Agreed, itās terrific that they kept their promises. Marantz claimed that their SACD 30N (also a streamer, $3000 price tag) would eventually be upgraded to Roon Ready in a future firmware release, and that was almost two years agoā¦
So they are right on schedule then.
Well, the ZS was released on May 20 of 2021āat least they beat the one-year mark 
Compared to some that is quite an achievement.
It seemed like an eternity but really only 10 months 
Yes, a difficult ten months for many, but given how the Zen Stream now seamlessly integrates with Roon, iFiās $399 is the only honest price point Iāve seen anywhere in this market. it amazes me that folks are willing to shell out $3,000 for a streamer. What NAIM, Cambridge and Cocktail Audio charge for their streamer-only options is appalling. I get it if they have internal DACs, DSP options or other factors that could affect the sound signature, but streamer-only components lie strictly in the digital domain and have zero impact on the end result, unless they have very poor implementations that could introduce jitter into the signal path. And the ZS is designed explicitly to produce an unadulterated digital stream.
So, for anyone considering the ZS who visits this thread, disregard whatever any other company promotes in their marketing portfolios because unless you need a streamer/DAC combo, all well-made streamer-only components have identical sound quality. Youāre better served to invest in a well-measuring DAC and set aside the majority of your cash for your amp and headphones. What you pay extra for with expensive streamers are fancy hardware GUIs, elaborate aesthetics or those built-in DACs, many of which are proprietary and have measurements that donāt justify their price.
I get that some folks like the aesthetics and cache of āpremium audiophileā brands, or may desire one of those gorgeously hi-res hardware GUIs with a plethora of menu options. But if you use Roon theyāre largely superfluous. Which is why I think that the ZS now offers the ideal Roon endpointāif iFi manages to expand its capabilities to PCM 768/DSD 512, I think itāll qualify for best in class at any price point.
Fair points Steven, personally Iām not sure it needs to go to 768 PCM or DSD512, but maybe if it did some people would be more interested in including it int their thinking.
As long as it works well and is reliable in doing this why not. I will be interested if this is possible or if this comes in a Stream 2 option, or maybe a plus type option that doubles the price but is better than higher end streamers.
Hopefully iFi have learned enough about this market now that it would be easier for them to develop something along the lines of a Zen Stream DAC+
I agree, Iām not too troubled by its sample rate ālimitationsā. Iād like to be able to upsample to 512 in Roon, but I think itās mainly because it exists as an option that I canāt access. Whether it would offer any audible benefits I canāt say, but I doubt it. It would mainly be to reduce quantization noise to the fullest possible extent, but DSD 256 already moves it well-beyond 20,000 hz. Itās just FOMO.
Iāve talked about it before, including here:
iFi has incorporated a desire to make the ZenStream an endpoint NAA and the goal of HQplayer is to do upsampling. Today, many dacs reach DSD512 and PCM 768. This is the case with the Gryphon (for iFi). Some even exceed these limits.
RPI3 and 4 based streamersā¦ at least I can attest that it works on an Allo USBridge (CM3) and on an RPI4. I was even able to switch to PCM 1.5 and DSD 1024.
Itās a bit frustrating for the ZS especially if your dac goes through the dop (just DSD128).
There is no need to sell a more expensive product unless you have to change the motherboard.
For the moment iFi has not confirmed that an evolution of the kernel would allow to unlock these limitations. Does the hardware and the drivers developed allow it ?
But iFi has said that they hear the request without answering if it is theoretically possible.
For RPI, successive kernels have allowed to unlock these thresholds.
After the RR validation, the move to Volumio 3 is perhaps a step forward.
For the moment iFi does not say if the hardware choices limit the development and if the ZenStream will be able to do better. Which is already excellent considering the price. We have to wait and listen to the music.
Yes I have a Pi 4a that does DSD512, but it does not sound as good as the stream at DSD256. Sadly the old kernel used on the rock board that is used in the Stream is way behind current Linux kernel used in the Pi and it has not been updated in some time.
Thatās why I think it will require a new board to hit these features as it is unlikely to be supported in the Rock board
It would be great for them to eke more performance out of the board, but I am not sure how far they can take it.
Well said, just curious how you foresee Volumio 3 offering any tangible, or more importantly audible improvements? I think the ZS already achieves the best one can attain from a sonic perspective, in that it performs as a purportedly jitter-proof transport (I donāt have any measurements to confirm this, but RPIs already achieve benchmark standards for digital transport and iFi has included some tech that allegedly buffers any theoretical errors).
I can see where Volumio 3 would benefit folks using DIY kits (and might improve the experience for those unfortunates availing themselves of the ZSās native GUI) but for Roon users what do you think we can expect to see improved with the upgrade?
Personally, I see the move to Volumio 3 as a modernization of the OS that can improve the SQ in a very small way and a move to a much newer NAA version.
The change would be mostly interesting for the interface, which is not my need, to provide a better user experience.
