Innuos zenith mk3 or aries G2.1

Nice piece. Just the ticket to go with the TSS. :cowboy_hat_face:

More evidence that everything matters. Interesting that they go single-box, since other high end servers are multi-box.

I read the review in the current issue of Stereophile on the Pink Faun 2.16x. I had no idea it was over $20k. And it’s ā€œJust a streamerā€. Good grief, we are doomed.

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All take you from A to B, but some do it with a special sense of luxury :grin:

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It uses Windows Enterprise!! Probably Taiko has an administrator with remote console to do the security patches for the customers!

We all need Taiko Extreme! Actually i’v been reading Audiophilestyle forum and their discussions about it too. It seems to be the real deal and with it there should be no need for extra boxes,or spaghetti as they say, to reclock or isolate or whatever the signal.

Still I like to have some money on my account,so no Taiko for me unless i win Eurojackpot! :grin:

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Doesn’t look like I2S output is available on this thing. For that kind of money you’d think they could offer that as well.

Yes but it’s a really, really nice streamer and rock solid :smile:
I paid the ransom for one and don’t regret the purchase at all. It has stopped me from looking anywhere else for a streaming solution. They are also hand made to order with many value adds available as required.

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Interesting. Like what?

The bare bones system starts at 7000 euros and goes up from there. They make everything from IO cards (they call them bridges) to power cables. Every option also has options. mostly clock upgrades. It is a very well built machine that runs on Audio Linux. I think the weight of the 2.16x is in the 60 lb. range. Most of the weight is power supplies.
Here is the website. Check it out for yourself.

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I have been given a home demo on a Auralic aries g2.1 aleady run in, it has no SSD drive so i am using my synology nas to the g2.1 and the direct stream bridge, g2.1 to the direct stream dac via USB, can’t hear any difference between the bridge and the g2.1.

Any opinions will be appreciated

Either:

A) Something is very wrong somewhere (a bottleneck)

B) You just saved a lot of money :cowboy_hat_face:

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Have you tested the DSD + G2.1 while bridge is out of the DSD? If you get the same result, then congrats from Beef and I, you have just saved $3.5k!

I have not tried the G2.1 without the bridge, the rest of my system consists of Jeff Rowland criterion pre, BHK 250, Wilson Benesch act speakers, Could the Synology DS 216 + 11
perhaps be a Problem ? bottleneck

Have you tried Qobuz, etc, or is your interest/use case only playing music off HD? That is, do you have a way of comparing the two without the NAS in there?

It seems Auralic and Innuos are getting a lot of hits lately, here also still looking for that elusive (Octave)… Spoke with TweekGeek yesterday asking directly "Auralic or Innuos? What do you like and why? Between the Zenith MkIII and the Aires and the new Altair, they prefer the sound of the Auralic units SQ just barely over the Zenith MkIII, of which they sell both. Emphasizing he owns and loves the Zenith. The most interesting thing he said, the take away, the Auralic products should not be loaded up with files. Highly recommends using them as streamers, not servers, saying the OS is just not robust enough to accept thousands of Hi-res files and maintain them playable over time. Could be he was steering me towards the Zenith MkIII ? Upscale Audio offers to install the Aires and the Altair with 2TB SSD, and the new Altair G1 is quite interesting with SQ close to the G2.1 units. Best news here is Innuos software platform, could make some decisions a bit easier. cheers

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If you are considering an Innuos I’d suggest contacting them to see if you can get a firm release date for the platform. They do like to talk it up, but a firmdate would help. I’ve heard a couple of weeks from their technical support guy Emmanuel, and on this thread that it may be going into beta late this year with a release targeted for mid-2021. I have an Innuos ZENith Mk iii and enjoy it a lot. I buy with my ears and what is actually on the market when I am ready to purchase. If your dealer has both I’d arrange for a long demo and maybe an in home trial and support the dealer with a purchase. If your buying opportunity is 6 months out or more, well that’s a different matter.

Wondering if you are thinking of Upscale rather than TweekGeek in your quote/story, as that is nearly word for word what the Upscale guys told me in answer to the same question.

I think Upscale has a bunch of prepared scripts they work from when you ask questions over their website. Whenever I have, I’ve always gotten a very polished reply. Nothing wrong with that, but I think its a FAQ response.

I have had the Altair G1 for nearly 3 months and I purchased it from Upscale Audio. I really enjoy using it. I use it with the Auralic LDS App (iOS only) and Roon. LDS is not as flashy as Roon, but works well and can be used with Qobuz and Tidal too. I am not sure I will bother to renew with Roon when my current subscription ends, as LDS is a very serviceable app. It is still a work in process, but should improve over time.

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The Altair G1 with SSD, RCA outputs to my PASS headphone amp and Balanced out to the BHK-Pre input #2 is looking like a pretty useful addition, essentially giving me two systems, streaming to both yet allowing the convenience of keeping JRiver in the chain. Love having options.
Like Badbeef, I see re-ripping CD’s to all new FLAC makes the case for the Innuos (with new platform) an attractive option. TweekGeek Mike recommended not adding the SSD to Auralic units, but I’m sure Upscale has installed many, I only spoke with TG, my next call is to Kevin or Evan at Upscale for feedback on the Auralic with SSD, but leaning towards the Altair here. It’s very helpful hearing 1st hand how the Auralic or Innuos house sound plays thru PS Audio gear.