I am wondering if folks would like to hear from you on the topic of "Best practices for connecting a streamer or streaming DAC to the LAN", covering Wifi or hard wired, cables, switches, power supplies, clocks etc, NAS and or Servers? :)
I bought the zen streamer sometime ago i had loads of problems with it, i placed it in storage for some months , recently i tried it again and now it is working no problems at all, don't understand. 😁
Thank you for this video! I had the ifi Zen Stream, and felt like a beta tester, went to the Node and now in the Pi2 Mercury V2 running RoPieeeXL. I looked at the Neo Stream before purchasing the Mercury, and remembered my horrible experience with the Zen Stream... I am using the Venus II 12th DAC... I gave the Neo a serious look for the fibre optical it offered, but really could not find much info on the unit. I have optical in my network at the endpoint to my AV gear. And now I come to find out it uses Volumio... Buggy software, will ifi never learn? The Mercury came with Volumio preloaded. I tried it and quickly switched over to RoPieeeXL, which was incredibly easy to do, and runs flawlessly across my network, rock solid. Glad I went with my gut on this one. Two quick questions... I take it you are stuck with Volumio on the Neo? Can you change the OS? And do they charge you monthly for the use of the Volumio software on the Neo?
Currently looking at an upgrade for my Node 2i (which is fed by Roon Rock NUC). Not sure why as it does sound great... Prefer a single box, but at this price, I could also just buy a really good dac and limit the sample rate in Roon (As reclocking clicks between songs with different sample rates drive me completely mental :p) Decisions decisions.... not sure this is worth the upgrade from my Node2i
Can you please explain what sort of hardware or software you’d need to transmit audio through the Ethernet cable into the streamer? I use Apple Music, and I know it has AirPlay, but I think that’s via WiFi, no? How does one stream from a Mac to the streamer via Ethernet (to convert to optical)? Sorry I’m so uneducated about this. Every review explains the Opti-cable thing, but they all assume the watcher knows how to get audio to stream over Ethernet.
@@steve-94951I was curious about the same thing. It's a tough question to get an answer on as many people believe that as a "Transport" only they all sound the same. I used to believe that as well.. simply because that is what science tells us. But after trying probably 10 different streamers at this point I definitely do not agree that they all sound the same if bit perfect
Can you power a dongle such as the RU6 with the little brother of this device, the Zen Stream ? Would this work: Zen stream > dongle RU6 > phone to coax adapter cable > pre-amp/stero > sonic bliss ?
I'd get just an iUSB 3.0 and use that for preference. The Zen Stream is quite buggy, especially if you use the stock, cheap, power supply. That all being said, if I was going to spend that kind of money for an R2R DAC, the Schiit Modi Multibit is a better option, if not a Bifrost 2/64 or an Audio-gd NOS-1.
hi. Thanks for reply. I found a Zen Stream for half price used. wonder why ? I already have a wiim pro plus. I was intending to get the zen stream in order to run the RU6 or the Hiby FC6. The Audio-gd NOS-1 is 900 dollars US, a lot more... too much, actually. I will look into he Schiit Bifrost, but I think it is expensive too. conjured up my idea above as an affordable way to get an r2r that sounds good. If the Hiby music player software will bypass android's 16/44 downsample limit then I can stream straight from phone to FC6 or RU6 to stereo. Any holes in my thinking ? I really only wanted the Zen Stream because I thought it would connect to and power the r2r dongles. I do not have either dongle yet. Do you think one is better sound to the other - FC6 vs RU6 ?
In short, the modi multibit sounds beeter than the FC6 or RU6 in your opinion ?(ignoring the complexities of hoping the Zen will power a dongle, wierd cables, etc...)
so how the hell do you play music back from ext HDD and control the music library from android and ipad? I dont use tidal or anything like that? Theres no actual software for a product costing £1200. I am very close to buying this but i have no idea how it would work with my hifi.
I am wondering if folks would like to hear from you on the topic of "Best practices for connecting a streamer or streaming DAC to the LAN", covering Wifi or hard wired, cables, switches, power supplies, clocks etc, NAS and or Servers? :)
That's something my patrons and I actively discuss on my Discord.
The superior robustness of Chord products to "polluted" RF inputs is exactly my experience ( M Scaler + Dave)
Well done. I could see a market for iFi offering the Optibox separately.
They just added a network filter to their lineup. An optical network isolator would definitely be good though.
I bought the zen streamer sometime ago i had loads of problems with it, i placed it in storage for some months , recently i tried it again and now it is working no problems at all, don't understand. 😁
Thank you for this video!
I had the ifi Zen Stream, and felt like a beta tester, went to the Node and now in the Pi2 Mercury V2 running RoPieeeXL. I looked at the Neo Stream before purchasing the Mercury, and remembered my horrible experience with the Zen Stream... I am using the Venus II 12th DAC...
I gave the Neo a serious look for the fibre optical it offered, but really could not find much info on the unit. I have optical in my network at the endpoint to my AV gear.
