![]() CXN V2 is also Roon Ready, consolidating the experience of browsing your digital music files – no matter the source. With Apple Airplay2 and Chromecast built-in, you can access Apple Music, Amazon Music, BBC Sounds and more. Enjoy your music, your way.ĬXN V2 has free and subscription hi-res streaming services, like internet radio, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz. Now finished in Lunar Grey to match the rest of the CX Series 2 range, the award-winning CXN (V2) allows playback of multiple audio file-types from multiple sources. ![]() And that kind of handholding is priceless for newcomers to the world of hi-fi streaming.Half a decade after the CX range redefined performance at its price point, it’s time to reimagine, reengineer and reinvigorate. With the ZEN Stream, everything is done for us. We don#t have to ask ourselves if our chosen Raspberry Pi OS offers wi-fi support. ![]() We don’t have to assemble the unit, put it in a case or write an operating system to a microSD card. And whilst the iFi press release correctly asserts that the Pi itself has not been optimised for digital audio streaming, many add-on HAT boards have to make them bona fide ZEN Stream rivals.Ĭuriously not mentioned in the iFi press release is the ZEN Stream’s more obvious advantage over the world of Pi: the iFi box is plug n’ play and Pi-based streamers are not. Moreover, this is where Raspberry Pi-based streamers dominate. Priced at £399/US$399/€399, the ZEN Stream lands at the entry-level end of the market where margins are low enough to see tech support costs eat them whole. Furthermore, the S/PDIF output incorporates iFi’s iPurifier technology (reviewed here). All USB ports support SuperSpeed USB3.0 and come loaded with iFi’s ANC II active noise cancellation that the British manufacturer asserts will remove distortion from the audio signal. The ZEN Stream’s board also incorporates iFi’s Femto-precision GMT (Global Master Timing) clock circuitry that promises to eradicate jitter from the digital signal. Regulators with high PSRR (Power Supply Rejection Ratio), low idle current and low dropout voltage are used, together with a synchronous 1.5MHz high-speed power supply controller, further contributing to the ZEN Stream’s pure, distortion-free performance.” “Discrete surface-mounted devices such as TDK C0G multilayer ceramic capacitors and inductors from Taiyo Yuden and Murata. We return to the press release for the specifics: ![]() According to the press release, these are “individual settings that deliver fully optimised performance by focusing operation on one particular mode of use”.Īround the ZEN Stream’s multi-faceted music streaming core, iFi has built a hardware platform that pays closer attention to audiophile sensitivities. IFi also gives us the ability to select between something they call ‘exclusive modes’. Hi-res enthusiasts take note, this new iFi streamer supports PCM up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD up to 11.2MHz (DSD256). ![]() It supports an impressive feature set: Roon Bridge, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, AirPlay, Google Chromecast Built-in (coming later via a software update), UPnP (including directly attached USB storage devices) and NAA (for use with HQPlayer). Connecting input to output is a streaming platform built around a quad-core ARM Cortex microprocessor running a Linux operating system. That’s the basic premise of the new ZEN Stream, iFi Audio’s first network streamer. Ethernet or Wifi in, asynchronous USB or coaxial S/PDIF out. ![]()
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