@mgrif104 You and I think alike. In my next round of critical listening I plan on doing exactly as you propose. The JR Aeris DAC specifically states that the SPDIF input is optimized over the USB input. I have tried both those inputs with a different source device that had both USB and SPDIF outputs. To my ears, there was a clear preferential difference with the Aeris' SPDIF/BNC input. However, when I have introduced the Berkeley into the chain, again using a different source path than either the DX3 or the Statement, the superiority of the Aeris' SPDIF/BNC input seemed to diminish. I will let you know what I hear in about five days or so when the Statement has logged an additional 100 hours of playing time. I will first listen with the system setup exactly as described above and make notes on what I think I hear. I will then run the Statement directly to the DAC and the DX3 through the Berkeley Alpha and listen again.
Innuos Statement Review
I first heard the Innuos Statement music server at AXPONA 2019. I listened to a demonstration directly comparing the Statement to the Innuos' Zen MkII. After the demonstration, it was clear to me that the Statement was a large step forward in the Innuos product line. I recently purchased the Innuos Statement and took delivery (after a six week wait). I immediately plugged it in, set it up, (super easy) and downloaded .5 TB of WAV files overnight. After burning in the Statement for approximately 100 hours, I compared the Statement's performance to the Antipodes DX3 music server. In order to have as close a comparison as possible (in relative real time) I connected both servers to my Jeff Rowland (JR) Aeris DAC+PSU using the same brand of cables (Stealth). However, because the Aeris DAC has only one USB input and both the Statement and the Antipodes DX 3 only have USB output, I first ran the Statement through a Berkeley USB Alpha converter and connected the Alpha converter to the Aeris DAC using Stealth's Vardig Sextet V16-T BNC/BNC cable. The Stealth USB Select-T cable connected the Statement to the Aeris DAC. The rest of the system consisted of a JR Corus Preamp (connected to the aforementioned PSU), JR M925 mono amplifiers, Joseph Audio Pearl 3 speakers and a three REL subwoofer "swarm" configuration. Cardas Clear Beyond power cords, balanced ICs, and speaker cables were used throughout the system. Both servers were used as Roon Cores for the comparison/review. I own all the equipment; I don't work for any audio company. (I also don't pump my stuff to dump it later.)
I focused on music selections I know well across the genres of rock/pop, jazz, classical, soul/R&B, and classical. I used a "non-blind" method playing a 1 minute 30 second to 2 minute section of a recording before switching from one server to the other and then repeating the same recording for an immediate comparison. I did the comparison over a two hour period, taking periodic listening breaks. Before providing my overall impressions of the Antipodes Statement, I note that I immediately compared the Statement to the Antipodes DX3 without burning the Statement in. The Antipodes DX3 had been thoroughly burned in before the comparison (more than 500 hours of use). Without burn in, the Statement and the Antipodes DX 3 sounded very similar to one another. I'm confident that I would have been guessing which was which if I was blindfolded and had to name the server I was hearing on any given recording. I repeated this exercise after the Statement had burned in for one hour. At this point it seemed the Statement's soundstage had gotten a little wider and only slightly deeper. It also seemed the vocals on the Statement had become slightly clearer than on the Antipodes DX3. I did no further comparisons until now. The following are my subjective impressions of the Statement after four days of burn in compared to the Antipodes DX 3 server in my system.
The Statement threw a slightly wider soundstage than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement had a significantly deeper soundstage than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement and the Antipodes DX3 had the same soundstage height.
The Statement resolved moderately more than the Antipodes DX3. By this I mean it provided more recording details than the Antipodes DX 3. It was not a night and day difference. It was apparent on most, but not all, recordings I considered.
Vocals presented clearer/crisper (better "enunciation" if you will) via the Statement than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement provided superior bass differentiation in the lowest and mid bass regions. With the Statement, the bass drum performance did not cloud either a stand up bass or electric bass performance--provided the recording/mastering engineers sufficiently separated the performances on the recording. The Antipodes DX3 is a very good bass performer. But it slightly trailed the Statement.
The Statement placed more air between the instruments and performers than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement excelled at acoustical instrument presentation. A reeded instrument sounded convincingly "real." The Antipodes DX3 does this well too...just not as well. Percussion instruments also benefit from this attribute. The Statement allowed me to hear more definition in the wood block, the guiro, shakers, all cymbals I heard, chimes, a gong. Again, the Antipodes DX3 was very good at percussive instrument representation. The Statement was simply better.
Both the Statement and the Antipodes DX3 provided high quality believable piano reproduction in all genres. The only significant difference I heard between the two servers on piano performance was found in Alfredo Rodriguez's rendition of "Chan Chan." There, the Statement seemed to handle the quick staccato notes and the unique decay issues of this piece more believably than the Antipodes DX3. But the difference was not night and day.
