I’m loving mine, just works not touched it since I built it.
In fact i’m currently struggling to see why people spend so much on a streamer.
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Not trying to start a land war here, but I’m using the newest Bluesound Node: https://www.bluesound.com/products/node/
It worked with Roon from the get-go; has a nice app if you want to try something besides Roon app and sounds great. About the same price as the Ifi; maybe this would work? Caveat: from what I have read it works best using ethernet and not wifi.
My .02…
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It’s no struggle, it’s down to personal choice and financial ability. You drive a Ferrari and I have my Yugo for an example. That’s sort of how it works.
Hopefully @Glenn_Young gets sorted out soon, perhaps he will be over on the RPI topic looking for some advice soon.
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Having shelled out my cash for the iFi Zen Streamer, I’m just stubborn enough to keep at it until it works. I can prevail with the best of 'em.
But @Fernando_Pereira made a statement that made my ears prick up… He says that Roon RAAT works fine with “AIO” mode on the iFi Zen Streamer. IF that’s actually the case (is it?), then why in the world would iFi even put a “Roon mode” on the device?
Thanks - Glenn Young
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Because in Roon only mode it’s supposed to shut down other internal functions ( like Access to web ui as you found out) to give a “cleaner better experience”
Make of that what you will and yes I’m sure there are other changes that might truly be beneficial.
I left mine in aio mode…
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Hi Glenn, I think that the Roon mode is just to shut down any extraneous activity that could impinge upon the performance potential, I can’t tell any difference between them myself. YMMV?
Thought I had, didn’t you say that you picked up an open box unit? Crazy idea but any chance that it could be a defective unit that got back onto the shelf that shouldn’t have? Wonder if your serial number would indicate if you have an early unit that was problematic? Just food for thought not to discount any oddball possibilities.
Best luck going forward mate.
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You beat me to it, AIO as well here 
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This is not a dig at anybody here but I would like to provide an observed opinion.
If this thread was simply a list of questions or description of problems people were wanting to solve as well as answers to those questions from those providing help it would be less than half as long and as a result more helpful.
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Roon mode. But just because it is supposed to
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To hazard a guess, because it was easier to get it Roon Ready-certified with an exclusive Roon-only mode than in AIO mode where control interactions between different services need to be managed.
I’m crossing the streams, here, but I found this recent post from Peter Lie of LUMIN to be illuminating regarding the behaviors required for Roon Ready certification:
@AceRimmer already said this but it seems to be about the potential for improved performance with aspects of the device shut down. LUMIN is offering a similar capability. The good news is that if you do your own testing where you switch between modes and listen very, very closely, you are almost certainly going to hear improved soundstage, more organic presentation, sweet treble, and deeper base in exclusive mode 
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I think that @gTunes may have hit on something. The difference between AIO and Roon modes on the Zen may or may not be audible, but the Roon mode, despite lacking audibility by itself, might measure slightly better.
Now apply such small “tweaks” to every other aspect of the total system, and do those small improvements, together, reach the threshold of audibility? I think they might.
I have an audio amigo who does “audible A/B testing” on EVERY part of his system. He has audibly “optimized” his system including:
His electrical wiring and breakers
Power cords to individual components
Interconnects and speaker wiring
Internal capacitors and resistors of components
Room treatments
Speaker placements & phasing
Digital source remastering and equalization
Etc. etc. etc.
And the results? Jaw-dropping imaging, stunning bass, and the most realistic music reproduction I’ve ever heard. Can you and I duplicate his efforts? Probably not, unless we have a fanatic desire to do so, but even the easiest to duplicate aspects of his system can improve the sound of ours significantly.
And this brings me back to “optimizing every aspect of the audio system.” If Roon mode of the Zen is even slightly superior to AIO mode, it seems worthwhile to use it. Alone, it may or may not be audible, but combined with optimization of the rest of the system, the Roon mode could contribute to something special.
I agree that the difference in noise (or processor usage) in Roon only Mode is probably small.
But for me using multiple endpoint devices I could only get jitter free SPDIF audio out at 24/192 was using Roon Only mode (24/96 was perfect using SPDIF). In AIO mode even with all the non used services shut off there was always a small stutter. While I eventually moved to USB, I can see that for some people it would be useful, but I imagine that it is for a small number of users or for users that encounter issues like I did.
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After a little frustration trying to get my Stream to work, it finally did. Not exactly sure what I did to make it work, although shutting it down and restarting and going through the setup procedures a number of times did seem to have a beneficial effect. My Stream was purchased used and the previous owner had said that he had reset it and uploaded the most recent update (sometime fall 2022, but I haven’t looked to see which version it is). Now, since it’s working for me (wifi, usb output to an iFi DAC), does updating the firmware really need to be done, or am I better off “not fixing something that ain’t broke” right now? Thanks in advance.
If it is running for you I’d stay with it. I am unaware of any security patches which would necessitate an upgrade.
The version I am running for comparison is:
I haven’t felt like tinkering with it recently.
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That is the latest beta.
I did just check for an update, bit nothing there 
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Oh, I totally forgot about updates. Always ON (and on NAA only) and it just works. Now thinking about a second one
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OK, now the frustrating thing I’ve encountered. When it’s up, it’s fine. If I shut my system down and power down everything, then I pretty much have to go through setting up the stream again to get it to work. Also, some items in the settings that I’ve asked to save using my iPhone, revert back to the default (USB output, not SPDIF). Any solutions to try? Thanks.
Hi Robert are you on a beta release of the standard release.
It sounds a bit like your Stream is factory resetting when you power it down. I turn mine off every night and the only time I have to change the setting from SPDIF back to USB is when I do a firmware update.
Are you turning the power to the Stream off as well, wondering if you hav a bad unit (there were a number of issues early on)
If you only use AIO mode (the default)then it might be worth going to ifi.local/dev in your browser and adding the devb updates. Then go back and check for updates again. It might even help.