The ability of Zen Stream to throw a realistic soundstage in a holographic way was also easily heard on the opening song from Magnolia movie – “One” by Aimee Mann. This particular track has all the virtues to create an illusion of the signer being in the listening room. And so, the whole system, starting with Zen Stream delivered here. There was also something more. Or actually something less. It was the dark background, the absence of that something annoying that in case of computer audio very often underpins the entire performance. You don’t objectively hear it, but you somehow – in some cases – feel that that it’s there. Yet there was that innate calm married to the dark background in the back of the soundstage that made everything just seem right.
As a something of a side-, yet important, note here: I cannot emphasize enough how actually important is it to have a really dark background in the context of an entire audio playback chain. On the speakers and in-room response side this may mean the lack of early reflections and in room reverberation. But in the context of digital front-end we are not only talking about the lack of any jitter-related additional spikes of harmonics, but also counting in another distortion mechanisms. This is when the iPurified description of the iFi’s streamer USB output comes to mind.
This may also include the impact of PSU on the digital playback chain, since after connecting the Zen Stream to my S-Booster 12V PSU things elevated in a discernible way. Even darker background and more body to the instruments I would say.
Listening to Seal’s “Whirlpool” brought another important realization. It is the fact that having the abovementioned dark background allows the leading and trailing edges to be better perceived, also in a more natural and unfatiguing way. Zen Stream injects a certain amount of firmness into the sound, but at the same time makes it easy on the ear by the virtue of not adding anything else.
What is especially interesting is the fact that the Zen Stream makes the music more legible and natural at the same time. As I already mentioned much earlier, this is not about one, or two, or maybe any other single-digit number of isolated areas of reproduction that got better. The impact of Zen Stream on the entire sound spectacle is more horizontal rather than vertical.
And its sonic prowess leans toward being neutral and dynamic. That was – which may surprise some – obvious when comparing the Zen Stream to the twice as expensive and also very good EarMen Staccato. The latter is a part of the stack that did receive an EISA award for the Headphone system 2022-2023, so it should be taken rather seriously. Not to mention that the Staccato’s asking price is higher than that of Zen Stream. Since EarMen’s offering doesn’t have USB, I compared S/PDIF outputs in both. And the Serbian unit offered a more plush, saturated reproduction, while perhaps not being as controlled as Zen Stream. Both conveyed “Convergence” album by Malia and Boris Blank with the sense of naturalness and ease, and in this comparison, I feel it’s more about the taste than the quality of the dish served, the overall quality was in both cases similar. This, on the other hand, speaks volumes about the amount of improvement that Zen Stream can offer for the price. More on that in the summary.
Zen Stream – conclusion
One thing that definitely needs to be addressed here is the unique and, at the same time, wide functionality of the Zen Stream, which is – given the price point – almost uncanny. And when making the most of it, some understanding of the basic concepts of digital audio will be needed. There are tweaks applicable that may (or rather, in reality, will) make a difference for some. In general, what I mean by that is: while Zen Stream configuration is easy and almost plug-and-play, this is in reality a more complex device than you might actually expect. iFi Audio Zen Stream is actually the go-to streamer for the well-informed enthusiasts on a budget. And especially those who want both the versatility and the last bit of transparency they can get for that price.
There’s also one advantage that comes with all the features packed here. Perhaps an advantage, or even more possibly route not seen, but worth pointing out. One could start with Zen Stream using its Tidal Connect functionality and then, when time and other things allow – go for a more elaborate, complex, but better sounding front-end by incorporating HQPlayer. With or without Roon, because in the Zen Stream’s case both use cases are possible out-of-the-box.
Highly recommended.
Manufacturer: iFi Audio https://ifi-audio.com/
Price: £399 / $399 / €399 (at the time of writing)