My overall impression of the Statement is that it provided superior high quality, believable digital music reproduction regardless of genre. I consider it an across the board upgrade in musical reproduction in my system over the Antipodes DX3. My impression of the Antipodes DX3 is that it is a high value product that held up very well in comparison to the Statement. The Statement retails for twice as much as the DX3's retail price when it was in production. If the Statement's performance after four days of burn in was rated as a 100 I would rate the Antipodes DX3 completely burned in as a 75. I will be keeping both these music servers. Hopefully this review helps those in the market for a music server.
I focused on music selections I know well across the genres of rock/pop, jazz, classical, soul/R&B, and classical. I used a "non-blind" method playing a 1 minute 30 second to 2 minute section of a recording before switching from one server to the other and then repeating the same recording for an immediate comparison. I did the comparison over a two hour period, taking periodic listening breaks. Before providing my overall impressions of the Antipodes Statement, I note that I immediately compared the Statement to the Antipodes DX3 without burning the Statement in. The Antipodes DX3 had been thoroughly burned in before the comparison (more than 500 hours of use). Without burn in, the Statement and the Antipodes DX 3 sounded very similar to one another. I'm confident that I would have been guessing which was which if I was blindfolded and had to name the server I was hearing on any given recording. I repeated this exercise after the Statement had burned in for one hour. At this point it seemed the Statement's soundstage had gotten a little wider and only slightly deeper. It also seemed the vocals on the Statement had become slightly clearer than on the Antipodes DX3. I did no further comparisons until now. The following are my subjective impressions of the Statement after four days of burn in compared to the Antipodes DX 3 server in my system.
The Statement threw a slightly wider soundstage than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement had a significantly deeper soundstage than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement and the Antipodes DX3 had the same soundstage height.
The Statement resolved moderately more than the Antipodes DX3. By this I mean it provided more recording details than the Antipodes DX 3. It was not a night and day difference. It was apparent on most, but not all, recordings I considered.
Vocals presented clearer/crisper (better "enunciation" if you will) via the Statement than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement provided superior bass differentiation in the lowest and mid bass regions. With the Statement, the bass drum performance did not cloud either a stand up bass or electric bass performance--provided the recording/mastering engineers sufficiently separated the performances on the recording. The Antipodes DX3 is a very good bass performer. But it slightly trailed the Statement.
The Statement placed more air between the instruments and performers than the Antipodes DX3.
The Statement excelled at acoustical instrument presentation. A reeded instrument sounded convincingly "real." The Antipodes DX3 does this well too...just not as well. Percussion instruments also benefit from this attribute. The Statement allowed me to hear more definition in the wood block, the guiro, shakers, all cymbals I heard, chimes, a gong. Again, the Antipodes DX3 was very good at percussive instrument representation. The Statement was simply better.
Both the Statement and the Antipodes DX3 provided high quality believable piano reproduction in all genres. The only significant difference I heard between the two servers on piano performance was found in Alfredo Rodriguez's rendition of "Chan Chan." There, the Statement seemed to handle the quick staccato notes and the unique decay issues of this piece more believably than the Antipodes DX3. But the difference was not night and day.
My overall impression of the Statement is that it provided superior high quality, believable digital music reproduction regardless of genre. I consider it an across the board upgrade in musical reproduction in my system over the Antipodes DX3. My impression of the Antipodes DX3 is that it is a high value product that held up very well in comparison to the Statement. The Statement retails for twice as much as the DX3's retail price when it was in production. If the Statement's performance after four days of burn in was rated as a 100 I would rate the Antipodes DX3 completely burned in as a 75. I will be keeping both these music servers. Hopefully this review helps those in the market for a music server.
