Hi,
I too have a Zen Stream and a Denfripos Ares II.
I tired mconnect and bubbleupnp and absolutely hate the interfaces. It's nearly 2023 and I don't want to use crap software and outdated user interfaces.
User experience matters and good software is important.
It is annoying that the Zen Stream doesn't have good native Qobuz integration. Further, Tidal Connect is pretty flakey at the best of times.
With this in mind, I was looking to ditch the Zen Stream and was looking toward more expensive options from Auralic and Innuos.
Until I decided to buy a cheap NUC from eBay and install Roon ROCK.
Roon has transformed how I listen to digital music and it fixes the biggest weakness of the Zen Stream.
Yes, it is more money but not in the same league as a Lumin U2 mini or Auralic Aries G1.
Yes. it is frustrating that Tidal Connect doesn't work and that Qobuz doesn't have a Connect option yet.
Yes. it is annoying that the software on the Zen Stream is pretty meh.
But, Roon overcomes all this and does a brilliant job of adding a tonne of value.
Give it a try and see what you think.
Also, for what it's worth I think Wi-Fi to the Zen Stream sounds superb and I've ditched all the Ethernet madness as a result. Plus Wi-Fi is effectively galvanically isolated so you can forget all about Ethernet "noise". (I work with major global networking and I'm pretty handy with Ethernet, switching, fibre etc. and I'm really happy with the Zen Stream Wi-Fi circuit).