I found the difference negligible, certainly not worth twice the subscription price. The recording matters a lot more than regular Tidal Hi-Fi versus their 'Master quality'. I tried Tidal Master, but found only about 20% of my music available in 'Master quality' and I am not a big believer of MQA anyway. The country where I travel the most, is currently not covered by Qobuz, so the choice for me is easy. My ideal choice would probably be Qobuz, but there is no dedicated mode for Qobuz on the ZS, and also Tidal is available in a lot more countries. It is not my first time using Tidal, but I had to renew my subscription in order to use the ZS. Here I will only cover 'All in one mode' and 'Tidal exclusive/Tidal connect' mode. The dedicated modes cut off all the unused physical circuitries inside the ZS further decreasing digital noise, which leads to an even cleaner sound than in AIO mode. Beside the 'All in one' mode you can choose a dedicated mode for Roon, Tidal, NAA (Network Audio Adapter) and DLNA. More about this in the software/app section.ĭespite being a minimalist device when it comes to external and internal design, the ZS is quite multifunctional (as many iFi devices are). The ZS is also not without glitches and connection issues, but luckily iFi is constantly working on it, improving things with every firmware update. The user experience is not the friendliest and it is certainly not for everyone. The ZS is such a minimalist device, it does not even have a screen or play/pause button like most streamers do. This exceptional price/performance ratio however does not come without compromises.
I personally can only attest to the ZS (Zen Stream) sounding better than the Blue Node 2I (£549) but I trust my friends' ears, and their findings are also supported by several online reviewers. I know audio enthusiasts who sold their £1200 streamers for the Zen Stream as they found the sonic qualities to be equal or better. A new Zen Stream these days can be found between £319 and £399 depending on the retailer. The Stream however stands out from the Zen series, as with the correct settings its audio quality (or shall we say noise eliminating abilities?) can compete with streamers for three times the price. The Zen Stream is part of this product range, sharing the same strong and well built aluminium chassis.
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In my opinion iFi's Zen series (DACs and amps) is one of the best value for money when it comes to entry level audio. It can manifest in a slightly harsher, more metallic treble for example. I think it is worth mentioning, that the noise we are talking about is not a buzzing electronic noise that one might first have in mind, this noise is a lot more subtle and you might not even realise it is present in your audio system. If you only use a USB dongle, you are probably fine with streaming from the computer. In my opinion you need to have a relatively good DAC/amp to consider buying a streamer for sound quality improvements.
DAC inputs, galvanic isolation, quality cables, power supplies, conditioners further filter noise so the same streamer may improve sound to different extent on different computers. I find it important to note that the level of noise can vastly differ from computer to computer. Streaming is possible straight from your computer to your DAC, but a dedicated streamer will completely separate your music server connection from your computer, eliminating all kinds of electronic noise from your audio chain which you might not even realised was there. Since you are reading this, you most likely already know what a streamer is, but you might not be sure whether you need one.
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