ZEN Stream

Designed from the ground up to modernise your Hi-Fi, the ZEN Stream wirelessly casts Hi-Res PCM and DSD to your DAC, all while being fully controllable from your smartphone.

Just add Remote Control
Beneath its classy exterior, the ZEN Stream is a technological streamer-de-force. It has one purpose – to send music simply from the Internet to your DAC with no loss of quality. True hi-res performance of PCM384/DSD256 via WiFi/LAN. Just add your smart device as a remote and away you go. Ease of use + audiophile implementation. Follow iFi’s simple set-up guides on YouTube. It is the bee’s knees of Streamers.

Warp speed tech
ZEN Stream is a true ground-up design by iFi — the hardware and software implementation is quite exceptional: Two SuperSpeed USB3.0 ports with Active Noise Cancellation II, S/PDIF out with the iPurifier built-in, iFi software developed with Volumio open-source as the starting point, then coded and optimised by us to achieve the purest streaming software bar none. These are some of the factors behind why the ZEN Stream is at the cutting-edge handling PCM384/DSD256 on LAN and WiFi (802.11n, with 100Mbps on 5Ghz).

Tech savvy
Beneath the unassuming casework sits some serious horsepower in terms of both technologies and components:
Powerful 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex microprocessor
USB and S/PDIF interfaces regulated by femto-precision GMT clock to eradicate jitter
Active Noise Cancellation II and iPurifier technologies for USB and S/PDIF interfaces respectively
Intelligent Ethernet switch controller
High-PSRR, low idle current, low-dropout voltage regulators with soft start
Synchronous 1.6MHz high-speed precision power supply controller
C0G capacitors and Taiyo Yuden and Murata low ESR inductors

Who’s who of Streaming
Hot off the press, the ZEN Stream has the following connectivity options:
- Stream straight from Spotify/Tidal apps with Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect
- Works with any DLNA certified streaming app
- Integrated Airplay 1 – easy streaming from Apple and Android devices
- Now ROON Ready
- NAA operation in conjunction with Sygnalist’s HQPlayer software

‘Exclusive’ for your ears only
The ZEN Stream features a fully optimised software platform, from drivers and kernel to applications and user interface, ensuring seamless operation and superb sonic performance.

Its ‘Exclusive’ modes focus on specific functions like ROON Ready, Tidal, NAA, and DLNA streaming, removing unnecessary programs to reduce ‘software jitter’ for pure performance. All-in-one (AIO) mode covers all functions, making the ZEN Stream a master of all.

Superb sound, no matter how you stream
The ZEN Stream’s hi-res audio credentials are top-notch, supporting PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD up to 11.2MHz (DSD256) over Wi-Fi – highly unusual – as well as over Ethernet cable. There are multiple ways in which the device can interface with your music collection or favourite streaming service, depending on the user’s preference, and thanks to the ZEN Stream’s open-source architecture these will expand over time.

DAC’s your perfect partner
Because the ZEN Stream is a network audio ‘transport’, as opposed to a ‘player’ – it outputs a digital signal rather than an analogue one – it can be combined with whichever DAC (Digital-to-Analogue Converter) the user prefers.

An obvious partner is iFi’s ZEN DAC – an affordable, multi-award-winning USB DAC with balanced circuit design and the same 158x35x100mm aluminium enclosure.