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Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3
http://dcaudiodiy.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1741
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Author:  Pelliott321 [ November 17th, 2020, 10:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

https://www.myaudiophrenia.com/innous-zenith-mk3/

Author:  ratbagp [ November 18th, 2020, 1:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

There is a spelling error in a 'Quick Start Gude' in the paragraph following the set up screen photos.

It was an interesting read.

ray

Author:  Pelliott321 [ November 18th, 2020, 7:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

Thanks for seeing that will fix today

Author:  pboser [ November 18th, 2020, 8:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

Very nice, thoughtful review. Two observations: price info (with options,e.g. hard drives) would be helpful, and there is a typo - “John” Waters instead of Roger.

Author:  ArthurOtt [ November 18th, 2020, 9:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

Nice review. No, bits aren't bits, and an off the shelf computer makes a piss poor audio component but try telling that to some dude rocking a crApple Mac Mini as a music server. Deaf ears, indeed.

Author:  Pelliott321 [ November 18th, 2020, 10:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

thanks for the kind words
Spelling/typo error corrected

Author:  TubeDriver [ November 19th, 2020, 5:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

Nice job on the reviews.

Author:  ratbagp [ November 19th, 2020, 6:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

I've been pondering why this piece of equipment sounds so good and I want to identify what makes it 'better' than a simple mobile phone feeding an outboard DAC.

Let's presume we can stop the non-essential processes occurring in the phone. Let's also presume we are using Quboz and have downloaded a bunch of music that sits on the phone either in regular storage or on a large capacity SD card.

Since the phone is battery powered, we have eliminated the need for the massive power supply and regulators as in the Zenith. I suspect there are some regulators in the phone, but could be wrong.

To produce the stream of bits that pass out of the phone to the DAC, the processor has to be doing some work in both phone and Zenith. No doubt, there are other necessary processes running on both processors, but hopefully, they are minimized. Is one processor 'noisier' than the other? I don't know. Any ideas?

As an aside, I will probably try building one of these to power my DAC when my stuff finally arrives. It is a relatively simple addition to an LM317 that reduces the noise level.

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/power-supplies/331491-noizator-magic-active-noise-canceller-retrofit-upgrade-317-based-reg.html

ray

Author:  TubeDriver [ November 20th, 2020, 8:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

I wonder how the new Mac Mini with the M1 chip (integrated chip with unified RAM) will do as a dedicated streamer for Roon? Compared to the Nuc/Nucleus route? My DAC has a custom PLL/USB receiver and measures extremely well at rejecting clock jitter so that should help too.

Author:  Pelliott321 [ November 20th, 2020, 9:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Just dropped my review of the Innuous ZENith MK 3

I am sure from a diy perspective you certainly can get very close to the Innuous.
What is going on on the Innuous is a combination of lots of little details that add up to a good platform.
First a dedicated pc only running necessary processes for serving up digital audio files.
I am pretty sure it’s a Linux base kernel running LMS
Next is the PS. It is linear and very well regulated powered by a large torrid transformer. There are three separate power supplies each with three separate regulated outputs suppling various different parts of the computer. This power supply is probably many times larger than necessary to to power this small computer.
Then there is the isolated components. Everything is shock mounted separately from each other and the case.
Then there is the heavy duty case which is dampened with some stick on material.
Then there are the feet, which are made of something like Richlite and with the additional hard silicone bumps.
This unit weighs over 18 lbs.
From a diy point fo view $4500 is outrageous for something that can do the same job as a $45 Raspberry Pi.
There is a remarkable difference in the clarity in sound with files served by the Innuous than with the Raspberry Pi. Is the difference worth $4500? Maybe or maybe not. It all depends on one’s point of view.
I was very happy with my Pi server when I was using digital source for casual listening when working.
When I decided to go towards using digital as primary souse for listening then it was very obvious that the Pi was lacking when compared to a high quality server.

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