Innuos Zenith Mk3 vs Zen Mk3 + Phoenix

Thanks for the feedback guys! This question predicated on the fact my local dealer just took on the line and his initial order started with a Zen and Zen-Mini. The Zen has broken in and sounds very good, knowing the price difference to the Zenith, it great to hear there there is a lot of value in that move and the SQ improvement is well justified.

i reached out to experienced dealer (Dave from Audio Doctor) and explained I was in Canada and in spite of the fact he can’t sell up here, he was gracious enough to spend 40 minutes with me explaining the differences. He’s got a ton of experience, has a lot of lines to compare with, and he confirmed what you guys are saying, the SQ is much better with the Zenith and it’s worth the extra cost. A special thanks to Dave for helping when he had no chance of selling me an Innuos product, by provided me an passionate unbiased view of the digital market space.

I’ve heard the online show demos with and without the Phoenix and on a decent set of earbuds I can hear the SQ improvement. I just wish I could have afforded the Phoenix at the same time. 

I’d also prefer to see Innuos build the Phoenix capability into a Zenith deluxe. When you consider the outboard device forces you to add another USB & Power cable it can add significantly to the investment.

As a result of all the consistent feedback, I’ll order the Zenith. Thanks everyone!

The Phoenix reclocker is a half way house. Asynchronous USB puts the DAC‘s clock in charge of clocking the transport/server. Rather than spending money on a reclocker one should spend the money on getting the best DAC clock possible, ideally a 10Mhz master clock. After adding a 10m Ocxo clock to my DAC, the Zenith MK3 made a quantum leap. It is truly an excellent server/player.

Antigrunge,

What clock did you go with? Perhaps a Mutec, or a Cybershaft? I’ve been doing some in depth reading and learning about them. Having a reference clock synced up to the DAC, Server/Renderer, and network switch seems to make sense. Is that what you’re doing?

My benchmark for 1) the amount I was investing 2) the pieces I was eyeballing didn’t lead my thinking to a reference clock before my purchase, particularly since none of these pieces has a reference clock input.

I did end up buying the Phoenix, And even at a halfway house it is a very appreciable difference and worth the investment to me. It was an easy choice because, I qualified for a special discount courtesy of Innuos promotion - I’m very pleased with the SQ. Particularly when I’ve got my dealers Aqua DAC in the rig (I have an Ayre Codex currently) I suspect the Aqua has a decent clock in it.

When one adds up the investment price is for a good digital rig, and when I compare the system (with Aqua La Scala) to my VPI table / Dynavector cartridge, the vinyl is less than 1/3 of the price and it’s still measurably better.

This digital stuff is a massive rabbit hole that keeps evolving. At least at this point it’s worth listening to, as all my previous digital attempts were hard on my ears. I’m grateful it evolved thus far. It’s good enough for the living room system where my wife and daughter can operate it with ease. I can enjoy it too when I’m feeling lazy, or it’s background music for dinner time etc.. I’ll stick with Master tape and Vinyl in the dedicated room.

Did you do anything with a network switch? I’m thinking that aside from the DAC upgrade, my next investment should be a etherregen, or SoTM switch perhaps.

Continued feedback is encouraged everyone. Thanks!

We have a better solution an 432 evo aeon high is a better sounding server then a zenith and the aeon has a super clock ultra low jirtter usb output built in for 6k no need for asecond box powercordand usb

432 evo is the hottest server company ineuope europe and are quickley outpacing innousu
https://432evo.be/index.php/432-evo-aeon-music-server/
https://432evo.be/index.php/2020/05/22/hi-fi-choice-recommended-components-award-432-evo-aeon-ed-sel...
it’s also the best USB source I’ve tested to now…”

The summary of the review:
It’s hard not to admire the dedication shown in the design of the Aeon to do something different and to do it as well as it can be reasonably done.

What makes it for me as a package is that 432 EVO hasn’t lost sight of all the basics that a network storage device needs to perform in the pursuit
of making its brainchild work. This is a stable, silent and very flexible music server that is more than up to the task of supporting a household

Infact  wewere s. Imprespressed wilh the432 evo servers we ditched innous and became 432 evos us distributor

https://www.facebook.com/432evo/

Dav and troy
Audio intellect nj
Us distributor 432 evo music servers usa