Roon Nucleus+ vs Innuos Zenith3/Statement for Sound quality

Has anyone done this comparison?

My Nucleus has just committed suicide and I’m considering other options while waiting to see what sort of support I get from the UK importers. The guarantee is 2 yrs and ended around 1 month ago…

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What happened to it Michael ?

I tested roon server running on Innuos vs Sonicorbiter and find that a dedicated server (so to speak “off load roon from NAS”) gives me much better SQ! …Read somewhere (stereophile? part-time audiophile?) that they got same results: if possible, take the roon duties of the NAS. Btw: that’s the reason why melco will not run core on their HW!

No connection to network. No LEDs light on Ethernet port. Main switch does not light up, but two LEDs on mainboard do light up. It’s going back today with any luck and will then hear what’s failed. It had been playing up a bit recently so I suspect a duff soldered connection that finally went.

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Thanks for your comments, but I’m not sure if I’ve understood them. You’re saying that using your Innuous with Roon running on the Sonicorbiter improves SQ, is that it - taking the processor load off the Innuos. I suspect that you’re right that it may not be an either/or situation, thought here’s an interesting customer review on the Audiobarn site where the writer suspected the same and so kept his Nucleus to accompany an Innuos Statement with which he was very happy for SQ but then found the Statement sounded even better without the Nucleus…

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Sorry, wrong wording: I mean Innuos without Roon server running internally sounds better! Roon server/core should be external for max SQ.

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Ah ok. Hopefully fixed soon !

It took a couple of weeks in the end and turned out to be a bios issue, solved by reflashing to a later version and refreshing all memory. So not a hardware fault and there was no charge although it was only just out of guarantee. I took advantage to exchange and upgrade to the Rev B version which is definitely more nicely made though still missing a couple of small screw location tricks to make installing an SSD easier.

Overall, good service from the importers Henley and excellent support from dealer Audio Note Lounge.

I look forward to comparing Qobuz via Roon and via Naim app when the Nucleus has burnt in and the system stabilised after recent trips away from home. There was no doubt when removing the Nucleus that recent Naim firmware changes have significantly narrowed the gap since I got the first Nucleus.

I have a PhoenixNet coming at some point to compare to the EtherRegens and depending on how that goes I look forward to playing with other Innuous products, both with and without the Nucleus.

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The PhoenixNet, a Zenith 3 and Statement will be coming for home demo in around 3-4 weeks, which coincides nicely with when I stop camping. I look forward to finally hearing what they do…

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So no more Chord Dave/ Mscaler temptation ?

It appears that the Qutest/Mscaler/TT2 thread was removed.Did Naim/Richard finally have enough of people talking about other brands of gear?

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I may give them a listen separately but it isn’t an either/or…

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Flipping back to the original question I was lucky enough to hear a home system where the comparison was possible and the Statement won out. It’s quite subtle though. Nothing is entirely neutral but the Innuos products leave a very positive impression which sticks. My understanding is that adding a Phoenix USB is going to take me some but not all of the way to Statement like performance but I’m hardly complaining at present.

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Well it’s all arrived now. I’ve started another thread in case anyone can ofer tips on the optimal configurations for sound quality. In a mionute or two I’ll be plugging it all in and letting it warm up and settle down

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Hope you are well Michael. Very interested to hear your findings in due course…

You’re welcome to pop round at some point. I have them until the end of the month.

I’m not sure they servers are a great fit for Naim and currently finding them a bit like the Melcos: smooth and detailed with low noise floor but some lack of drive and instrumental texture. The switch is good though. Early days yet, however.

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