Showing 44 responses by astewart8944
@audiotroy Thanks for the insight. My current plan is to review the Statement over a 400 hour burn in time frame. I probably should have noted in the review above that the Statement was tested completely stock with supplied power cord and original footers placed directly on the audio shelf. The DX3 used a Cardas Clear Beyond PC with Stillpoints Ultra SS footers sitting on a Symposium Svelte Plus Platform placed on the audio shelf. After I have completed all the timed burn in reviews, I will then review how the Stillpoints footers underneath the Statement alone and in combination with a Symposium Platform affect the Statement's performance. I will continue to also compare the Statement to the DX3 hopefully only changing one factor at a time so that the review is as methodical as it can be given the constraints of a "non-blind" one person review imposes. |
@firstknot Hmm...I am familiar with double blinded experiment methodology as it relates to medicine. In that instance (a drug experiment for instance) neither the study participants nor the persons conducting the experiment know which study participants are receiving the drug and which are receiving the placebo. If you have ever conducted a "double-blind" audio test please share how you did it and I will consider whether it seems feasible to me. I'm not trying to be a jerk here. I honestly am interested in whether you have an actual feasible methodology in mind that doesn't require me to recruit a large of group of people to scratch someone else's itch. If you do and if it is feasible I will try and give it go after the 400 hour burn in is complete. Let me know. Regards Al |
Here is a fast 200 hour burn-in update. Nothing new to report. Storms in my area had me turning my system off and on and off and on and off and then back on over the course of the last week. Because I run Rowland M925s they really benefit from being on--all the time. So, they have now been on continuously for the last 32 hours. During the last week the Statement has logged another 100+ hours, but because the amps have been off and on so much I don't find much value in critically listening again until the amps have a chance to re-settle. I plan on providing another listening report at the 300 hour mark and hopefully the storms stay at bay and I will have continuous power over the next week. BTW @firstnot please forgive me for misspelling your user name previously. I just realized today that I did so. My apologies. |
@audiotroy I tried putting Stillpoints Ultra 5s under the Statement at the 300 hour mark; they degraded the Statement's SQ IMO. I will probably try the Stillpoint Ultra SS feet under the Statement (I have extra) to see if they yield the same result as the larger Ultra 5s. I will be using an upgraded ethernet cable--the Purist Audio Design CAT7 cable. In the above testing I left it on the Antipodes DX3 server and used a standard ethernet cable on the Statement. I already own two higher end USB cables. I will perform a shoot-out of sorts between the Purist Audio Design 30th Anniversary USB cable and the Stealth USB T-Select USB cable (both are 1.5M in length). However, before getting there, I first need to determine whether I prefer the Statement directly into the Rowland Aeris DAC via USB or prefer the Statement through the Berkeley USB converter to the Aeris DAC via BNC. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the Rowland Aeric DAC's manual specifically states that the SPDIF/BNC input has been optimized to provide superior performance compared to its USB input. I will be conducting those listening tests in the near future. |
Here is my assessment of the Innuos Statement after 400 hours of burn-in compared to the Antipodes DX3. Everything I noted in my initial post remains accurate except for the following: (1) I made this comparison using the same make and model and length of powers cords on both servers (Cardas Clear Beyond 1.5M); and (2) I placed a Symposium Platform underneath the Innuos Statement but did not use any other isolation device with the Statement. I continued to use the Symposium Svelte Platform and Stillpoints Ultra SS feet under the Antipodes DX3.I listened to 14 tracks, one at a time, first using the DX3 then using the Statement. The time between stopping the first track and starting the next track was less than 15 seconds. I wrote down my impressions immediately after listening to the two same tracks. I took a 50 minute listening break after listening to music for 50 minutes. I then listened to another 25 minutes of music before taking a 20 minute listening break. I listened to the final 4 tracks in 20 minutes.Conclusions:1. The Innuos Statement benefits from a substantial burn-in. It differentiated itself from the DX3 by the 100 hour mark. At the 300 hour burn-in mark the sound stage had widened further compared to the 100 hour mark. The Statement appears to have fully opened up by the 300 hour mark. 2. The Statement's noise floor is lower than the DX3's. As a result, the Statement delivers greater depth, detail and decay than the DX3. The Statement tends to sound louder than the DX3, IMO because it is providing a blacker background. 3. The Statement's sound stage depth is its strongest attribute IMO. This depth is allowing the listener to perceive more "air" around the instruments than presented by the DX3.4. The Statement's sound stage height is only slightly "taller" than the DX3. Both provide a realistic presentation of performers on a stage.5. The Statement excels at believable timbre and resolution that sounds "real." My comments in the initial post at the 100 hour mark remain unchanged on the Statements ability to faithfully convey acoustical instruments. Again, I attribute this to its blacker background. 