Hi IB, Nice to know they have been busy with the dosh that must be flowing in! I thoroughly tested the ripping on the Innuos which I was pleasantly pleased with. It was a relief that Roon did so well though! Most of my late cousin’s operas got recognised as box sets. When first imported the album count was 400 higher, and then it got working. There is nothing worse than having opera fragmented and not being able to find all the CDs!
Phil
Has anyone compared the Innuos Zen Mini to a Naim Streamer? I’d like to know which Naim streamer is nearest and which is definitely better than it, preferably using Tidal. Thanks!
Even the top of the range Innuos (£10k) is only a music server. You can do as I do and use spdif into nDAC.
It would be nice if someone can report on uPnP into a Naim Streamer such as NDX2, ND555 or ND5XS2. The older streamers seem to need fixes to receive Roon.
Phil
Hi Filipe
I would be connecting the Innuos server to a streamer, the Nova, I’m interested in any views you have regarding the difference in performance between the the Mini and the Zen, do you feel there is much difference in performance/sound quality ?
Thanks
Malcolm.
Hi Malcolm, Look above for my reply to you 7 hours ago. You need to try these things and decide. Our systems are different.
It is on my list to ask my dealer to borrow a NDX2. He has ND555 but…Phil
As my dealer wants the Zen Mini back I have backed up it’s music store and Roon. Many hours laters the music store is on the Zen Mk 3 and Roon is ready to continue playing where it left off.
In the meantime I had been using the CDX2 and thought this morning it was sounding good playing Mary Blacks ‘The Collection’ and ‘Shine’. Though that I could live with the CDX2.
Later I moved on to ‘Selling England by the Pound’ which it did pretty well. However, the guitar on track 3 ‘Firth of Fifth’ did not have the high frequencies coming through perfectly.
Now I am playing it through the Zen Mk 3 off it’s music store using the massive buffer so the disk is not needed. Well this is really good. I thought it was revealing stuff I had not heard before!
So for those of you contemplating spdif output I think more money is buying something special. I still can’t tell you about uPnP.
Phil
How did you connect it to your dac? What converter are you using?
I hope he isn’t using any converter, as the Mk 3 has coax SPDIF output.
I’m using the M2Tech that Innuos loaned me with the boxes. No coax output that I can see. Wish there were @ChrisSU.
Phil
Hi Filipe
I think the Zen Mini Mk3 has coaxial out, the Zen Mk3 doesn’t.
Malcolm.
Woops, sorry, I missed that you had switched from the Mini to the full fat Zen - just ignore me!
I’m getting close to pulling the trigger on the mini and keeping the ndac. It just seams the price of the Zen plus converter is now around $3000. Starting to feel like it might not be worth it vs the $1250 for the mini. Unless you’ve experienced some good sq improvement.
Otherwise for my own logic… If I were to spend that much … I’d just go with NDX2, build my own roon core for about $600, and use a pc to rip. Feels like more bang for the buck.
I’ve been back and listened to Zen Mini + LPS with same coax and same Ethernet cable. I think the Zen Mk 3 is now better, in fact it sounds staggeringly good. One way to describe the difference is that the Zen Mini playing Firth of Fifth sounded a bit overblown. There is more subtlety in the music which the Zen Mk 3 brings out. This is a new level and all thoughts of needing NDX2 are receding.
So I need to explain that running two grouped endpoints off the Zen Mini did not do the Zen Mk 3 a favour. Furthermore having both on the Cisco 2960 switch at the same time seems to drag the Zen Mk 3 down. Noise is such an evil.
Johnny, this may not be what you want to hear! But I have to give a fair account. Only you can decide with your system, boxes and ears.
Phil
Today the very helpful and responsive Innuos support pointed out that there is an experimental fix to allow Roon to use the 4GB RAM buffer explained in the latest release notes.
http://www.innuos.com/en/go/release-1-4-1
Their own player used by iPeng does use the buffer. Looking at the release notes reminds me of the stuff on one of the current Roon threads. Their instructions look simple by comparison!
Phil
I’m trying to get my head around this digital world and relate it to the boxes I am testing. So now I hear clear differences going up through the Innuos range even with spdif into nDAC. Spdif doesn’t needed to be seen as second rate to uPnP. Both depend on high quality data transfer.
Some of the quality comes through the design of the music server as I am finding. So a question I have is whether USB to spdif boxes such as the Yellowtech PUC2 designed to isolate PC/Mac from professional sound equipment can enable a less expensive music server to sound like a more expensive one?
Any views (@Simon-in-Suffolk and others)? Thanks
Is this what you’re using?
Hi Johnny, Yes. They sent the RCA version but I am told BNC is the best connector for this type of signal.
Which Innuos are you thinking of? Are you able to demo? Don’t remember your system details.
Phil
If I get an Innuos why might I want an NDX2?
Mike, You will need a box with a DAC in it. It could be a Naim Streamer using uPnP or a USB/spdif DAC.
Phil
Roon and/or ripping cds