This is the official thread for the iFi Zen Stream Wi-Fi Audio Transport
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- Streams audio to your DAC
- Controlled via smartphone/tablet:
- Roon Compatible
- 399 Euro & 399 USD
I wish it didn’t have that big STREAM writing on the front
odd that they didn’t put ifi there instead lol. wtf were they thinking…leaving it blank would have been better.
$400 seems like a lot for something that just streams audio over wifi and still needs to be paired with a separate DAC and controlled from a Smartphone. Or am I wrong?
For a standalone, dedicated streamer, that’s pretty low cost. It is an expensive product category. I suspect there is more that goes into it than meets the eye, especially if the goal is bit-perfect streaming. I am intrigued by this product and hope to check it out soon.
Looks like a pretty well thought out unit, priced aggressively too.
BTW, I want to see a pic of someone’s DAC + CAN + Blue + Stream Zen stack, pronto, lol! Will be like a tower of little spaceships
However, having both a Blue and a Stream might be from the department of redundancy department
Also the Zen Phono I think.
You had me at like…$179…which is what I thought it’d be and that’d be big time value as a ROON endpoint and Spotify/Tidal CONNECT option.
$399 is way too rich for anyone’s blood. You can basically get everything it offers through RPi at 1/4 of the price.
STREAM + DAC already puts you into Bluesound NODE territory and the new - improved DAC model - is coming out in a month.
I’ll keep an eye out on this for a big time sale at some point and give it a shot because it looks good, just out of the range of good deal.
Zen blue and ipurifier are $230 alone. Only ifi product that seems to be over priced are the 6xx stack.
Edit: @db_Cooper correcting me and making it even more of a good deal
ifi USB Purifier $129
ifi SPDIF Purifier $199
ifi Low Noise Power Supply $49
Three things that according to the details in the link, are included in this streamer. I think there’s a lot of value here for those that are looking for something like this.
The price was higher than I expected from their Zen line. The Zen line has been mostly entry level stuff so far with most prices under 200usd, except the Drop signature line. But, after considering you get all those nifty little iFi accessories and realizing there isn’t a streamer you don’t have to program yourself at this price, it’s a pretty good deal. I think this is also a sign that streamers are becoming a more popular product and there will be lower priced models yet in the future.
Interesting. I have a Zen Stack (Phono and Zen Can), and I use a Sonos Port with them to get streaming functionality. I’d love to see a review comparing the Zen Stream to the Sonos Port.
What’s next for this Zen line? A little 2.0 (or 2.1) speaker amp would be pretty cool.
ZEN electrostatic energiser, lol
Zen Charge?
FYI all, Zen Stream is now available in the US and EU!
If it’s like the silkscreening on the Zen DAC it shouldn’t be that hard to remove…
Unfortunately can’t say until it happens
Anyone knows if it feeds USB audio 2.0 out so I can use my DAP as a DAC?
Also hows the app control?
It has usb output yes. So far I’ve had no issues getting a USB connection to a Schiit Bifrost 2 and a Chord Hugo 2. I haven’t tried a dap yet but see no reason it wouldn’t work.
I misunderstood this too. As of yet there is no dedicated iFi app. Many software players will recognize Zen Stream as an audio device they can cast to. I’ve used Audirvana and the Spotify mobile app and both connected and streamed just fine. iFi claims compatibility with the Tidal app for both iOS and Android but I can’t confirm because I am no longer a Tidal user. They also claim the iOS Qobuz app will do the same. The Qobuz Android app does not yet.