6. If the Statement is rated a 100 at the 400 hour burn-in mark (which based on my listening I consider completely burned in), I now rate the completely burned-in DX3 as a 69. (My DX3 is not for sale--it will go in my second system.) 6. The tracks I used for testing are as follows: (a) Theme for Jetsetters--Tikiyaki Orchestra; (b) Chan Chan--Alfredo Rodriguez; (c) Still Feel Like Your Man--John Mayer; (d) Carpe Diem--Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet; (e) They Can't Take That Away From Me--Kristin Chenoweth; (f) Bubbles--Yosi Harakawa; (g) Feels Like Rain--John Hiatt; (h) The Old Woman--John Barry movie soundtrack of Somewhere in Time; (i) Babylon Sisters--Steely Dan; (j) Stay (Wasting Time)--Dave Matthews Band; (k) Hey Eugene--Pink Martini; (l) Gaslighting Abbie--Steely Dan; (m) Also sprach Zarathustra Op. 30 (Intro)--Richard Strauss/Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and (n) Alli'l Fire Dance--Tikiyaki Orchestra.7. I used a different list of test recordings in the 100 hour listening session. I used the above listed recordings for the 300 hour and 400 hour listening sessions. |
@lalitk I understand your frustration on the input options. I do think @audiotroy' s points are valid one's. BTW, the only option out of an Antipodes DX3 is USB. And the only two options out of the Antipodes CX+EX combo are USB and ethernet. So, for you Antipodes servers probably wouldn't be an option either. Because I already owned a Berkeley USB converter, I wasn't too concerned about the Statement not having an SPDIF option.RegardsAl |
@ricred1 Hi Richard, I can only compare what I own in my system, so that is what I did. If I owned the Antipodes CX+EX combo, I would have compared that combo to the Innuos Statement. Frankly, I wasn't thrilled that the DX3 was the Antipodes "flagship" for basically only a year before Antipodes rolled out the CX+EX combo as the new "flagship." But, such is life. Hopefully, I have offered enough detail to allow folks in the market for either a new Innuos Statement or a used Antipodes DX3 server to glean something useful. I invite anyone who cares to do so to post on this thread comparisons they have made between the Statement and the Antipodes flagship CX+EX combo. There is a very thorough review if the CX+EX combo posted on HiFi+ Advice's website. Interestingly, CP, the reviewer, has posted a comment to inferring that the DX3 is not far removed from the CX+EX combo. I do not know if that is correct--I have never heard the combo. FWIW, if I was in the market for a used music server, I would hop on an Antipodes DX3 if it was selling for something close to 50% of the retail price (and I had the money in my budget to do so).RegardsAl |
@hgeifman Your points are excellent ones. I do think there is a movement to make ethernet the "preferred" connection method. Yes, it appears that more newer servers and DACs are implementing an ethernet connection. I agree the audio industry makes things difficult when purchasing new equipment, but I contend that the difficulty seems to be a constant "bug" in this hobby lthat has been around for many years.BTW I have spent the last hour or so A/Bing the Innuos Statement direct to my Aeris DAC via USB and through the Berkeley USB converter via BNC to the Aeris DAC. I prefer the latter pathway and it doesn't surprise me. Every time I try this experiment with different pieces of equipment it comes out the same--Jeff Rowland made the Aeris DAC to have a superior SPDIF input compared to the USB input. The manual says so and my ears tell me it is correct. I wish y'all could hear what I'm hearing right now though. Deep layers of sound, complex passages coming out of black backgrounds are flowing out of my speakers. I understand the consternation of losing the SPDIF as a standard on many new products. I frankly share it. But, I had the Antipodes DX--it had an SPDIF output. The DX3 dropped the SPDIF output. Nevertheless, IMO the DX3 was a significant upgrade over the DX--I owned them both. In that exchange, I lost an SPDIF output, but I gained a superior piece of equipment from what I had previously. |
@mmeeks100 and @lalitk I actually think you are both right. Presently many current high end component manufacturers seem to have coalesced around the following ideas: (1) USB and/or ethernet connections are the future and will be supported; and (2) SPDIF/AES/BNC is the past and will not be supported. I have read many posts by audio enthusiasts that enjoy "higher resolution" than 16/44 and will pay for it. Additionally, I have read comments from others that prefer the MQA experience and are willing to pay for it too. Time will tell whether digital downloading and MQA have long term viability. I suspect that consumer demand will win out in the end. If lots of folks feel like @lalitk and keep their wallets closed unless a high end audio component is SPDIF compatible, then we will see lots more (not less) SPDIF functionality. FWIW I listen to ripped CDs (WAV) on music servers almost exclusively and do not use any upsampling. My DAC handles higher resolutions (24/192) and I performed some tests to see if I could objectively discern a difference with the system I had at the time. I honestly could not consistently distinguish between 16/44, 24/96 or 24/192. I could hear differences in some instances but it was not a given that I would prefer the higher resolution material or could even say which was which. However, I'm confident that others probably can do so with greater consistency than me. |