The level of hardware quality for the ZenStream is very high but having tested an RPI4 or Allo USBridge with a quality power supply and also an iFi Silencer (USB), the OS optimization can be heard (latency ?). The switch to GentooPlayer or piCorePlayer is quite surprising (especially piCorePlayer + NAA = the image is only 148mo ! ).
Iāve been using Zenstream for 2 months and found it better when I installed it, but I havenāt done a new test since.
My ZenStream is only allocated to decoding HQPlayer powered by Roon.
Almost all unnecessary services are switched off (7 tasks including ssh and htop). It runs at 600Mhz (cpufreq) powered by 7.5v (MeanWell medical grade + iFi DC filter).
I turn it on and forget about itā¦ but frustrated that I canāt do DSD256 (dop limitation of my RME until my Pegasus comes back).
Again, how will it affect that sound quality in any way? How can your RPI sound any different than the ZS? Do you have measurements to support this?
There is no DAC in these devices; they exist entirely in the digital realmāmeaning prior to the audible, musical realm. They are pure digital transports. If they were not sending an accurate signal into the DAC, that would manifest as stutters, glitches, drop outsānot changes in the sound signature. Given that they are network streamers there are protocols built into that method of communication to resolve errors or packet lossesāthey get rejected and requeried.
Where Iām going with this is the scienceāall pure network streamers sound identical to each other, until the signal they transmit is sent to a DAC. What you are suggesting is impossible, no offense or hard feelings intendedā¦
Iām not offended, donāt worry otherwise itās no longer possible to discuss.
I agree with you on the theory but you make a difference with ZenStream which limits jitter.
Otherwise, an RPI4 is sufficient and much cheaper. I donāt necessarily have a theoretical explanation and it is difficult to get measurements. They do exist, such as latency as a function of kernel, but then itās empirical to associate a measurement with an audito result.
We can recognize that beyond the interface, most users of RPI-based streamers prefer such or such distributions. I regret that the ZenSream does not have a compute 4 with an iFi audio motherboard.
We could really have an open environment !
What jitter? Roon endpoints buffer the data.
Ping and jitter are important with live streaming.
Yes buffer, USB asynchrone, linear power are solution but jitter problem is like gum under feet 
a source (at random) : Jitter in Digital Audio Data Streams Article By Steve Nugent Of Empirical Audio
Indeed! As does the Zen Stream and any modern DAC attached to itāand since USB implementations pretty much implies āmodern DACsā, that includes basically all of them. Some poorly-designed DACs produce jitter of their own (particularly those pricy boutique R2R ladder varieties), but thatās another discussion Iād prefer to avoid. 
Didnāt use to be the case, and I think that may describe why jitter is still invoked as a concern with streamers these days. Until CMOS clock buffers were implemented into DACs to prevent timing errors (before my time as a digital audio hobbyist for sure), there were all sorts of in-line devices produced and much talk about cable conductance, both in the service of mitigating timing errors.
The problem is that several rogue companies still sell these devices, along with $2,000 digital cables (!) promising all sorts of miraculous improvements to the sound, and folks buy into it. Amazon and Head-Fi are full of reviews insisting that these devices transformed their audio. Cognitive bias is indeed a thing.
From what Iāve read, Volumio 3 offers significant improvements to the GUI in terms of responsiveness and user experience. Since the ZS OS is a proprietary build based on Volumio 2, I imagine an upgrade would offer some notable improvements for those who use that instead of Roon (there must be a few). Admittedly if I didnāt use Roon, Iād likely pass on the ZS and build an RPI, because the current GUI is serviceable at best.
But as far as sound quality goes, I think the ZS is already at the gold standard and Iād rather they prioritize upgrading the supported sampling rates instead of worrying about an OS overhaul.
Hey buddy I appreciate the link, but itās from 2009 and still talks about cable quality affecting jitter ratesāI think the science here is outdated (please see my previous post). 
Yesā¦ itās a bit lightā¦ in fact I didnāt feel like arguingā¦ and it wasnāt me who spoke about ājitter-proof transportā
My initial point was about the difference in OS that could have an impact on the sound. And there is no reliable comparison protocol and objective criteria. For the hardware and the Zenstream, we agree. It works. !
There is also discussion about the impact of voltage (9, 12 or 15). Just read up on it. Original guys!
By accident, Iām on 7.5v.
And as I donāt have 2000ā¬ to spend on a cable, I use Monoprice micro-slimrun 32awg ethernetā¦ I havenāt found better ! 
Hi, Iāve been reading this thread for a while now (and understanding 10% of it) and I was very happy with the ZS firmware 2.30.7 but Iāve just updated to 2.31.7 and seems some functionality has been lost? I used to be able to have two independent streams running from USB and SPDIF but now seems I have to choose one at a time only? Both DACs used to show up on the Roon audio settings page but now there is just the ZS. Is there anyway to see both DACs again?