IFi Zen Stream with Qobuz

Hello

great to find this thread as I’m continually working on maximizing what my Ifi Zen Stream can provide.

I’m currently using the Ifi Zen Stream powered by a 12V LHY linear supply purchased from Beatechnik.

ZS output is USB via a Curious Cable Evolved 200mm “regen link” into a Denafrips Iris DDC 

Iris output is a glass fiber cable from Lifatec into a Denafrips Ares II.

I’ve been exclusively using Tidal Connect over Wifi.  My plan is to eventually hardwire the unit into my router using some sort of Ethernet regenerator or an audiophile switch but truth be told, Wifi operation on my unit, in my house, has been pretty flawless.  Very very infrequently is there a dropout.  And ever since adding the Iris, they’ve essentially stopped.  Could be the FPGA and buffering ?

I’m not in love with the Tidal interface but it’s what I have now and it sounds good.

I can’t remember if I have it set on Tidal exclusive or AiO as they sound the same. 
Im slowly convincing myself to jump into the Roon pool.

JS

Just the free version for now 

I’ll buy the $6 app but is it the useability that improves or sound quality ?

It seems clunky and laggy just to search.  Also the search bar itself requires perfect spelling, etc… which is challenging when discovering new music 

I’m testing out Qobuz via Mconnect in my aforementioned Zen Stream set up:

(Ifi Zen > Curious USB > Denafrips Iris > Lifatec fiberoptic > Denafrips Ares II > Blue Jeans rca > amp)

Yes I think it sounds better than my Tidal connect set up I was using before .
also I’m able to verify that Mconnect is delivering the hi-rez streams to my equipment.

that said, I don’t think I can use this Mconnect app. It’s definitely better than the Ifi app but still not really pleasant to use.

I’ll try Roon next … need to find a cheap nuc situation …or I’ll just go back to tidal connect

Following up on other options to stream Qobuz on my Ifi Zen Stream besides using M-connect. 

I have the M-Connect Player app and, while I've gotten pretty used to it, the user experience is just sub par.  It seems that Ifi x Qobuz are getting closer to working together and maybe in the future we will see some sort of "connect" feature. 

Are there any better 3rd party apps beyond M-connect that people have had success with in using with their Zen Stream?

Thanks

Trying out JPlay now. So far it’s seems to be a pretty slick app. Search is definitely better than M-connect.

Not sure about sound quality yet.

The user experience, however, is very nice. Search yields lots of options which you can filter and further refine. I’m testing it with Qobuz now and when navigating to an artists albums, they are still displayed in a strange order, i.e. not by year, not alphabetically...but I think that is they way Qobuz orders them. I don’t love that.

The info and credits on a record are much more available and user friendly than on Qobuz via M-Connect.

I did have one weird thing happen.

Navigating to the new issue "Fragments" by Bod Dylan, I can’t play the tracks (see pic)

A red banner saying "Track is not available for stream" shows up ...However the record plays find in M-Connect.