iFi ZEN Stream

[Confused]

Basically, I'm a little confused with so much talk on the forum about external streamers.

What you don't like about internal streamer - e.g. UPnP and/or Roon?
Why do you need external streamer?

The point of Devialet architecture should be usage as all-in-one device, with one unique clock for all parts of the system, the shortest signal path, minimum possible jitter, etc...

Of course - I'm talking about current Devialet Expert generation - Pro with CI.

I don't see what cheap external solutions could bring (I've tried some, of course) and higher class streamers are far from cheap and it's questionable whether it's reasonable to put them in the system with Devilalet.

Do you need an external streamer? No.

So need is the wrong word. Possible benefits are:

1. Stability (Some find streaming via the CI board is 100% stable, others have issues)
2. Flexibility (For example, I use HQPlayer, which is not possible with the CI board)
3. The never ending hunt for marginal gains in sound quality.

Re point 3. This is just for some crazy obsessive Audiophile types. Frankly you are far better off being happy with the very fine sound quality that the Devialet and CI board delivers, and simply enjoying the music.