Simple streamer for my setup - Wireless / Tidal / USB for DAC

[audiobomber]

15 minutes ago, stefano_mbp said:

True!

anyway should you decide to go with Volumio Primo (their “turn key” solution) you could buy Volumio Primo HiFi Edition which integrates the lifetime license for MyVolumio Superstar Lifetime Plan

https://volumio.org/product/volumio-primo/

For an extra €199 subscription fee. Not terribly appealing. I've been burned a couple of times by "lifetime" software licenses.

 

The sMS-200 is cheaper than a basic Primo; $450 with no subscription fee required to play Tidal. The Primo contains a DAC, which the OP does not need.

 

That is my recommendation, sMS-200 or sMS-200 Neo, with future upgrade possibilities: linear power supply, tx-USB, even a clock.

[photonman]

I just hooked a new Zen Stream to replace my Macbook setup.  It was very simple, about 5 minutes from unboxing to music streaming.  I only have Spotify Connect source enabled.  It has software toggles to turn on Tidal Connect, Roon Bridge, NAA and DLNA from the web portal or via hardware switch on the back panel.  It comes with an iFi power supply so no need to replace it with something else.

 

Have not had a chance to critically compare to the Mac yet, but after a couple of glasses of wine, it is hard to hear any difference although at instances, it does sound different, but not sure if better or worse different.  Just for the simplicity and small footprint, I am liking it so far.

[R1200CL]

4 hours ago, photonman said:

It has software toggles to turn on Tidal Connect

Why not try. Should be far better than Spotify. 

[Mike48]

On 6/26/2021 at 12:22 PM, R1200CL said:

Nice 

https://darko.audio/2021/06/ifis-zen-stream-spotify-tidal-connect-roon-for-399/

 

A new budget winner ?

It seems impossible to find out from iFi or the distributor if the Zen Stream supports gapless DLNA streaming. I have asked via several avenues but not got an answer. Anyone? @photonman, have you tried that, by any chance?

[Rexp]

On 7/13/2021 at 12:43 PM, Mike48 said:

It seems impossible to find out from iFi or the distributor if the Zen Stream supports gapless DLNA streaming. I have asked via several avenues but not got an answer. Anyone? @photonman, have you tried that, by any chance?

According to the Headfi thread it is gapless. 

[No Quarter]

Hi everyone

I just picked up a Zen stream on Friday, managed to get it up and running today. Previously I owned several proper streamers from Naim…UQ2,272,NDS,Nd5xs2 and several Chord Dac’s, with the latest being an Mscaler/TT2.

I traded all those in to fund new speakers, so went back to a laptop>USB> Musical Fidelity MX Dac. Needless to say the sound was not very good from the Laptop.

The Zen stream was a rather large uplift in sound, feeding the same MF Dac, quite surprising really just how good it now sounds. I am going to add an Sbooster power supply to the Dac this week to see what that brings.

I struggled a bit to get the Zen stream working however, I am not much of a computer geek, so trying to figure out if I am running wirelessly or through ethernet has me a bit puzzled. Any advice greatly appreciated, I also tried plugging in a 3 TB  USB drive in the Zen, it seems to be taking forever to index. Maybe I should leave the USB hard drive plugged into my Laptop, and access it over the network? 
I also have J-river on the Laptop, but not sure how to access it through the Zen yet.

This is my first day with it, and I am thrilled with the sound, just a few hurdles to get over still…highly recommended streamer, cheap.

[firedog]

17 hours ago, No Quarter said:

Hi everyone

I just picked up a Zen stream on Friday, managed to get it up and running today. Previously I owned several proper streamers from Naim…UQ2,272,NDS,Nd5xs2 and several Chord Dac’s, with the latest being an Mscaler/TT2.

I traded all those in to fund new speakers, so went back to a laptop>USB> Musical Fidelity MX Dac. Needless to say the sound was not very good from the Laptop.

The Zen stream was a rather large uplift in sound, feeding the same MF Dac, quite surprising really just how good it now sounds. I am going to add an Sbooster power supply to the Dac this week to see what that brings.

I struggled a bit to get the Zen stream working however, I am not much of a computer geek, so trying to figure out if I am running wirelessly or through ethernet has me a bit puzzled. Any advice greatly appreciated, I also tried plugging in a 3 TB  USB drive in the Zen, it seems to be taking forever to index. Maybe I should leave the USB hard drive plugged into my Laptop, and access it over the network? 
I also have J-river on the Laptop, but not sure how to access it through the Zen yet.

This is my first day with it, and I am thrilled with the sound, just a few hurdles to get over still…highly recommended streamer, cheap.

Wired or wireless: If you have an ethernet (network cable) plugged into the Zen, it's probably wired. I'm not familiar with the Zen, but it should have a way for you to access the settings (probably a web page, check the manual or FAQs at the iFi website for how to access it). There you should be able to set either wired or wireless.  If that doesn't help, go to iFi support and submit a question.

 

USB drive: yes, probably better to access it that way. Such devices are often incredibly slow at indexing on their own and especially if powering a drive. Going wired may also help with that kind of stuff. 

 

JRiver: you need to use the DLNA function of the Zen for that. Then JRiver will see it. 

[No Quarter]

On 11/9/2021 at 3:09 PM, firedog said:

Wired or wireless: If you have an ethernet (network cable) plugged into the Zen, it's probably wired. I'm not familiar with the Zen, but it should have a way for you to access the settings (probably a web page, check the manual or FAQs at the iFi website for how to access it). There you should be able to set either wired or wireless.  If that doesn't help, go to iFi support and submit a question.

 

USB drive: yes, probably better to access it that way. Such devices are often incredibly slow at indexing on their own and especially if powering a drive. Going wired may also help with that kind of stuff. 

 

JRiver: you need to use the DLNA function of the Zen for that. Then JRiver will see it. 

Thanks for the reply, after a few days with the Zen I am starting to figure things out. I am using Ethernet for sure, I have mainly just been listening to Tidal with Airplay, sounds great. I will try the DNLA function soon, just wanted to get a few hours on it right now, I leave it playing with the volume down while at work.

Last night I added an S booster to my Dac, that was a nice uplift too, seemed to slow things down, take any edge off that was audible.

I am used to Naim streamers that you just plug in and they work, I am on a bit of a learning curve here. For instance, this is my first time using Airplay, not even sure what rate is the max with that? Or is this a degradation from local streaming of my downloaded files?

Cheers.