Earlier this evening I placed Stillpoints Ultra SS feet underneath the Statement. They provided increased clarity/detail. Underneath the Statement, the Ultra SS feet work much better than the Ultra 5s. (This was also true under the Antipodes DX3). Under the Jeff Rowland Corus+Aeris+PSU stack I find the Stillpoints Ultra 5s to be preferable to the Ultra SS feet. |
@audiotroy I'm not confident that your 99.9% customer base number is accurate, but I'm fairly certain that most consumers can live with and/or prefer USB/ethernet--not necessarily because they have done A/B comparisons between the different pathways, but because the component manufacturer tells them which pathway is preferred and the consumer believes them. I'm not taking negative aim at either manufacturers or consumers here. I think it is simply a matter of consumer expectations (the manufacturers know best) and ease of use. Despite what we often say, it does not appear that most audio consumers want to extensively A/B test many different pathway options. They simply want to plug-n-play. And I don't blame them. @audiotroy I think you could help answer one of @hgeifman 's questions: Can you please tell us which of the manufacturers you listed above provide the consumer with an SPDIF/AES/EBU option and isn't strictly dedicated to either USB/ethernet or both? (You stated: "Look at DCS, Esoteric, EMM Labs, Light Harmonic, T+A, Rokna, Aqua Hifi. MSB"). |
@david_ten Excellent point. I have learned over time in this hobby to not become too wed to a particular pathway on the digital side. When Jeff Rowland says its Aeris DAC works best via the SPDIF input, I tested that--and it was true. When I had an Antipodes DX with both USB and SPDIF outputs I found that it sounded best via USB to a Modwright Oppo 105D but best via SPDIF with the Aeris DAC. When Antipodes came out with the DX3 I asked them why it didn't have an SPDIF output and they candidly told me because they were focusing on optimizing and implementation of USB. They believed that the future would be USB/ethernet. |
Today I experimented with the Statement by plugging it into my Shunyata Denali power conditioner to see what effects, if any, the power conditioner had on the Statement's SQ. The Statement's sound stage narrowed and it lost significant depth. The background seemed a bit quieter but at the expense of a fuller bodied presentation. When I plugged the Statement back into the wall outlet (a dedicated circuit), the more favorable width, depth and fuller bodied presentation returned immediately. |
David, these are great questions. First, I have only run the Statement as a Roon Core and not a Roon endpoint. When I compared the Statement to the DX3 I set them both to be Roon Cores, which allowed me to quickly toggle between them. I would describe Stealth cables as open, smooth, detailed and neutral. This is true for both the SPDIF and the USB cable. I would also describe the Cardas Clear Beyond XLR cables the almost the same way--smooth, detailed, and neutral. Before Cardas Clear Beyond I tried Cardas Clear XLR cables, which I found to sound much less detailed and frankly "drier" than the Clear Beyond cables. The step up from Clear to Clear Beyond in the XLR cables is a large one IMO. Before settling on the Stealth USB cable, I tried the Cardas Clear High Speed USB. I found the Cardas Clear to be more engaging than a standard USB 2.0 cable, but compared to either the Purist Audio Design 30th Anniversary USB or the Stealth USB-T Select, the Cardas Clear HS USB sounded much "thinner", lacking the substantial body the other USB cables provide. The PAD 30th Anniversary and the Stealth USB-T Select are both very engaging cables. The PAD is slightly warm, the Stealth sounds neutral. The Stealth has a touch more detail. Both are can't miss cables IMO. You are correct that I did the Statement test review with a run of the mill standard LAN cable. Now that the testing is over, I have moved the PAD Cat7 to the Statement. |
@david_ten I have now done further listening tests with the Innuos Statement, using it as the Roon Core/endpoint (which is the method used on all previous listening tests reported above) and using the Statement as the Roon endpoint only with the Antipodes DX3 being the Roon Core. Both the Statement and the DX3 were connected to an Orbi satellite router using Samzhe CAT 7 ethernet cables (these are basically $5 USD LAN cables). My impressions are as follows:1. In the listening tests I performed the Statement used as the Core/ endpoint provided a higher degree of SQ compared to the DX3 as Core and Statement as endpoint only. Depending on the recording, the differences could be substantial. 2. On Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters" it does not take an audiophile to be able to discern that the Statement Core/endpoint provided an enveloping presentation that sounded "concert-like" in an excellent acoustical space. The DX3 Core/Statement endpoint was a flatter presentation, it sounded good--but it wasn't as "holographic". The Statement Core/endpoint on this recording is reference level IMO. 3. On John Barry's "Old Woman" the Statement Core/endpoint pathway provided a more convincing detailed presentation of the solo violin that also captured a fuller scope of the other strings when they joined the soloist. There is a greater dynamic experience of this piece when played through the Statement Core/endpoint pathway.4. John Hiatt's "Feels Like Rain" showed a smaller degree of difference between the Statement Core/endpoint pathway and the DX3 Core/Statement endpoint pathway. Nevertheless, the Statement Core/endpoint seemed to provide more realistic cymbal shimmer and decay. I will note that on this recording I could imagine a group of audiophiles splitting fairly evenly on which pathway they preferred.These are the three tracks I listened to over a one hour period, listening to segments from as little as 20 seconds long to no more than 1 minute 30 seconds long.David hopefully this proves useful to you.-Regards Al |
