- What makes this different from updating vendor firmware:
A manufacturer has never to my knowledge put out a lengthy detailed explanation of dozens of adjustments available to a manufacturer’s firmware, exactly how to make them, and how to measure the results, as Intel has done with these BIOS adjustments. I was able to choose exactly which adjustments I wanted, and knew in detail what they would do, rather than being subject to an all-or-none choice of whether or not to install a manufacturer’s firmware that, rather than a voluminous detailed point by point description, came with only a brief marketing-speak summary. I don’t know about the Zen Stream particularly, but a previous iFi firmware update has, for example, broken the ability of two different DACs to display the resolution of the track being played; another added MQA playback capability, but limited the DAC’s maximum input resolution to half of what it was previously. I’ll choose the thoroughly tested and described Intel BIOS changes any time over that type of situation, thank you.
Regarding “hassle factor,” once I’d read the documentation, making the BIOS adjustments took less than 10 minutes. Regarding price, this mini-PC, nicely equipped, with optical Ethernet input option, is less than $500, and I can use any DAC I like with it rather than being locked into what iFi has put into the Zen Stream. (I’m using the iFi NEO iDSD, with better parts and specs.)
- Have there been UPnP problems with the Zen Stream?
If I remember correctly, Antoine had to modify the Plays with Audirvana page for it when a user discovered the information provided by iFi didn’t allow it to work with UPnP as he’d like.