Streamer creates a Wow experience

If I had the budget I would’ve jumped on an Innuos Zen Mk3 not only for the streaming quality but also because I could just load the rest of my CDs not available for streaming and have everything all in one place.  Alas, for now I’m still quite impressed with the sound I’m getting out of the Zen Stream.  Sigh. 

What DAC(s) are you feeding the iFi, and do you feel it is now close or even better to your CD playback?

@blisshifi I’m feeding the Zen Stream into a Musician Pegasus, and its not even close — the streaming is now far superior to CD.  Didn’t see that comin’, at least not to this degree.  My next move is to get a Singxer SU6 DDC so I can switch to the I2s Input on my Pegasus.  You must have lots of fun watching reactions of people hearing a good streamer for the first time.

@pdreher Nice system.  I’m using the iPowerX and haven’t had the courage to pull it out to make a comparison, but by all accounts the upgraded power supply makes a big improvement.  Love to hear your thoughts if/when you get the new PS. 

LPS for digital is snake oil.

That is not the impression I get.  I read plenty of reviews where using an upgraded power supply greatly improves the performance of the iFi Zen Stream, including several posters here.  

@charles1dad I use the SPDIF from my Oppo as a transport so obviously could be better.  But I will say that steaming with the Zen Stream is vastly superior in every way over playing CDs in my current setup.   Not even close. 

BTW please ignore silly comment that a LPS for digital audio is snake oil. Utter nonsense. Best wishes.

@charles1dad Yeah, I know.  I was just trying to be nice instead of my more normally cantankerous self.  I use the iFi iPowerX power supply with my Zen Stream. 

@reimarc I highly encourage you to jump in.  There are obviously many ways to go — it can be very overwhelming — but I’d highly recommend the route I took as the results are spectacular, it’s not that expensive, and it could hardly be easier to get up and running.  The iFi Zen Stream by all accounts is an excellent performer at a very reasonable price.  It can be had for $399, and I view the iPowerX (or some other external power supply) as not optional.  I got my iPowerX from B&H used for $75 and works great, and they apparently still have more...

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1551794-REG/ifi_audio_306039_15v_ipower_x_15v_anc2.html

Setup could hardly be easier and you can just follow the few steps on their quick start guide and be done in five minutes.  The only wrinkle is you can’t stream Qobuz directly through the Zen, so you need to download the mconnect app and link your Qobuz to it, then you play Qobuz through the app to the Zen.  I’d only recommend the mconnectHD version for $5.99 as it allows you to play everything and the install/setup process was a breeze — not sure that’s the case with the Lite/free version.  Anyway, if you’re looking to just get started with a relatively affordable yet high-performing option with an absolute minimum of headaches, I can’t recommend this setup more highly.  Best of luck. 

I just wanted to do a separate post for those who may want to stream Qobuz through the iFi Zen as Qobuz as of yet cannot stream direct to the Zen. At first I thought maybe I made a horrible mistake getting the Zen as my sole source for streaming is Qobuz. I had visions of wrestling with third-party apps trying to get everything to work together — it seemed like a nightmare for sure headed my way, especially because I’m just awful at dealing with anything computer related.

Long story short, I needn’t have worried, and this is one of those VERY rare instances where everything just worked. To get Qobuz to work with the Zen you need to download the mconnect app. This made me nervous as the app only had like a 3-star rating, which had me really worried this was going to be a bad experience with glitches galore. Anyway, to minimize potential issues I plunked down the $5.99 for the mconnectHD version, which I can’t recommend highly enough. Once you have your Zen hooked into your WiFi, you just go into the app, choose Qobuz and sign into your Qobuz account when prompted, and that’s it — you’re done. Even I couldn’t screw it up, and that’s seriously saying something because I’m a pro at finding problems where there are none.

Here’s the best part — once these steps were completed, everything just worked! Imagine that. Qobuz popped up in the mconnect app, and all my playlists, favorites, etc. were there. It takes a few minutes to find the search function because the layout is a bit different from the Qobuz site, but it’s all there and it all works just as it should. I couldn’t believe when I hit play, the green light lit up on the Zen, and music started playing. Not only did music start playing, but it sounded absolutely glorious — much better than playing CDs at least in my system (admittedly I’m just using an Oppo through SPDIF as a transport, so take this for what it’s worth).

Sorry for being so long winded, but I just wanted to assure anyone who may be considering this route that it’s really easy to implement and the results are incredible. Hope this helps.

hey that’s awesome you’re in love with your new set up! Enjoy it!!
When are you getting a DDC? Keep the thoughts flowing…update us here on how that changed the sound.

@audphile1 Man, I’m absolutely aching for an SU6 and I even already have a 6” HDMI cable ready to go for when I get one as I know it’s gonna generate meaningful improvements. The thing is my credit card is already throbbing from building a HeadFi system, buying an LTA MZ2 (for both preamp and headphone amp duties), and sending my DNA 0.5 RevA back to SMcAudio for full upgrades. Ouch. It might be a while before I can shell out for anything else, but I’ll certainly keep you posted if anything develops. I hate/love this hobby.

@shooter41 Yeah, I have a Singxer SA1 amp driving my Hifiman Arya Stealths and absolutely love it, and it too is built like a small tank and is why I’m targeting the SU6 for a DDC to take advantage of the i2S connection on my Musician Pegasus.  Big Singxer fan so far. 

@jond Thanks man.  So far I’ve only gotten to hear this stuff on my HeadFi rig and it made a big improvement.  I get my DNA 0.5 back from SMcAudio very soon and can’t wait to hear this gear in the big rig. 

@eisen0169 The power supply still makes a difference (my Zen Stream is plugged into an Audience power conditioner). I’d highly recommend picking up a used IFi iPowerX from B&H for only $75 — that’s what I did. I’d also highly recommend doing a free trial of Qobuz. Through the Zen Stream it sounds significantly better in my system than spinning CDs, and obviously it’s hugely more convenient with a near endless world of music at your fingertips, much of it in hi res. No harm in trying.

@riccitone The Mercury Streamer looks really interesting kinda like getting a Zen Stream with DDC capability for only another $200.  Bargain!

I have to say one of my favorite aspects of the Pegasus is that although it provides the typical benefits of R2R it doesn’t roll off the upper treble as some R2R DACs seem to do. 

You can’t really assess streaming seriously with Spotify.  Report back after you get Qobuz. 

@tubeguy76 Great!  If you could let me know what improvements you hear.  I never used the original power supply and don’t currently have access to it to do a comparison so I’d be interested in what you find.  All I know is it sounds damn good with the iPowerX. 

@tubeguy76 Thanks for the update and glad it seems to be working out. Yeah I’m very happy with the Pegasus in my HeadFi system, and I get my McCormack amp back from SMcAudio soon with full mods so I’ll definitely have more to say once I get that up and running in my home system. I’d recommend reading the reviews on soundnews.net as I generally agree with his assessments and he writes quality reviews. He’s reviewed the Pegasus and I believe he’s reviewed the Pontus ll and at maybe even the Aries, and whichever meets your preferred sound profile best would be the one I’d go with. One thing I will say is the Draco seems to sound almost identical to the Pegasus as per soundnews.net and costs like $300 less, so that might be worth exploring as well.

One thing I really like about the Pegasus is that it does not seem to roll of the upper treble that some R2R DACs seem to do, so if that’s also a concern of yours that would be something to focus on.  I’m really liking the R2R performance so far.