@coach59 I'm glad you found the review helpful. Please feel free to post a review of your unit here once you have a chance to listen to it in your set-up. On the Spotify front, I have four young adult children and they all are Spotify users precisely for the reason you mention--depth of the catalog. I will admit to being a bit frustrated that some jazz titles that were nothing close to "fringe" were lacking on Tidal. I haven't singed up for Qobuz because of hearing this complaint from several people and being at AXPONA and finding out that Qobuz didn't have several cuts I wanted to hear to demo equipment. |
@in_shore I don't know because I didn't take my Statement apart: I'm pretty sure that voids the warranty and I want to keep the warranty in place. I will say that I have owned several pieces of audio equipment and I wouldn't describe the Statement's exterior case(s) as cheaply built. They seem fairly substantial IMO. But everyone is entitled to their own viewpoint. BTW a Statement costs more than $4,000 USD. |
@in_shore Thanks for the clarification. Clearly, all buyers are not alike. People make buying decisions based on different parameters. This is what makes the world of product differentiation go round. The product characteristic that may keep you from making a purchase doesn't necessarily mean that feature (or lack thereof) will affect the buying decisions of others. |
@justubes2 A general rule of thumb is that DAC architecture beginning in about 2012-2013 made substantial gains over the DACs before that period of time. Part of those gains included the advancement/refinement of USB and ethernet interfaces. Since I own the Rowland Aeris DAC that @audiotroy mentions above, I will note that I believe it came on the market in 2012. Rowland specifically states that the Aeris is built to favor SPDIF. The Aeris USB input is no slouch--I have used both--but I agree with Dave above that the future currently is trending toward USB and ethernet as the preferred pathways on newer DACs and servers, especially as the high resolution market grows. For example, MSB currently has a module to optimize USB with their Pro ISL input--here is what they say: "A Better USB Solution The Pro USB was developed to offer a multi part USB solution that features complete electrical isolation and all the performance of MSB’s proprietary Pro ISL input. The Pro USB is offered as a stand alone module for users who already have an MSB DAC that is equipped with a Pro ISL input as well as a starter kit with a Pro ISL input and everything you need to get up and running." |
Innuos Statement Update: Power Cord Swapping--I recommend trying different power cords with the Statement. I recently swapped out the Cardas Clear Beyond PC I had been using on it for the Shunyata Sigma NR PC. While both sound excellent, the Sigma NR emphasized the lower registers and provided a bit more detail than the Cardas Clear Beyond. |
@hehaw77 So, you owe me a cookie :-) The Innuos Statement slight "brightness" frankly goes away with sufficient burn-in. As I posted originally, Antipodes makes good products. Its DX3 is a really good product. I'm confident that the EX+CX combo is even better. For those in the market for a new server at these elevated price points, I recommend they listen to the Antipodes EX+CX combo and the Innuos Statement. This simply comes down to preference folks. I'm confident in saying (as I did in my review) that the Innuos Statement overall ouperforms the Antipodes DX3. But, that is not a flagship to flagship comparison. The Statement takes up a lot of room--true. But the high performance it delivers makes it worth it IMO. And, importantly, the Innuos Statement has been absolutely trouble-free. The same cannot be said for my Antipodes DX3. It sometimes would have software/hardware handshake issues and require a reboot or two in succession to re-establish the connection with the remainder of the digital chain. It was true when I bought it and remained true throughout the time it was in the chain in my main system. Was it a big deal? Nope. Has the same thing happened with the Statement? Nope...at least not yet. |
There is a very helpful discussion on servers on What's Best Forum. I highly recommend it to those who want some different perspectives on various servers. There you will find the Taiko SGM Extreme is discussed extensively and compared in listening tests to different servers, including the Innuos Statement. There is not much of a discussion there about the Antipodes EX+CX combination. Don't take that as a knock on Antipodes products; they simply aren't part of the conversation on WBF. |
@audiotroy @hehaw77 Gentlemen, please give it a rest. Hehaw prefers the Antipodes CX+EX combo and has his reasons. Duly noted. Audiotroy highly recommends people try the Innuos Statement and has his reasons. Duly noted. Now please stop with the back and forth on this thread. Y'all are turning what should be a pleasant informative thread into a tiresome personal grudge match. If you want to go after each other, please do that by using PM. And audiotroy please don't weigh in with your last word on the subject; simply honor this request. I didn't start the thread for people to snark at one other. |
