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Think I’ll stick with the squeezebox touch just a little longer until ifi sort their app out a bit more and until I’m totally convinced that qobuz and deezer are a go as on bluesound node and the squeezebox through lms and add ons.

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Got mine last week and organised qobuz without realising the qobuz app won't play nice on an android phone. A little googlising got me downloading a bubble up 'n' up app which bridges the gap but somehow doesn't find my connected hard drive?

 

I experience frequent drop-outs insofar as control goes- usually both the bubble up n up and ifi app lose connection simultaneously resulting in a big fat nothing. Using the ifi app to play an album from the hard drive results in the first track playing then silence. Streaming an album gets the whole thing played, but in a random order. The light on the unit indicating internet connection also turns red every few minutes before restoring to white (usually) within 10 seconds or so.

 

I'm sure it's mostly settings/user issues as I'm technically inept to say the least, but I have made many swears over the past 5 days or so.

 

That being said, the sound seems very good so I'll stick with it and hope that I can get a reliable control setup that will do everything I'd like it to do, and soon.

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I too am having issues with my iFi Stream, Connected it on day 1 and it dropped out, re-connected and all good, played uninterrupted for three weeks straight.

 

Now since last Wednesday it drops off the network constantly and I have to reconnect it, sometimes fiddling for 30 minutes and then it just works, now the past 24 hours I cannot get it to connect whatsoever.

 

I have a Netgear Nighthawk and NBN100 plan and no other device appears to have issues. 

 

The sound is superb so I'm happy to persist for now, I have contacted the supplier in case things don't improve. 

 

Any suggestions from some gurus? 

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Have you tried assigning the Zen a fixed IP on your router? I had similar issues with my Auralic, issue was resolved by assigning a fix IP address. 

Or restarting your router. 

Edited by Dolphy
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I was having a problem with mine as when switching to DSD off a USB hard drive I would just get static. A reboot of the iFi and it played fine.

Play some 44.1KHz files and then later switch to DSD and static again.

 

I ended up resetting it to defaults, which actually puts it back to the original firmware and then it says update available. Update it again and reset it up.

 

Has been great ever since. Switch between the formats as much as I like now.

 

I bought mine 2nd hand and reset to defaults before I even used it to.

So maybe if having problems, it might be worth a go?

WARNING:  You will loose all your settings and have to start from scratch setting it up again.

Edited by rocky500
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Hi, I've had mine for a week now. Quite fortunate to not have had major connectivity issues except I couldn't find instructions as to how to update the firmware anywhere. I downloaded the ifi android app and that sorted it.

 

The streamer is great, but not without its sonic character. I have to disagree with people that claim that a streamer/transport doesn't bring any coloration to a system. My point of reference is the Denon Heos HS2, that I've been using for almost 3 years. I'm feeding the Ifi with the 12V ipower elite and running tidal connect exclusively.

 

I think the Ifi is best suited for a system that is in need of resolution/detail and high frequency extension at the expense of mid bass bloom and timbral warmth. It sounds quite airy and the imaging is really sharp but acoustic instruments are rendered too dry to be realistic in all but the highest quality recordings. YMMV. My speakers are revealing enough for it not to be best match, even with the metrum octave dac and a tube pre amp. While separation and positioning of instruments and backing vocals is more defined (vs the Denon), vocals/piano/acoustic instruments in the middle just didn't sound full enough, so I switched back to the Denon today. I'm keeping the ifi for the HD800s setup that can need that extra extension/air that accentuates its soundstage.

 

I haven't experienced (or necessarily believe in) burn in with electronics in the past, has anyone noticed any change with theirs after a few weeks?

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Mine seemed to clock out completely a few days back after a factory reset, couldn't even get the LH light to come on at all after restarting. I had another go Tues arvo and got some life back in but it stopped again after a while with the same apparent connectivity problems. I had another go last night after work, finding again that SPDIF was the only selection available for output. A few disconnection/reconnections of the usb cable seemed to right that issue then I found that I couldn't find any of my library using the ifi app, nor get any web radio to work. The bubble up n up operated ok, but cut out after a few minutes of any track selected, with the green light indicating streaming still showing.

 

Then it seemed to come good unexpectedly with a refresh of my HD library and web radio back on. I left it going overnight (running some speakers in) and when I left this morning the music was still playing.

 

Still reckon I need a bit of expert assistance to be sure these problems don't keep resurfacing!

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On 09/11/2021 at 1:25 PM, Klimt said:

Hi, I've had mine for a week now. Quite fortunate to not have had major connectivity issues except I couldn't find instructions as to how to update the firmware anywhere. I downloaded the ifi android app and that sorted it.

 

The streamer is great, but not without its sonic character. I have to disagree with people that claim that a streamer/transport doesn't bring any coloration to a system. My point of reference is the Denon Heos HS2, that I've been using for almost 3 years. I'm feeding the Ifi with the 12V ipower elite and running tidal connect exclusively.

 

I think the Ifi is best suited for a system that is in need of resolution/detail and high frequency extension at the expense of mid bass bloom and timbral warmth. It sounds quite airy and the imaging is really sharp but acoustic instruments are rendered too dry to be realistic in all but the highest quality recordings. YMMV. My speakers are revealing enough for it not to be best match, even with the metrum octave dac and a tube pre amp. While separation and positioning of instruments and backing vocals is more defined (vs the Denon), vocals/piano/acoustic instruments in the middle just didn't sound full enough, so I switched back to the Denon today. I'm keeping the ifi for the HD800s setup that can need that extra extension/air that accentuates its soundstage.

 

I haven't experienced (or necessarily believe in) burn in with electronics in the past, has anyone noticed any change with theirs after a few weeks?

