The Z1+ arrived with a plastic-body universal switching 12V/7A power adapter from GVE¹ whose power indicator lights green to contrast the server's own blue. The far larger companion clock came with a set of four directionally marked BNC links.
¹ Given that this is Silent Angel's upscale not entry-level server; and given that they make "radar-grade" SMPS for certain models already; as a buyer by proxy I'm hard-pressed to understand why this machine delivers with a stock switching brick rather than the firm's own purpose-engineered version built in. Cynics will say that it's because they hope to sell us on their add-on linear power supply. Even so, doesn't their better server deserve the same "radar-grade" type PSU that's in the Genesis GX clock?
Now the server's basic hookup guide threw cold water on my party. The Z1+ was discoverable only over the VitOS app available only for smartphones or tablets, not as a browser interface I might install on my 27" iMac. Like so many others, Silent Angel assume that all its clients use WiFi. They didn't check the intro sections of my reviews which itemize an iMac with Audirvana Studio, no WiFi in sight. Originally I'd been scheduled to review the Bonn NX LAN switch plus masterclock and written that preview of a combo I could accommodate. Then Ethan at Silent Angel had switched things up which forced a rewrite. I did and felt all set. I opened Audirvana Studio to see whether the Z1+ showed up as a selectable UPnP device. Unlike previous Lumin servers, it did not. Time to contact Taiwan. My contact Yuni suggested as workaround Bubble UPnP or Airplay2. I had no experience with either. Then Chorus Chuang checked in. "The Z1+ is a music server like a NAS. You'll need to use the mobile VitOS Manager app to control the server and install the features you need. To use it as music player for Qobuz and Tidal Connect, please install the Orbiter plugin to the Z1+. To use the Z1+ with Audirvana, install the DLNA Renderer." Had the machine arrived with the latter preinstalled, I'd have been good to go out of the box. This tale thus includes a detour caused by poor communications. But it's an educational detour so covered here even if for WiFi freaks, it'll be a bore.
"Regarding clock sync, since our clock is for network devices, we tested sound quality with different clock distribution scenarios in our reference system. We found that when we clock-sync a network device, the electrical noise from network-related circuits accumulates and sound quality suffers. That's why we opted to isolate our GX clock rather than use it to sync multiple devices. It's how we achieve lower network noise and better sound. Regarding WiFi noise, you're correct. Please place your WiFi router which is a big noise generator as far from your hifi as possible. Its AC outlet should be on a different spur than your hifi's. Use a 10m Ethernet cable to connect to the NX's port #8 [I didn't have an NX – Ed.] then use the #4 port of the NX to connect to the Z1+. This will reduce the influx of your WiFi router's noise." Why call WiFi egregious noise pollution then design a performance-oriented network server exclusively around a mobile app? Of course the vast majority wants that convenience to care nothing about its noise. Any performance-oriented server/streamer must simply offer a built-in option to become part of a fully hardwired install just as WiFi and Bluetooth receivers must be defeatable for those of us sensitive to the radiation.
Once Chorus acknowledged this, "I can now understand why you don't use WiFi. In the case of a non-WiFi environment, please use a PC to run Android emulator and use the VitOS Manager for Android to make it. However this may require IT skill and we'll need time to prepare a SOP for you to follow. Is that okay?" I told Chorus that I would do no command lines. But I was happy for his tech to use a remote TeamViewer log-in and install the necessary software. "Got it. We'll prep it. When we're ready, we'll use TeamViewer to make the necessary install on your Windows machine or iMac."
