![]() ![]() Priced at £399/US$399/€399, the ZEN Stream lands at the entry-level end of the market where margins are low enough to see tech support costs eat them whole. Furthermore, the S/PDIF output incorporates iFi’s iPurifier technology (reviewed here). All USB ports support SuperSpeed USB3.0 and come loaded with iFi’s ANC II active noise cancellation that the British manufacturer asserts will remove distortion from the audio signal. The ZEN Stream’s board also incorporates iFi’s Femto-precision GMT (Global Master Timing) clock circuitry that promises to eradicate jitter from the digital signal. Regulators with high PSRR (Power Supply Rejection Ratio), low idle current and low dropout voltage are used, together with a synchronous 1.5MHz high-speed power supply controller, further contributing to the ZEN Stream’s pure, distortion-free performance.” “Discrete surface-mounted devices such as TDK C0G multilayer ceramic capacitors and inductors from Taiyo Yuden and Murata. We return to the press release for the specifics: ![]() According to the press release, these are “individual settings that deliver fully optimised performance by focusing operation on one particular mode of use”.Īround the ZEN Stream’s multi-faceted music streaming core, iFi has built a hardware platform that pays closer attention to audiophile sensitivities. IFi also gives us the ability to select between something they call ‘exclusive modes’. ![]() Hi-res enthusiasts take note, this new iFi streamer supports PCM up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD up to 11.2MHz (DSD256). ![]() It supports an impressive feature set: Roon Bridge, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, AirPlay, Google Chromecast Built-in (coming later via a software update), UPnP (including directly attached USB storage devices) and NAA (for use with HQPlayer). Connecting input to output is a streaming platform built around a quad-core ARM Cortex microprocessor running a Linux operating system. That’s the basic premise of the new ZEN Stream, iFi Audio’s first network streamer. Ethernet or Wifi in, asynchronous USB or coaxial S/PDIF out. ![]()
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