@david_ten Hopefully you have read this review of the Pink Faun server:https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/music-server-reviews/pink-faun-2-16x-1-3/ I have only linked to the first part of the three part review. I highly recommend you read the comments as well. I asked the reviewer a question about the Pink Faun before I bought the Innuos Statement. I found his answer insightful. |
@david_ten It is probably is worth noting that I have listened to the Innuos Statement with the Aqua Formula xHD DAC, however, not in my listening room. The speakers were YGA Hailey 2.2s, which I am fond of--but do not own. I liked the presentation--although I thought the overall sound profile needed to be "warmer." I think CP describes Rowland gear's sound profile very accurately. And I think his Antipodes description is accurate (that should make @hehaw77--very happy :-)). In my system, I think the Innuos Statement is actually providing greater transparency than the Antipodes DX3--which I noted in my review. When CP said that the DX3 is providing much of (but not all of) the CX+EX combo, I'm fairly certain he is correct. As others have noted, the Innuos Mk3 with the Phoenix re-clocker is chasing the Statement sound. BTW I have heard the Mk3 with the re-clocker--it is very good. I personally don't think it is 95% of the Statement's SQ having now listened to the Statement for many hours. But, I do think it is a very high value proposition. I read everything on the internet about Pink Faun before I pulled the trigger on the Innuos Statement. At that time, I couldn't find a Pink Faun US distributor (that has since been rectified) and the Pink Faun website was consistently down. Not simply down overnight. I mean down for what seemed like a long time. That puzzled me because, let's face it, a music server, is, well, a computer built to specifically handle music. It seemed to me that a company building computers should be fanatical about whether or not the server housing their website was operational. It made me question Pink Faun's operational capabilities to service their brand in the U.S. I confess that might not be a totally fair assessment. But at the time, I was shopping for a new server for a significant amount of hard earned money and the details began to matter a great deal. Hope this helps as you shop for a server. |
@hehaw77 You may want to read CP's Antipodes CX+EX review. CP has listened to many Antipodes' products. He has one of the most favorable reviews of the CX+EX combo on the internet. You can see his enthusiasm for the Antipodes CX+EX combo in his response to me: "...although successive reviews of
other DACs and streaming endpoints do seem to sustain my preference for
the deeper, more 3D sound of the Antipodes combo." I'm pretty sure that before buying the Pink Faun his reference server was the Antipodes CX+EX combo. Once you read his Antipodes CX+EX review then you can more fully determine whether he never really listened to the combination and just made the whole lengthy review up. Because if you are correct, then CP spent a lot of time telling people how great the combo sounds to his ears when he never actually heard the combo--even though he has pictures that show it sitting in his system. |
@david_ten and others: In order to try and answer the question posted above, I thought it would be helpful to first set out Christiaan Punter's (CP) full response to a question I asked him back in April 2019--it follows here (I will then post separately my "take away" regarding CP's response): "Musicality remains a relative term and a dangerous one to use. What sounds musical to me may not do so to you. Either way, indeed, in terms of audiophile performance, the Pink Faun is the best I have heard. Since you already own the DX3, you already have a significant portion of the CX+EX sound and I’m not sure if upgrading to CX+EX would yield enough to make this change worthwhile. More importantly, since you use the Joseph Audio Pearl 3s (very nice speakers btw), the balance on your end will work out differently than on my side with the Wilsons that I used for this review. It’s always a matter of balance and in my case, the Wilsons need some warming up. The Josephs may not need this, unless that is how you like it. Now that I have Kroma Audio Carmen, I think the conclusion might be a little different for me as well, with more love for the Pink Faun’s extreme transparency, although successive reviews of other DACs and streaming endpoints do seem to sustain my preference for the deeper, more 3D sound of the Antipodes combo. Your 925’s are pretty neutral but the Joseph speakers are on the full and warm side, as is the Aeris. The Corus+PSU is very transparent but it’s a Rowland, so it is still a little sweet. Less so with the PSU, btw. But by changing the Aeris for the Aqua Formula xHD you will gain a lot of neutrality and transparency and lose some of that Aeris smoothness. The net effect would be a more transparent, cleaner, even more hi-res sound. If you’d then swap the DX3 for the Pink Faun, the sound will head more in that direction but I think you might be amazed at the extra resolution and refinement. Now, I think your system can certainly make the best of that combination but the question is if you want to retain the current balance or are happy to have it more more toward neutrality. In conclusion, looking at your two proposed solutions, I’d do neither and would first audition the Aqua. If you like it then proceed to trying the Pink Faun. Alternatively, you could also move straight to the Pink Faun as the Aeris+PSU is still very good as well, just a little too sweet for my current taste but that aspect may actually combine very well with the Pink Faun’s extra neutrality. In conclusion, I tend to prefer multibit R2R DACs (Wadia, CH, Aqua Formula xHD) over Delta/Sigma (Aeris and the large majority of current DACs) because the latter nearly always sound somewhat restrained and/or filtered to me. But I know that opinions vary on this subject so I’d suggest investigating that aspect for yourself. Also, there are deviations, the PS Audio PWD MKII for example, is a Delta/Sigma design but sounds almost like a Wadia, not restrained or filtered at all. But now I’m starting to ramble… Let me know how you get on. Happy to answer follow up questions." Reply |