 

I could not agree more with the sonic influence of the streamer in the chain. In my experience it is almost as important as the DAC.  So 0 are 0 and 1 are 1 people must be deaf. 

As for the Zen streamer I also agree with your assessment that it had some sound character being on the lean side. I think it is a wonderfully sound source that brings my digital chin to a new level in terms of realism.

But then a high-end sound is no good in any system if it means a lean boney sound.  I have kept a Benchmark DAC1 in my system for far too long and it was like skeletons dancing. So it is system matching all over again.

It is funny because I have tried the Denon  HEOS streamer and also the Octave dac (not in the same system). I now use a Metrum Amethyst dac... 

The Octave is a natural sounding dac but it has some dryness in the midrange so associating it with the Zen might be too much indeed. 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Update for my experience in cutting out, the odd reset is necessary every couple of weeks.

 

I also caught my iPhone interfering with the playback at times, so now when it starts to misbehave and cut out, I reset my phone first, more often than not it does the trick.

 

 

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Mine has worked solidly. Only time there was a problem was from my iPhone and the qobuz and tidal app as I was using my phone at the same time. I not run it with a separate iPad and it’s great. Works even better with roon imo because I like the interface and suggestions. 

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11 hours ago, Lane said:

Update for my experience in cutting out, the odd reset is necessary every couple of weeks.

I gave up after a while and returned mine.  A friend of mine too experienced this and initially i thought it was my unit but it sounds like a more common problem.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I recently purchased the ifi zenstream a few weeks back. 

 

Initial impressions were really good. Tidal and Spotify working flawlessly and really easy to set-up. However, two weeks in and I am now in the process of re-boxing the unit to have it returned due to the following issues:

- The unit plays .flac files from my network, but only sometimes. 

- The web based radio player does not work at all. Not a huge issue, but it should work.

- The unit plays .flac files from a connected USB HDD, but only sometimes. 

 

I tried a factory reset and using the old firmware, but the problems described above persisted and for some reason Spotify connect didn't work. I then upgraded to the latest firmware and the unit was fine, however now it is playing up again. I don't intend to be a beta tester for ifi's software and it's frankly pretty poor that this unit has been released to market with such issues. I understand these problems (and others) are quite well documented in other audio / hifi forums. 

 

It's a great sounding unit.....when it works. Shame really.

Edited by Smoovie
Grammar
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@Smoovie Welcome mate. Yeah its a real shame with the Zen Streamer as it sounded awesome for its price. As others, incl myself have documented these issues.  I do believe there is a fundamental hardware design issue with the board and how it regulates the power through to the unit as mine worked fine until it started to overheat - which is a bit of a conundrum as its only a low powered devices that streams data.

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If people are having any problems, they could try the beta firmware.

Normally you log into your Zen with http://ifi.local

Add "/dev" to this so http://ifi.local/dev

Scroll down on the page that pops up and look for the Beta Update heading. Click on the tab Enabled

Now go back to http://ifi.local and check for updates

 

If you reboot the Zen, then you have to repeat the process to be able to check for beta updates.

They are making lots of fixes quite regularly and could be worth trying these beta firmware's if you are having any problems.

Current beta firmware v2.31.2

You can reset to defaults at any time and load the normal firmware.

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The Zen is an incredible streamer if used with a top power supply (mine costs more then the Zen). Indeed as the SW part lives a lot to be desired it's better to use it as an end point to server.  In that setup it is an absolute scorcher. I was looking at upgrading my vinyl setup, now I pretty much have to do this as my digital is over performing. 

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On 04/02/2022 at 3:10 PM, Smoovie said:

I recently purchased the ifi zenstream a few weeks back. 

 

Initial impressions were really good. Tidal and Spotify working flawlessly and really easy to set-up. However, two weeks in and I am now in the process of re-boxing the unit to have it returned due to the following issues:

- The unit plays .flac files from my network, but only sometimes. 

- The web based radio player does not work at all. Not a huge issue, but it should work.

- The unit plays .flac files from a connected USB HDD, but only sometimes. 

 

I tried a factory reset and using the old firmware, but the problems described above persisted and for some reason Spotify connect didn't work. I then upgraded to the latest firmware and the unit was fine, however now it is playing up again. I don't intend to be a beta tester for ifi's software and it's frankly pretty poor that this unit has been released to market with such issues. I understand these problems (and others) are quite well documented in other audio / hifi forums. 

 

It's a great sounding unit.....when it works. Shame really.

 In the interests of objectivity, the Zen Stream has suddenly started playing ball. It all seems to be working fine, with the exception of the web radio player, which is very slow to start streaming. This isn't a deal breaker for me, so will monitor how the Zen Stream performs over the next couple days before deciding to keep or return. 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Smoovie said:

Has anyone returned their Zen Stream and gone down the Bluesound Node route? Curious to hear of your experiences.

I returned mine.  The dealer that I sourced mine had a 30 change of mind policy.  I tried the bluesound Node 2i didnt feel that it was a change in SQ wise over my Rpi4 streamer. Kept the Pi and moved the node 2i on.

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On 07/02/2022 at 5:09 AM, al2813 said:

 I was looking at upgrading my vinyl setup, now I pretty much have to do this as my digital is over performing. 

Same here... my TT rig, which costs substantially more than my digital setup is now collecting dust from lack of use.  

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30 minutes ago, MrBurns84 said:

Volumio 3 latest build.  Rpi4 powered by a topping P50 LPSU + iFi DC purifier 2.

Yes Volumio here too, powered with a 5v iFi psu. I’m happy with the sound but have been curious about a commercially made streamer. Thinking I’ll stick with what I have. 

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