Innuos streaming products have been hitting the shore of Malaysia for a few years now but it did not have an official presence before. Local audiophiles had to purchase it from overseas. It is no longer the situation now as Audio Visual Designs have landed the deal as the sole distributor for Innuos.
I had the opportunity experience the ZENith Mk 3 unit for a few months now. Thank you to AV Designs for the loan unit.
THE SPECIFICATIONS
This unit is solidly built but with simplicity and stability as its core as well. With a clean front fascia with just a power button and a CD slot for ripping. It measures at 420 mm x 340 mm x 83 mm (WxDxH) in size and weighs 9 kg.
As this is a transport rather than a full stand alone streamer, this unit needs to be connected to a DAC to run it. The audio output is only via a USB2.0 which supports USB Audio Class 2, DoP, Native DSD and MQA. It does come with another USB 3.0 but that only be used for backing up the unit.
There is no wifi option hence you will need to connect an ethernet cable to its RJ45 connection at the rear section.
Audio formats - WAV, DSF, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3, MQA
Ripping formats - WAV or FLAC
CD compatability - RBCD, CDR, CDRW
The loan unit is also equipped with a 1 TB SSD built in and also Roon compatible as a Core or Endpoint.
It can also connect to Spotify, Qobuz and TIDAL.
One of the plus point of Innuos streaming units is its very own inhouse App - The Innuos Sense. One fo the most stable app I have used and also very well laid out.
THE EQUIPMENT
- Aavik D280 DAC
- AA USB Cable
- McIntosh MA9000 integrated amp
- Borressen X3 speakers
- Roon Nucleus
- Synology NAS
- Ansuz network switch
THE SESSION
Take Five by Dave Brubeck - DSD
On this track, the saxaphone sounded more airy than my usual playback over HiFiROSE. It disperse the saxaphone sound wider. The percussion particularly the ride cymbal sounded crisp and evenly dispersed. The double bass and bass drum however fell short a bit with regards to its extension. This track is one of my reference track when it comes to low end frequency and somehow have not given me that 'kick' that I usually get from this track. Increasing the volume improved this a bit but that is not the idea. It may also be the DSD file quality that I have.
Soolaiman by Neil Diamond on 24/192
Now, this gave me the goosebumps when the percussion kicked in during the intro. His vocal also really surfaced up and sounded really deep and engaging. The ZENith really able to dig deep into the low frequency on this track. I LIKE! Even the hollowness of the toms sounded very vintage and kept to its original tuned percussion.
The Sound of Silence on TIDAL
My my my.... this is just simply amazing. If huge soundstage is your thing, the ZENith made this track sounded even bigger than what I am used to. The vocal not only gaves me goosebumps as it was really engaging and pulls me in. This is a simple music arrangement but it depends a lot on the reproduction of the vocal through the system you listen to. I know this track was properly recorded and mastered and I also have heard this track on much higher end set ups. But with the ZENith, somehow it added some more energy to it.
Take Five by Kenichi Big Band on TIDAL MQA
Now, I was still unsatisfied with the DSD playback of the original piece on Take Five. So, I played this upbeat tempo and sure enough, I experienced a much more excited music delivery, It was not just about the tempo. Its about the overall musicality. Somehow, my experience with the online platforms have been excellent with this ZENith.
Time To Say Goodbye on ALAC
This is another reference track for me. Sarah's vocal sounded really energtic and hits the highs extremely well with no sign of ear pinching highs. Sweet and lush sounding. Andrea's vocal on the other hand, sounded a little bit too laid back. Usually, his vocal will sound really deep with full of energy. At this point, I start to wonder whether is the different sound is mainly due to the different formats I am playing or online vs on prem files?
Enter Sandman on FLAC24/96
This track gave me a completely different experience compared to Take Five and Time To Say Goodbye albeit played from on prem SSD. The overall musical presentation had all the traits that I like. Energetic vocals that pulled me in, deep extensive bass and tom drum, solid snare sound, ferocious sounding guitar solo and note by note clarity of the bass guitar.
Temptation by Diana Krall on FLAC 16/44 ripped from CD
Now, this was the best sounding performance from Innous ZENith Mk3. I ripped this track using the unit's ripping feature. I must say, nothing beats the musicality from playing directly from an SSD. Comparing to the glorious sound I experience from TIDAL or Qobuz on this unit, I find that playback from its SSD provided an overall balanced performance across different frequency spectrum. It also retains the depth of different instrument layers plus the proper soundstage. Diana's vocal sounds convincing and engaging. The drums sounded sharp and well placed while the guitar solo was sufficiently melodious.
THE CONCLUSIONS
This is actually a tricky one. The ZENith Mk3 is actually a very capable player with the system stability that surpasses my expectation. Together with a seamless UI of the Sense app, it is one of the best streaming transport that I have ever reviewed.
Now, how do I explain the different experience I had with the unit? First of all, let me explain a few things.
Playback - The unit is capable of playback from 3 different sources:
- Online streaming e.g. TIDAL and Qobuz
- Built in SSD - files can be from ripping or transferred from other NAS or HDD
- From a NAS
The different experience I had above is mainly due to the source itself. I would rank the ZENith Mk3 playback as follows (from best to the OK)
- From built in SSD - ripped
- From built in SSD - transferred from other NAS
- Online streaming
- From a NAS
Now, many would debate that digital files are digital files regardless from where the playback is. I beg to differ! I have gone through so many streamers, PCs, laptops, online platform, HDD, NAS, SSD... every one of them gives out different sound quality or the least is different volume levels.
There are some limitations to this model for my way of utilization.
1. I have tested it as a Roon Core and Endpoint. It works perfectly. But, I can only choose either or. Either use it as Roon or as Innuos Sense platform
2. The CD slot is purely for ripping. No direct CD playback.
3. The biggest challenge I have is that it can only connect to 1 NAS at a time. I am running 4 different NAS in my network. So, it is a big limitation for me.
So, my conclusion is that, this ZENith Mk3 delivers a very balanced musical deliver overall. It is a very honest and true to the music source type of streamer. Fill up its SSD with good quality mastered files and you will be in musical heavan. You will not go wrong with this.
For those who already have a decent file collection, if you can be patience and transfer them to the SSD, you will not regret it.
For those who just about to start building your digital library, I suggest for to fully utilize the ripping feature. One album CD will just take 5 to 8 mins to rip.
Audio Visual Designs carries the whole Innuos product line up. Do visit their shop for a demo.
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