iFi audio ZEN Stream

Discussion in 'Product Announcements' started by iFi audio, Jun 25, 2021.

  1. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    Even more "bait and switchy" when units are upgraded above what consumers will receive for shipment to reviewers. Disappointing.
     
  2. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    I don’t believe there was any bait and switch.
    review units / package contents were not “upgraded” beyond what was advertised and what early consumers were getting when they ordered.

    more probable is that all packaged units underwent a shift to “not including” the iFi iPower at some point in time,
    who knows if electronics shortages on the planet contributed or stock took a hit, etc.

    btw, I have an iFi iPower 15V IIRC (not to be used with Zen Stream) if anyone wants it. :)
     
  3. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    Agree to disagree. Unless you don't believe reviews are advertising, intended to induce purchases in reliance upon the accuracy of their contents. I believe they are just that, and they are all still being viewed, and purchases being made in reliance thereon. This says nothing about whether the different PS is a material difference or not. But they can't very well say it isn't, and proceed to try to sell you the "upgrade." Well, they can, and do, but I'm not buying it.
     
  4. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    Folks, I'm on the case with this, but from what I can tell right now the first batch of the product had iPower PSUs included as a promo deal, just as i.e. first run of iDSD Diablo had iPurifiers inside. Once that lot gets sold, next ones don't have these extras included and naturally accessory lists have to be updated.

    Reviewers usually get demo units early so in many cases they also get extras that naturally are a part of the first production run.
     
  5. Climber

    Climber Facebook Friend

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    I've been watching the Zen Stream (and this thread) since it was announced and it wasn't at all clear to me that the iPower was just a limited promo inclusion. Had it been, I almost certainly would've bought it. And I have been on the cusp of purchasing for a couple months now.

    But now -- since I don't NEED a new streamer and not having an included decent power supply with the Zen changes the value proposition -- there's no incentive for me to not be patient and wait for a used deal.
     
  6. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    That's fair enough and I'll ask internally about the reason of that power supply change. Any new info and quite possibly confirmation from the HQ about the above will be posted here.
     
  7. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    An update folks: first 1000 ZEN Stream units had iPower included, but not each that came afterwards. Thanks!
     
  8. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    And that was clearly called out in your marketing materials and to all the reviewers you sent units to, correct?

    I don’t recall seeing or hearing about this before.
     
  9. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    I'd have to ask our marketing team whether this was a silent promo or we were vocal about it, but more importantly it ended now and stock chargers are included in effect.
     
  10. Hash70

    Hash70 New

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    I've been all over the internet reading reviews on the zen before I purchased and no where did it get mentioned that only the first 1000 customers got a ipower,this was a silent change,cause if I had known this then I wouldn't have made the purchase cause I know I would go and buy a better power adapter
     
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  11. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    Yes, I see that our silent promos are causing some confusion, but during next releases we'll try to address this and transparently mention which extras are limited.
     
  12. Climber

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    Inside an iFi marketing meeting ...

    "Guys, I have a great idea. Let's run a promo -- but not tell anybody!"
    "Brilliant! We'll sell none more than normal! Love it!"
     
  13. Climber

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    To be clear, I really do appreciate @iFi audio participating and engaging with us on this forum. Good products are made better with good service and customer relations -- and I know that is not always easy, particularly with this crowd.
     
  14. Elmer Danilovich

    Elmer Danilovich MOT:Earmen, HeadAmp, Bricasti; AKA:MShenay

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    So I actually purchased "review samples" an I got have the 12v 1a model which I assume is the stock/generic one as it doesn't specify that it's an iPower. While I'm not really anybody important in the world of reviews, I'm quite confident your attributing malice where there is none, I understand why tho still I don't feel it's appropriate

    iFi doesn't need to and has not performed a bait and switch with cherry picked review samples/packages. As I've run into this issue before with other products where friends have gotten accessories that I did not lol

    That said tho I DO believe better communication and standardization of whats included are areas of improvement!

    I didn't expect the iPower in this unit but at the price point I would have liked to see it present. Especially since the ZEN Dac Sig v2 has one included.

    Still performance wise mine's worked beautifully since inception. Both Wi-Fi and Ethernet have been seamless, the TIDAL exclusive mode works well and so does Qobuz thru the AIO mode. I also happen to have had an old 9V iPower I bought last year so I swapped over to that and threw in a Noise Nuke cuz why not! In my system I noticed I got a slightly blacker background with both NoiseNuke and iPower

    Oddly enough Noise Nuke alone would not work with the stock 12v psu... tho tbh I don't think I'd recommend the purchase of both to any one buying ZEN Stream. Stock performance out the box is stellar but if you like to tinker there's that single upgrade path available.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2021
  15. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    Suffice it to say, reviewer samples are regular products often sent to press via our distributors and resellers.

    Our marketing has to see this :D
     
  16. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    The product launch of ZEN Stream was horribly botched. The iPower "temporary silent upgrade" was discussed here. Now people on Head-Fi are upset that the latest firmware update removed MQA unfolding. iFi's response was that they removed MQA because the Stream was never supposed to have it in the first place. Oopsie. A bad look for the company.
     
  17. Climber

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    Wow. The churn over there on new product releases is relentless and I guess the cracks are starting to show. Slow down, iFi, think it through ...
     
  18. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    Aww, they did that to satisfy the SBAF community
     
  19. iFi audio

    iFi audio MOT iFi Audio

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    That's true.

    Yes, I imagine that some people here on SBAF are happy about that ;)

    We're all OK, really :)
     
  20. denny_dow

    denny_dow Acquaintance

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    I am considering this streamer, but I currently do not own an MQA-capable DAC and let my Mac do the unfolding while streaming Tidal Masters - do I understand correctly that this will not work with the new Zen Stream firmware?
     

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