Innuos PULSE Mini?

@whodiini I don’t think you’re gonna get any direct comparisons, but the Sense app (that’s always getting upgraded for sound/performance) gets very high marks as do Innuos streamers so I’m thinking you’re gonna be pretty darn happy.  Also, eventually upgrading the power supply on the Pulse Mini should give you a significant upgrade opportunity in the future.  Let us know what you think if you can.  

@charles1dad That is one beautiful piece of work, and goodonya for supporting our friends in Ukraine in this difficult time. 

@akgwhiz If you’re interested in ripping I think the Zen is the better value than the Zen Mini because you don’t need to buy the extra LPS, which makes the price differential between the two to be negligible.  Buy a DDC like the Singxer SU6 or Musician Pisces/Denafrips Iris and it’ll convert the USB from the Innuos to SPDIF, AES/EBU, or i2S your DAC can then use.  That’s what I’d do.  Hope this helps. 

My Pro-Ject RS2T CD transport is yielding superb sound spinning discs. I’m seeking a similar level result when streaming Tidal/Qobuz/internet radio. I think that perhaps the Innuos may satisfy this desire.

@charles1dad Let me maybe give you another option perhaps you might’ve not even considered for a reason you might not have even thought of. You clearly have a great CD transport that undoubtedly sounds great. As I embraced streaming a few years ago there’s a compelling reason you might still wanna consider getting an Innuos Zen Mk3 with onboard storage you can load your CDs directly into over a Pulse model. I know you’ve got an open mind so just try to stick with me on this if you could. So, when you start streaming with a good streamer and other associated equipment the sound quality might well surprise you and be not a whole lot different from your CD transport. What happened to me was that sound quality was so surprisingly good streaming, the act of getting up off my arse to spin one CD started to become absurd to me when I could have not only the world of streaming music at my fingertips but also all the other music in my library that might not be available thru streaming. So, once I got started streaming I just don’t spin individual CDs anymore cause I can get almost anything I want over Qobuz and in any order I want when I make playlists. That has a ton of value, and if, like me, you’ve got a bunch of “audiophile-type” or other rare CDs that’ll probably never make it to streaming you can simply rip them into the Innuos Zen Mk3 and have absolutely all your music available from your chair in very high quality in absolutely any order you want. If most of your music is already available on Qobuz I’d say go with the Pulse especially if one of the models has any performance advantages over the Zen But if there’s any allure of having ALL your music in one place I’d say consider the Zen. And, sometimes you just might feel lazy and be perfectly fine with the SQ of the Zen versus your transport and just wanna have the flexibility to say “screw it,’ I’m just gonna sit in my listening chair with a nice Cab and just enjoy all my music and/or curated playlists.

Two things here — with the Zen you’d always have the option to leave your ass in the chair, but if the SQ difference is giving you the itch to spin a CD you’ve still got the option to do that as well. IMHO it’s just always nice to have the flexibility. But, here’s my real question — why, if you’re going to the bother having a DAC constructed, are you only getting an SPDIF input when you have both i2S and AES/EBU outputs available on your transport. Sorry, I guess you have your reasons but it makes little sense to me. Just can’t wrap my head around that one at all.