Not sure I follow that. Ethernet going into my Zenith to enable streaming. USB coming out of my Zenith to the Chord DAC.
I totally get (and want at some point) the Phoenix USB but this is far less convincing to me (and clearly to others) at first sight on paper. If one were to have both then the case for a Statement is lessened bar the fact it’s less boxes and cables.
On the other hand I’m not sure it’s appropriate to use this as a stick to beat a company over the head with re: the lack of a control app. There are many reasons the app development is where it is.
Some people connect a streamer to the ethernet out on their zenith rather than use usb to the DAC. In that scenario the new box acts as a phoenix between the senoth and the streamer. It’s a.phoneix for those using ethernet instead of usb
Just read an update from Innuos on Facebook. Innuos 2 now in beta and to be rolled out to more beta uses imminently. Includes player app and a full rewrite of front and back end. They’ve clearly been stung by the critiscm since the switch came out and stated they had not prioritised things above it as the Innuos 2 work has its own team. They accepted they had been over ambitious for the first version and had therefore scaled it back. Hopefully light at the end of the tunnel
Sadly its been on the cards for 2yrs, ever since i started with Innuos the sales pitch was “there is a dedicated app coming”, plus if it is only beta stage it will be a basket case, i think i need to seriously consider a Lifetime Roon membership.
Although I’ve been using Roon for last few years I’m curious about what the sound quality will be like using the Innuos app, quite a few users prefer the sound through ipeng, just not the user friendliness of the app.
I have always sworn by iPeng based on my view it is clear superior, more analogue, but after 2yrs i have lost patience with Innuos, they could have at least been honest and said years ago they where NOT working on a control app until maybe recently.
It’s funny i had been looking at the Phoenix USB since launch but i do love my Audiophilleo, even had in my mind to pickup a preloaded Innuos Statement as there seem to be quite a few for sale.
I tried my Zenith 2 just over two years ago, and had a two month demo. Innuos pointed me towards the Material Skin for some extra information. I got the impression it would possibly be the route for the evolution of development of their App, but they never told me they were developing one and I never asked.
The website has been quiet about their plans and I have learnt more on this Forum - Thank you. Like you I have got used to iPeng etc. I am still content, but obviously improved curation would be great as I liked Roon. I have always found the Innuos software reliable and would not want to loose that. Essentially, I had bad experiences with the Naim software and firmware every time I demoed over the previous two years. I have avoided that with Innuos.
What I would like is
closer integration with Qobuz so I can update my favourites in iPeng or its replacement and get feedback on my playing activity whether Qobuz or the local library
It’s frustrating, the innuos player is clearly superior even to experimental mode but Roon is light years better as an interface and I’ve no idea how to do playlists in ipeng and I use them a lot. Sooner they do something the better
This is where the Material Skins with LMS comes to the rescue. If you queue all the tracks you want (or add albums and delete tracks), you can then use the Save icon and it prompts for a name. iPeng support Playlists but not their creation.
@mikehughescq set out how to setup Material Skins. On iOS I setup a Safari Container for the URL to make it look like an App.
I really don’t get all the being pissed off with Innuos. Goodness knows there are plenty of control options out there.
I tried iPeng but abandoned it as soon as I was pointed towards Material Skin. I can’t imagine that I would ever go back as it is bang average; not especially user-friendly and looks like it’s largely been abandoned as “good enough” by its developers. Support is tardy and comes with language issues that are very much reflected in the very basic online and often incomprehensible help.
It’s not the app they mean it’s using Innuos own streaming via iPeng, not that it’s their own it’s just Squeezelite with a large memory buffer. Which seems to help negate the noise made by the server, it is a pc after all in a nice case with a fancy PSU. Roon doesn’t use memory playback and is generally more active as a server and causes more noise if using USB out.
As has already been stated on other threads I use Material Skin for LMS (Logitech Music Server). You can use either LMS itself or one of the plug ins. This was the first I read of. Have tried a couple of others but though they were no better than iPeng.