does the sound quality improvement come from changing usb with coax?
Maybe - but there are lots of improvements with the Zen. Zen Coax was a bit better than Zen USB. Zen USB was a LOT better than Mac USB.
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Thanks @Mike_Kelly1 for the info, @jussi_laako said it also depends on the DAC that is connected to the iFi Zen Stream, in your case it is the Hegel DAC H120.
Btw, does coax limit the bandwidth up to 192kHz/24bit?
That for sure depend on the DAC and how its inputs are designed and implemented.
In my case USB output of Zen Stream is slightly better than Coax and it offers better functionality (DAC status control, 768kHz/32 bit and DSD support).
I don’t have Mac comparison but Zen Stream gives much better SQ than streaming from Rasbperry PI.
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Yes, indeed.
Moreover 176,4 kHz and 192 kHz playback is currently unstable in AIO mode on Zen Stream. It works properly only in Roon mode.
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Ja najpierw uruchomiłem Zen Strema po LAN. Ustawiłem połączenie Wi-Fi. Uruchomiłem ponownie i już bez problemu połączył się z siecią bezprzewodową.
dzięki. Udało mi się go zmusić do pracy. nie podoba mi się sposób, w jaki działa tylko w jednym trybie. Bluesound node 2i współpracuje z bluetooth, wifi, apple airplay – wszystkie tryby. ale to naprawdę brzmi świetnie!
Cieszę się, że udało Ci się uruchomić Zen Stream’a. Tryby Exclusive są dedykowane do konkretnej technologii streamingu. Uniwersalna pozycja to 1-AIO. Niestety, Zen Stream gra bardzo dobrze, ale oprogramowanie ma bardzo niestabilne i raczej traktować go trzeba jako ciekawostka niż sprzęt do odsłuchów.
Jeśli porównujesz do Bluesound to on ma moim zdaniem najstabilniejsze oprogramowanie i interfejs jest bardzo przyjazny. Bardzo stabilnie pracuje również Lumin, ja używam U1 mini. Trzeba z tego wszystkiego wybrać coś dla siebie 
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just bought one of these, and it was DOA dead on arrival
I returned it immediately for a full refund, to say I am disappointed is an understatement.
Ali a bit late now, but was the unit dead or the power supply (or you can’t know) ?
There were a lot of issues with power supplies early on, but that was 9 months ago and I thought that was long resolved.
The unit ethernet lights were working.
the unit would switch on (power light on) - but no status lights, after waiting for 10 minutes and many attempts to switch on and off.
it is a PSU issue, I don’t know. but if the ethernet lights were on?
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You did the right thing to return it quickly.
Possibly not a good power supply or a corrupt firmware.
Best to get it back as quickly as possible, given some issues others have had.
Thankfully mine has worked beautifully so far.
Hi Dean,
Can I ask how you found the Munich M1T with the Forester F1 LPS compared to the ifi stream ?
I’m currently using the ifi stream, with a roon rock NUC and a chord TT ( close to your set up ) and thought you would be a good person to ask.
Any insight you can give would be appreciated.
Regards
Matthew
Hello, Matthew.
I found the M1T and the F1 power supply from silent angel to be at a higher level/category than the iFi Zen Stream, with respect to sound quality and user experience. Note that I also had the N8 switch which all stacked together nicely. I also used the Bastei DC cables from silent angel. I found the silent angel stack had far more space or openness…I think that’s what some people call transparency. It was a sound that just sounded like you were in another category of equipment. It also scaled very well depending on whatever DAC you connected. I connected it to my TT2/MScaler and then after I sold the Chord stack, I connected the silent angel to my headphone setup’s DAC (Cayin iDAC-6mk2) via hdmi I2S. I have been convinced that USB is most often not the best output…and this connection to the Cayin DAC supported that theory. For my chord TT2/MScaler I had a Mutec3+USB for the same reason. The chord stack of course was better…but I was still very satisfied with the sound quality…and still above the level I ever heard with the Zen Stream regardless of the DAC. I also found the VitOs operating software from silent angel was above average. In my opinion, better than Lumin’s software…waaaay better than whatever ifi Zen Stream uses (I can’t recall the name). But second to BluOs from Blusound.
I sold my chord stack just to try another DAC and perhaps reduce the number of boxes if I could. I was thinking of the Tambaqui and was thinking I could use the M1T as its stream especially as it has an I2S input. However, I decided to get the Lumin X1 as the Streamer/DAC (with no need for a an external USB reclocker) all in one option proved too tempting in reducing the box count. So I sold my M1T as the Lumin X1 covers that. I would highly recommend the M1T+F1+N8+Bastei DC cables…from experience this combo is closer to the Lumin U1 mini in my systems than the Blusound or ifi Zen Streamer.
My favourite youtube audiophile reviewer Hans Beekhuyzen did a recent review on the M1T et al…check it out…Silent Angel Munich M1 streamer and Forrester F1 Power supply - YouTube
Here is another reviewers take…I agree with his view about the M1T “not being in the sound chain”…SILENT ANGEL MUNICH M1T DIGITAL TRANSPORT REVIEW, USING TIDAL MASTERS, QOBUZ & USB SOLID STATE - YouTube
I hope this helps.
I’ve discovered a new issue with my ZS since upgrading the firmware to the new “Roon Ready” authentication. When I have the ZS set to “All-in-One” or the universal setting on the back, Roon recognizes it and populates the correct settings in the Audio setup—max PCM of 384, 32 bit, DSD 512 (although technically it can’t process higher than DSD 256). However, when I switch to the “Roon Exclusive” mode on the back, suddenly the maximum PCM is 192 and 24 bit.
I’ve attempted to submit an ticket to iFi, but their Wordpress website has a bug currently that won’t allow me to open one. Has anyone else experienced the above behavior since installing the latest firmware on the ZS?
Steven I only see that on SPDIF output, but I am using AIO mode.
I think that Roon only mode makes it so you cannot run the app or change output which I have been doing regularly.
Even though this firmware is Roon Ready, it is still beta firmware. Hopefully that will be fixed in a future update
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What output do you see in Roon-only mode in the Settings-Audio section:
I’d guess that in that mode you cannot change the output and as SPDIF is the default one, you are presented with Coax max capacity (PCM 192).
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Yes that seems to be what I saw as well.
One of the things for Roon Ready should be that you can change devices from it, so maybe that will come in an update
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Hi Woodford
Have you updated to the Stream to the Beta build that is fully Roon Ready.
I used to see rockchip-spdif in the past, as I think that is the old name where both outputs could be independently active. Now it seems to only be either or selected from the App/Web page.