@hehaw77 OK, but I don't understand why you would be certain that CP never in fact heard the CX+EX combo if you in fact had already read his review. CP basically raves about the combo: as you now note. Even in the Pink Faun review, which he concludes is the finest server he has heard and then adopts it as his new reference, he still has great things to say about the Antipodes combo. I simply found your assault on his response to my question overly harsh given that CP is overall an Antipodes fan. (As am I BTW.) I get that you don't agree with his assessment. Nothing wrong with that at all. But postulating that you were pretty certain CP never actually heard the combo seems a bridge to far. I will now leave this issue alone. |
@hehaw77 Since you asked me to provide the links to CP's Antipodes CX+EX combo review (it is a three part review) you can find them below. The CP response to my April 2019 question, which I copied above, is from the comment section CP's Pink Faun review (which is a three part review as well) and is also found on CP's website: https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/network-player-reviews/antipodes-cx-ex-part1/ https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/network-player-reviews/antipodes-cx-ex-part2/ https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/network-player-reviews/antipodes-cx-ex-part3-2/ |
@musicfx Thanks for detail, especially regarding the cables you tried with the Innuos Statement. Like you, in my system I prefer a ripped CD to the Innuos Statement hard drive over Tidal streaming--but the streaming sounds mighty good. Statement's ease of use and reliability remain steady features of the product 4.5 months after purchase. During that period we have had numerous electrical storms. When this occurs, I shut down my entire system, and then reboot it when the storm is over. Not one problem so far. With past servers, these shut down/reboot events sometimes (not always) led to incomplete "handshakes" within the system requiring me to turn the non-Innuos server and/or the the internet router off and on several times to re-establish a reliable server/softwarer/router connection. Not a really big deal, but it has been nice not having to go through that routine with the Statement. |
The Statement's PSU is extremely quiet. For clarity, it doesn't generate "massive" noise. If it did, I would have noted that fact in the review. I don't know whether the Statement will come down in price or not. I had to wait a fairly long time to get mine because demand was outpacing supply. I'm not sure how the Antipodes CX+EX combo is selling. It might be doing great. Here is a direct question for those reading this thread. Besides @hehaw77, has anyone else heard the Antipodes CX+EX combo? Does anyone else own the CX+EX combo? And if so, could you please provide a detailed assessment of your thoughts about the server combination? Whether it is positive, negative or neutral, please weigh in. Thanks-Al |
In an effort to provide folks reading this thread with more breadth and depth on the Innuos Statement versus Antipodes CX+EX comparison, I asked for comments on the subject over on What's Best Forum. See below a response I received last night: "Maybe I can jump in as I have the Antipodes CX+EX combo ( and since very recently the SGM Extreme). The same dealer is also doing Innuos ( Lumin and Memory Player as well ) so comparison is easy. My ranking: 1)SGM Extreme 2) Innuos Statement 3) Antipodes CX+EX And I used to have Melco MK2,Aurender N10,Lumin A1/S1/U1. The long story: I was looking for a server to replace my Melco/Lumin combo. At that time I compared Antipodes combo vs older models of SGM. SGM was better but not by a wide margin and given the price difference I went for Antipodes. Beyond the sound quality, very versatile in terms of software ( roon,Lumin,bubble,hqplayer etc...) and storage capacity can be easily extended. Innuos Statement was not available at that time. I was eagerly waiting for that model but it took a long time for it to be released. Once released I compared it to the Antipodes. It sounded very organic,very smooth, low noise floor but I was not 100% convinced it was a substantial upgrade vs what I have and the price difference. Then I heard the SGM Extreme...Ouch, this server is on a completely another level , probably not as smooth sounding as the Statement but in terms of dynamics,resolution,image there is no comparison. ( the price is different as well...) To go back to my ranking, to me the gap between the number 1 and number 2 is much much wider than between the number 2 vs number 3. So if you can afford it, swallow the pill ( it took me 6 months...) and order SGM Extreme, you will be done. If not, order the Statement or the Antipodes, you will be extremely pleased as well. I would say here is more a trade off between price difference between both units in your country,versatility ,design ( Antipodes looks like a computer) than significant gap in terms of sound quality. Alex" |