New (was back in 2021) iFi Zen Stream device

Audio Gear Talk iFi
344

Aaron one of the problems reported was that the charger’s were suspect and may have been swapped out before shipping.
Given that very few of us have had problem’s (besides the bugs in early versions) you might have a bad unit or power supply.

Also are you using on WiFi or Ethernet as I would suggest re-testing on Ethernet if you are not already

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345

Using Ethernet only. Roon is working perfectly now but nothing else will work well. I have no idea what is going on with this thing.

I bought it from Bloom Audio, they have been great, they are expecting more stock next week so they should be able to get me a replacement. At first I didn’t want to deal with any more iFi products because I wasn’t really happy with how they have handled this, they can’t figure out what’s going on and want me to send it to them to work on it and won’t send me a replacement…but after listening to this unit thru roon, man I want to get one that works! It sounds fantastic.

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346

Aaron that’s funny as more than a few of us ordered it with the thought of trying it out and returning it, but most of us have been very impressed with the sound and have kept it.

I don’t really use Airplay at all, but I will grab my iPad and enable it tomorrow and give it a try.

I have tried Tidal/Spotify and HQPLAYER and all have worked perfectly. Though if I play through HQPlayer then I can’t play Roon until I restart it as it seems to lock the service.

But I can’t imagine many people switching between streaming protocols much, so not sure how much of an issue it will be for most users.

347

I have only tried Roon and Airplay.
Both with zero issues.

I am very sure the root cause of the problems on my first unit was a faulty power supply, something that iFi admitted was a known issue.

They were very responsive though so I would open a support ticket direct with them and see if they will send you a replacement power supply before you return it maybe.

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348

i am on my second IFI ZS and it will not hold a connection with Tidal. i just signed up for Roon today thinking that this would solve my problem with streaming Tidal. the Roon will not even detect the ZS. i may just get the Bluesound or the Auralic. the ZS sounds great, and would love to keep it. how does the Node compare?

349

Rudy are you running Ethernet or WiFi?

350

Ethernet, now the zs will not reboot! just two white lights turn on and than go out. i also switched to mode 4 for Roon on the ZS. can not log into ifi.local to sign in the streamer to the new ISP address, but it was playing earlier and than was up to its old tricks. disconnecting from Tidal. i thought that joining Roon would eliminate the Tidal connection problems.

351

What Power supply did you get with it as there are reports of faulty power supplies being shipped.

Also did you update the firmware?
There was a known issue with early release devices bricking which was fixed with a firmware update (but only if applied before it bricked)

352

i have the latest firmware updated a few days ago when i was able to access ifi.local.

353

Well that’s good News at least. Have you pulled the power out, which I have had to do after a couple of updates

354

i think so, could this thing have bricked? i thought the only way that this could happen is if you pulled the power during an update? should i try a re-set?

355

Try holding the power button in for more that 5 seconds as a starter and then maybe the reset and see what that does.
But pulling the power lead out when crashed causes a full power cycle so also worth trying.

356

i bought a 12v power when i ordered the unit

357

It came with a 12V in the UK, so I feel lucky for that as I got one on day 1.

358

the re-boot is not working. just 2 white lights on and than off. dead.

359

my first one came with a ipower gratis. that was a promo.

360

Not good sorry to hear that, have you tried this procedure from the manual (I will assume yes)

Factory resetting your ZEN Stream
IMPORTANT – Performing a factory reset incorrectly can leave your ZEN Stream unusable so please follow these
instructions carefully and only perform the reset as a last resort.

  1. Power on your ZEN Stream
  2. Press and hold the reset button, located on the back of
    the device, for 2 seconds. Once you have initiated this
    process, you must make sure that there is no loss of
    power to the device. A loss of power at this point may
    damage your device.
  3. Wait until the connection (left) LED turns red — this may
    take around 5 minutes or more. DO NOT POWER OFF!
    — Loss of power during this period may damage your
    ZEN Stream and leave it unusable.
  4. When the left LED turns red your ZEN Stream is reset.
    Follow this YouTube video to set up the Wi-Fi connection:
    ZEN Stream: Quick Start Guide - Wi-Fi Setup - YouTube
361

yes, i will try a re-set. thanks

362

No problem and fingers crossed for you

363

ok, its working, ifi icon now back in Tidal app. hot spot flashing, Roon core can not find ZS?