Not really. You can only switch between them each time you want to change DAC. No parallel playback on both of them is possible as a result.
Hi David and welcome to the thread.
Sadly what Piotr says is correct and this seems to be part of the Roon ready functionality. We have a long chat about it a few weeks ago while some of us were running the beta.
I also used to run two outputs at once, but it has become easy enough to switch now by clicking on the device info label on the Roon ready box for the Zen Stream in settings ->Audio
Thanks Piotr & Michael. I was using a Dragonfly Red for MQA on the USB which I was very happy with but felt it wasnât that great on CD quality tracks from Tidal so Iâve just bought a Chord Qutest that is connected to the SPDIF which sounds fantastic to me. But now just trying the Qutest on the USB output for simplicity with 2.31.7, so Dragonfly might get retired to the office. Although I guess Iâm only getting the first unfold via Roon with a non-MQA DAC?
Thatâs exactly what is happening once you enable Core Decoding in device options. You should see that on Signal Path.
Hi All, need some help here. I got to know about the ZS getting Roon Ready yesterday and updated the firmware now only to find that my beloved Roon exclusive mode (which I found to be better sounding than AIO despite disabling everything under ZS settings except Tidal connect and Roon in AIO) is not longer supporting USB connection to my DAC. I have also selected my USB output in ZS settings.
If this is a known issue, has there been any solution to this or any promises made?
How can Roon certify something without checking if itâs working via USB (the most common transport) on ROON EXCLUSIVE MODE? Isnât it the first thing youâd check befu certifying?
Thanks for any help with this.
To my comment just now, is this fixed in the latest firmware? I donât know about BetaâŚI just installed 2.31.7 and this problem was noted. Thanks
Hi there and itâs something we discuss extensively further up in this thread. It defaults to SPDIF, which is an interesting choice
Just go to Settings ->Audio and for the the Stream in Roon Ready, just click on the Device Info label and that will pop up a web page where you can change the settings.
I have now been running mine in Roon dedicated mode for a few weeks.
Thanks @Michael_Harris, honestly such a helpful community. I did try to read as many posts and run searches before I posted my comments but with the populus having such great interest in ZS, the thread is a mammoth to search through. Glad you took the time to respond.
I was able to change the default to USB.
On another note, are my ears deceiving me for months or does Roon exclusive mode actually sound better than AIO with all else disabled through the ZS SW GUI? Whatâs the general opinion about this?
Thanks
Yes we are understanding of this as 2k messages is a lot to read and no problem at all
Great that you asked, as we all struggled with this for a while until Steven found it on another site.
It does too me and I have been exclusively using Roon only mode since testing back and for in the beta. Others have said similar as well, so clearly we agree with you.
Before the latest Roon Ready release I always said with the other services turned off I could not hear any difference, but hearing that difference on USB and more so on SPDIF I have only switched mine back to get an update now
Right. The only challenge for me now is that I find Tidal discovery with their New Releases and Daily Discovery features to me more fulfilling in finding new great tracks. Roonâs radio isnât as good honestlyâŚI mean look at popular by artists and you will find marked difference between those reportted by Roon and Tidal.
I need to run Toslink from my Chromecast Audio to my DAC to play and discover new music via Tidal native app while having my ZS dedicated to USB audio in Roon exclusive mode for serious listening. If only Roon could Integrate Tidal as-is into Roon with itâs great features and dynamic playlists, I wouldnât have to switch between sources and listen/discover new music on Tidal through an arguably inferior transport (CC Audio). A little rant there, but all good otherwise.
Thanks again for the help!
Luckily for me my Stream is in my study system and I only use Roon there.
I can use Tidal elsewhere in the house, but rarely do outside of Roon and the office.
I get most of my listening recommendations from the music threadâs here, even though I know Tidal recommendations are very good.
Thatâs nice. Which threads are we having here? Any specific ones I could learn from contribute to as well? Thanks
Well there are mainly 3 I follow and get my recommendations and contribute to
What are we listening to year-month
Whatâs Rockin you tonight year-month
Metal Music Thread
Then there are these which are a bit quieter and more specific.
Prog and Proud (quieter in there , but some good recommendations)
Now playing some Hip-Hop
Now playing some Jazz
Now playing some sweet Soul, R&B and funk
Al depends on what you like, but the rock thread is very chatty and a good place to hangout.
Thanks Michael. This is helpful indeed! I am building my library and recently discovering the epic stage of Chinese and Korean musicâŚdonât understand a word, but they are very very catchyâŚseem to bring the emotions out of my system. Donât know if we have a thread for thatâŚIâll make one if not already there.
Try these songs for example:
And I have English as my native language with all of my existing library in English language.
A few of these threadâs were created as throw away posts multiple years ago and are still going, see if you can get something going
Certainly. Thanks again and have a great day!
Hi Mike, I had been a consistent follower and user of iFi products. Their quality and sound output is very good, especially for the moneyâŚI thought that the Streamer was a âmoney grabâ because it is so easy for them to put streaming capabilities in their existing models.
If It had a screen I would probably feel differently. I can tell you that I purchased high-quality exterior power supplies for all of my DACs. It made a big differenceâŚyou can honestly hear the clearer signal. One thing to watch, they used to include MQA in all of their boxes.They have left MQA out of their newest higher-end productsâŚ
Cheers,
Bill Costello,
Hi Bill and yes there are lots of discussions about external power supplies for the Stream as well and most have had an improvement.
MQA is back on the Stream and I think it is an across the board issue with iFi license, not that I understand that too much.
The Zen Stream currently looks good value for a Roon ready streaming only endpoint (though the newly announced Bluesound could be an interesting comparison) and we have discussed what a Zen Stream pro/plus might look and what capabilities it might have.
Iâve been reading through this informative but somewhat daunting thread for several days, before deciding to go ahead and buy the iFi Zen Stream. Hope to receive it in the coming week and very much looking forward to putting it to use. Seems like it scratches a particular itch for me in my basement listening room.
I definitely expect to be connecting to my system via wifi and using the ZS exclusively for roon, but I wonder if itâs still considered âbest practiceâ to make initial setup via Ethernet?
Stephen it will be good to have you on board.
I think most of us are relaxes about the Ethernet requirement and you should have your Core on that.
If your home WiFi is good enough (and you cannot get Ethernet to where you need it) then WiFi is good enough.
Once you have it all updated set that switch to Roon only mode and enjoy the sweet music