorgente digitale di alto livello...lo Zen Stream Suona Molto Molto Bene!La casa propone come "accessoriio"lo Ifi Elite Power un alimentatore lineare che dovrebbe migliorare ulteriormente le prestazioni dello streamer, in futuro sicuramente lo acquisterò.Promosso a pieni voti ,straconsigliato anche in sistemi" Importanti".

Zur Vorgeschichte: Bisher habe ich meine Tidal-Dateien mit einem Mac mini (2014) via Toslink an meinen non USB DAC gestreamt. Zur Verbesserung der Klangqualität – einfache Toslink-Kabel (Kunststoff) beseitigen zwar Potenzialunterschiede zwischen den Geräten, neigen aber zu hohen Jitter-Effekten - war ich auf der Suche nach einem „richtigen“ Tosling-Kabel aus Glas. Das alte Kabel war eine billige 1,95€-Strippe. Diese Glasfaser-Kabel erzeugen wesentlich geringeren Jitter, sind aber vergleichsweise teuer. In meinem Fall wäre es ein AudioQuest Diamond für knapp 900 € gewesen. Irgendwann hat diese Firma das Kabel dann aus dem Programm genommen. Damit war das Thema beendet.Zweiter Stressfaktor: Um nicht einen PC-Monitor im Wohnzimmer stehen zu haben, wurde die Desktop-Ansicht meines Mac mini mittels Luna Display auf mein iPad zur Bedienung vom Tidal-Desktop übertragen. Das funktionierte in der Vergangenheit mal besser, mal schlechter. Grund für diese umständliche Bedienung: Tidal bietet in meinem Fall keine native App-Steuerung für die Desktop-Variante auf dem Mac Mini an. Nach einigen Updates seitens Apple und Luna lief dieses System sehr unbefriedigend. Abhilfe hätte ein Streamer leisten können. Ein „richtiger“ Streamer, der in meine Kette passt, war mir dann doch zu teuer.Eine mögliche Alternative zu einem leistungsfähigen Streamer war dann eine sogenannte AudioBridge (einen guten DAC habe ich ja), wie z.B. der Primare NP 5. Damals war mein Leidensdruck aber noch nicht hoch genug und es verging einige Zeit, bis vermutlich Amazon mir diese „IFi Zen Stream“-AudioBridge diskret unterschob. Das Gerät hat eine Vielzahl Awards namhafter Audio-Magazine bekommen, was aber erst mal nichts heißt, denn ich verlasse mich lieber auf mein Gehör und meine Erfahrung. Das Gerät bestellt und in die Kette integriert, diesmal allerdings mittels BNC-Verbindung. Ich habe nicht schlecht gestaunt, als ich die ersten Töne gehört habe. Eigentlich blieb mir sogar fast die Luft weg. Nicht zu vergleichen mit der vorherigen Performance. Zweiter schöner Nebeneffekt, ich weiß jetzt, wie gut die restlichen Komponenten meiner Kette sind.Das „Bühnenbild“ ist wesentlich breiter und tiefer geworden, der Tiefbass kontrollierter und knackiger. Instrumente/Stimmen sind sehr schön freigestellt und die Tiefenstaffelung hat nun sehr viele Ebenen. Gute Aufnahmen lösen sich fast vollständig von den Lautsprechern und spielen bis weit vor die Lautsprecher-Grundlinie. Das ist allerdings auch die Eigenschaft meines Verstärkers. Es ist ein dicker Schleier vom Klangbild genommen worden, d.h., viele Details, die von diesem Schleier bedeckt waren, kommen nun zum Vorschein. Der Sound ist aber nicht „steril“, sehr beeindruckend. Zu bemerken ist auch die „Schwärze“ in Klangbild, die Musik kommt aus dem Nichts, kein Rauschen, das auf Netzeinstreuungen zurückzuführen ist. Vielleicht hat es auch nur an der 1,95 € Strippe gelegen - es wird immer ein Geheimnis bleiben. Die Haushaltsersparnis von 500 € ist aber real. Ich kann dieses Gerät nur wärmstens empfehlen.Es gibt aber auch einige negative Aspekte, die hier schon von einigen RezensentenInnen genannt wurden. Die Software, die IFi beisteuert, sollte unbedingt überarbeitet werden, eine Chromecast-, vielleicht auch AppleMusic-Integration sollte endlich, wie angekündigt, auf den Weg gebracht werden. Die Firma IFi könnte sonst potentielle Kunden verlieren. Das wäre sehr schade. Die Stabilität der Steuer-Datenverbindung lässt auch zu wünschen übrig, ist aber immer noch stabiler als meine alte Verbindung zwischen Mac mini und iPad. Wenn man die Macken kennt, lässt sich damit aber leben. Ansonsten ein super Gerät, zumindest klanglich und preislich herausragend. Über das Design möchte ich hier nichts schreiben, das ist reine Geschmackssache.Als Ergänzung zum IFi Stream habe ich noch das leistungsfähigere Netzteil iPower x vom gleichen Hersteller beigesteuert. Sauberer stabiler Strom ist wichtig für gute HiFi-Anlagen. Als Standard-Netzteil war nur ein 4.95 €-Schaltnetzteil beigepackt. War auch eine gute Entscheidung, ist aber eine andere Geschichte.Der Mac mini Ist nun mein neuer Office-Rechner;)Update: Upgrade auf Netzteils ifi Elite. Siehe Rezension „ifi Elite“.

C'était l'élément manquant pour faire de mon installation l'installation parfaite !Associé à un serveur Roon et un dac atoll 300 + un abonnement qobuz sublime, la musique se vie, se respire. Un pur bonheur pour les oreilles !La musique en démat a de beaux jours devant elle.

Das kleine Teil läuft mittlerweile tadellos mit einem super Klang.Bis es soweit war, hat es mir ein paar graue Haare beschert.Nach der Installation brach der Stream nach ein paar Sekunden ständig ab. Auch die ifi.local-Page fror immer ein. Ich war schon soweit, dass ich eine Rückgabe beauftragt hatte.Nach einem Tag und gefühlten 100 Resets kam mir der erlösende Einfall, ich hab das Teil upgedatet. Seitdem lief es einwandfrei. Deshalb nur 4 Sterne. Klanglich eine klare 5.Da das Teil keinen DAC hat, sollte der im folgenden Verstärker von ordentlicher Qualität sein.