And now I come to find out it uses Volumio... Buggy software, will ifi never learn? The Mercury came with Volumio preloaded. I tried it and quickly switched over to RoPieeeXL, which was incredibly easy to do, and runs flawlessly across my network, rock solid. Glad I went with my gut on this one.
Two quick questions...
I take it you are stuck with Volumio on the Neo? Can you change the OS? And do they charge you monthly for the use of the Volumio software on the Neo?
I don't think you could change the OS without losing functionality -- maybe not just the controls, but I don't even know if the ports would all work.
@@Currawong Kind of what I thought, never hurts to ask. Looks like a cool unit, just not for me. Thank you again for the very informative video sir.
Agreed, Volumio was buggy on a Intel mini-pc and on Zen stream. I gave up and sold it.
Help me out... i am looking at a used Zen Stream. Does it suck ? If so, why ?
Currently looking at an upgrade for my Node 2i (which is fed by Roon Rock NUC). Not sure why as it does sound great... Prefer a single box, but at this price, I could also just buy a really good dac and limit the sample rate in Roon (As reclocking clicks between songs with different sample rates drive me completely mental :p)
Decisions decisions.... not sure this is worth the upgrade from my Node2i
Can you please explain what sort of hardware or software you’d need to transmit audio through the Ethernet cable into the streamer? I use Apple Music, and I know it has AirPlay, but I think that’s via WiFi, no? How does one stream from a Mac to the streamer via Ethernet (to convert to optical)?
Sorry I’m so uneducated about this. Every review explains the Opti-cable thing, but they all assume the watcher knows how to get audio to stream over Ethernet.
I'm using an Auralic Aires Fempto which is getting long in the tooth. Would this be a comparable replacement? This retails for $2000 Aus.
Does using this with the Gustard R26 via i2s sound better than simply using built in R26 streamer due to the galvanic isolation from Optibox?
I found that it did in my R26 review, but the channels are reversed due to the set-up of the I2S in the Neo Stream.
You can do this with the Wiim mini, it can access any DLNA souces on my home network, hi res is no problem.
Thanks Amos! Does it require a hard connection to your router?
No need. It has wifi as well
Hi thanks for sharing. So how does this compare with Zen Stream? Worth the upgrade? Thanks
If you want the extra functionality, it could be.
@@Currawong no improvement over the Zenstream sonically as a streamer?
@@steve-94951I was curious about the same thing. It's a tough question to get an answer on as many people believe that as a "Transport" only they all sound the same. I used to believe that as well.. simply because that is what science tells us. But after trying probably 10 different streamers at this point I definitely do not agree that they all sound the same if bit perfect
Apparently an lps is essential
Would using over wifi also cut out the noise coming through the ethernet cable, or would that add its own issues?
Yes, it should do. As long as any noise generated by the wifi circuit isn't getting through the system.
Can you power a dongle such as the RU6 with the little brother of this device, the Zen Stream ? Would this work: Zen stream > dongle RU6 > phone to coax adapter cable > pre-amp/stero > sonic bliss ?
I'd get just an iUSB 3.0 and use that for preference. The Zen Stream is quite buggy, especially if you use the stock, cheap, power supply. That all being said, if I was going to spend that kind of money for an R2R DAC, the Schiit Modi Multibit is a better option, if not a Bifrost 2/64 or an Audio-gd NOS-1.
hi. Thanks for reply. I found a Zen Stream for half price used. wonder why ? I already have a wiim pro plus. I was intending to get the zen stream in order to run the RU6 or the Hiby FC6. The Audio-gd NOS-1 is 900 dollars US, a lot more... too much, actually. I will look into he Schiit Bifrost, but I think it is expensive too. conjured up my idea above as an affordable way to get an r2r that sounds good. If the Hiby music player software will bypass android's 16/44 downsample limit then I can stream straight from phone to FC6 or RU6 to stereo. Any holes in my thinking ? I really only wanted the Zen Stream because I thought it would connect to and power the r2r dongles. I do not have either dongle yet. Do you think one is better sound to the other - FC6 vs RU6 ?
...have not yet purchased ANY of the above - no zen stream, neither dongle DAC, yet...
The Modi Multibit is $299.
In short, the modi multibit sounds beeter than the FC6 or RU6 in your opinion ?(ignoring the complexities of hoping the Zen will power a dongle, wierd cables, etc...)
so how the hell do you play music back from ext HDD and control the music library from android and ipad? I dont use tidal or anything like that? Theres no actual software for a product costing £1200. I am very close to buying this but i have no idea how it would work with my hifi.
Via a web browser.
@@Currawong Thanks. Thats no use to me. I have moved on to considering the MF mx stream.
Interesting but how is the box? You forgot the most important thing in your review ! 😜
Seems horrendously complex. I wonder what the typical getting the music started time vs actual listening time ration is.
Lol, nice
Boycott MQA!
No need, it wont be around much longer.