Innuos - New Re-Clocker

I can't speak to using an ethernet cable from an Innuos to a dac, but at RMAF, Innuos was using a usb cable.  I presume Innuos used the usb because it felt that would best show off its product.  Nevertheless, if you own a dac like mine, a light harmonics dual dac, that does not have an ehternet cable input, you are stuck with usb if you have an Innuos.  As far as usb goes, there was minimal difference between the Zenith plus the Phoenix reclocker when those two were compared to the Statement.  If i were going to buy an Innuos, i would get the Zenith and the Phoenix, not the statement.   

For anyone who hasn't yet bought a server/player, after RMAF i was able to borrow a Zenith without the Phoenix and an Aurender W20SE.  Now the Aurender W20SE is i think about $22,500, but using an AES/EBU cable into my dac the W20SE was the best sound i have ever heard.  I have a huge vinyl collection and a great turntable set up, and the W20SE rivaled or bettered the turntable sound.  Aurender doesn't do Roon, but its softare/controller is excellent.

Both products were great.  I think Innuos makes good products and the zenith/phoenix combo for around $8500 is excellent, but the Aurender was the best i've ever hear, although much more expensive. 

@gasherbaum,

Thank you for your invaluable feedback. I currently own N10 and contemplating my next server upgrade in next couple of months. 

Just to mention, I had a Zenith SE in a network powered by Sean Jacobs DC3s throughout, before upgrading to a Statement, so I’m quite familiar with their performance and with getting the best out of the units. The Statement has 3 USB ports, one optimized for a DAC with a 3ppb clock and dedicated linear power supply rail and 2 others similar to the Zenith’s,
For the record, the Zenith SE offers amazing sound quality that the Statement builds on and extends. To my ears, the SE was in no way lacking and showed no ‘faults’ or ‘anomalies’ whatsoever and I could perfectly happily live with the SEs sound and be utterly delighted. The Statement is therefore a joy machine....it takes what the SE produces and adds more detail, colour intensity, musicals contours, air, focus, texture, precision, purity, rhythmic interplay and timing,  timbral information, super low level detail, top end shimmer and sparkle, musical insight. 
A piece of music you know very well will sound awesome through the SE. With the Statement its like throwing the window wide open so you can ‘feel’ more and better understand the musician’s message. Old songs like Cat Stevens or JJ Cale shine with new structure, detail and beauty and you’ll even better appreciate just how damned good some of these artists really are. 
So this is a Phoenix thread and I’ve never heard a Phoenix. But what I have heard is something very equivalent.....Playing the Statement through a standard USB port is the approximate equivalent of subtracting the Phoenix’s performance from the Statement. If the Zenith SE plus Phoenix almost equals a Statement, then logically a Statement minus a Phoenix should almost equal a Zenith SE. So does it?  In a word, NO. There’s a lot more to a Statement than just the USB port, so a Statement minus Phoenix is still clearly superior to a Zenith SE and therefore a Zenith Mk3. Why? 
Firstly the Statement’s incoming data stream its greeted by an Ethernet version of ‘Phoenix’....a very special ethernet board with similar 3ppb clock and linear supply rail.  The Statement’s motherboard has been further developed to remove noise, while the entire case is milled from EMI shielding aluminium.  The Statement’s power supplies are substantial further developments of the SE's and while Phoenix requires 2 usb cables plus connectors, the components in the Statement are adjacent and hard wired. Further, the Statement’s clock synthesisers are in a separate housing, isolated from any vibration generated by the transformer and AC/DC conversion. 
So what does all this mean?  I guess what I’m saying is that in my book at least, the Innuos Zenith SE produced wonderful music that even the most picky audiophile should be entirely happy with. Adding Phoenix to that mix adds a major dollop of extra joy and beauty to the sound that I have detailed above. To the point you don’t need a Statement?  That depends. An SE + Phoenix will give you sound quality of a level better than you’ve probably ever heard before. Stunningly good. BUT, if you have the money, love music, spend hours a day listening and are obsessed with getting the very best, the Statement really is the peak.  The SE/Zenith Mk3 and Phoenix lack nothing, but once you’ve heard a well optimised Statement you will very likely agree that it is actually worth the extra $$$. I certainly believe so....

I have the ZENith MKII & am sending it to a Yggdrasil (A2) dac...I love the sound but this Phoenix has me curious. Based on what I'm reading from some folks that have heard the difference it can make it may be well worth plunking down the $3k if it makes that big of a sonic jump!

Time will tell my friend. Whether that means mid-November, like Steve Gomez told me in person at CAF, or some time in 2020, time will tell 😉