Ok Boys and Girls - I had an “oh crap” moment tonight - almost 700 hours straight of letting the Statement play and the Statement went to another stratosphere - my ears have gone into an orgasmic state transforming me into audio nirvana. I thought the burn-in period was over around 500 hours - oh no Batman. Never knew digital could be this good. Music has become so palatable - musicians parading in and out of my living room trying to out do each other. Can’t stop listening - the Statement allows me to see into the performance and follow each musician. The vail has lifted and I can see clearly now and love it. Transparency, dimensionality, dynamics in spades. I am hearing in 8k vs 4k. The Innuos Server is truly making a STATEMENT.
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.
158 responses Add your response
You know I decided I don’t want someone that actually owns a statement to give a verdict here. So decided listen to the statement myself. As per above there is obvious bias. It is definitely better than the SE model I give it that and it is very detailed and you can hear different layers of music; things that were previously hidden.. eg.. separate power supply then the 8 rails inside the unit for different components do make a difference with the noise floor. etc. it has a built in clock for the usb and another clock for ethernet I believe. . So it does sound good and it should for the price point. Can’t knock it there. Very nice... However.... I did find it just a tad on the bright side ; just a little .. for my liking... that’s pretty much the only criticism I have... and the size......its large... basically two units... I know that Innuos is working on a separate usb clock for SE owners which should improve the sound of the SE. My preference is for the liquidity smooth sound signature of the CX/EX combo. It’s just as detailed and I prefer the tech. they use to eliminate noise. It just feels right to me.... As I mentioned in a previous post how I like there sound signature... even back to the DSGT days... So in the end it really comes down to preference I don’t think either choice is a bad one. I’ve owned Innuos products and still own one... Just prefer the Antipodes for what they bring to the table in design, size and technology they use. The statement is a bit large in size.. it reminds me a lot of the WA 33 woo amp that I have... I do want to say something to SE owners and Zenith MK2 owners... or any MK2 owners... When I initially demoed the Antipodes and Innuos products back in the day before both their new units where out Antipodes was better hands down... However I did end up buying the Innuos MK2 because I got a stellar deal on it. However when I took it home etc.. I did not like the sound signature at all.... almost yuk..... way to dark for me... muffled ...yuk... So those of you that want to improve the sound of those units.... there is a way .... "filtering" I ended up buying the Sotm usb ultra and their OCX10 Mhz clock. The ultra is quite affordable the OCX a little pricier but well worth it. After I added these two components I started getting closer to the Antipodes sound signature not quite there but close enough... I eventually added another noise filter after and improved it even further...etc... So depending on budget and how far you want to go you can improve the sound of the older units... in fact it will improve any unit... One more things cables are a huge factor ; power, interconnects , usb cables, ethernet etc.. these all make a difference... that's for another discussion... this is long... and if you’ve read this far I’d give you a cookie if I saw you in person... HEHAW !! |
@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. |
@astewart8944 chocolate chip or Oreo? :) Hmm this one had a lot of burn in... so don't think that was the issue.... it just hits those high frequencies a bit hard for me..from time to time..or who knows maybe it did need more burn in... ...others may like that.....speaking of issues I have those issues with the Zenith MK2 and I do have to reboot it from time to time to make that irritating stop/start (hiccups) in the music go away... agreed not a big deal... I have a complex chain so... I don't complain about it... I can say the EX has been flawless on my system... silky buttery smooth... |
I'm always messing around changing things moving them around to see if I can tweak the signal. Right now its so amazing but made a small change today moving some cables around. I have 3 usb cables in my chain... 2 Valhalla 2 usb's and one 7N silver usb. The silver usb is new... initially I had it in the number 2 spot val2 to usb ultra to 7N out of the ultra to noise filter than a val 2 out to the chord blu2 long story short since it needs break in I moved it to the number 1 spot 7N to ultra and saw an immediate difference... I have other things in mind... to experiment with... |
This thread is extremely helpful re: the Statement and its competition. Anyone have experience comparing the Innuos Statement to the upper end Melco servers? Alternatively, anyone ever been able to compare the Statement to the Taiko Audio Extreme server? I understand the Taiko is another large step up price-wise. |
email conversation I had with Antipodes...... one reason I feel its superior to the Statement (CX, EX combo unit) Yes, but Mark Jenkins comments '....The clock is a lot less relevant than people assume. The 3 things that matter with digital audio are the clock used to generate the signal, noise levels and bandwidth. The clock is less important than the other two. To my knowledge Antipodes is the only firm that addresses bandwidth. The others sacrifice bandwidth through use of noise filtering. We use no filtering at all, leaving full bandwidth intact and achieve low noise by designing it out from the ground up.'. Regards, Tony Hi Tony. Do your units have clocks? Reason I'm asking is I have the Sotm stack.. eg usbultra and work clock @ 10Mhz I've tried your EX unit with the Sotm stack and it sounds better without it. Which is for the most part ridiculous... This should not be... the Sotm stack definitely helps the Innuos unit sound better... but yours sounds better without it. Whatever you guys are doing there is awesome.. |
We have right now in the shop three of the top computer music servers: 1: The Innuous Statement 2: The Baetis Reference 3: The Laufer Technik Memory Player The Baetis isn't the current version as Baetis has made some improvements, the Laufer is nearly current with a bit of software upgrades would be completely current. In our findings the three or four best are in no particular order Innuous Statement, Taiko, Laufer Memory Player Antipodes In terms of the Antipodes vs the Statement, aside from Hewhaw, we have a lot of difficulty understanding what Antiopdes is doing via hardware, ( the open shots of the chassis shows a nicely designed and built product but where are the normal parts of the super server secret sauce which are massive custom power supplies with extensive regulation, hardware reclocking and noise reduction assemblies, and we don't see an advantage of seperating the renderer from the Roon core, which should acutally genearte more noise as you are transmitting from the Core over ethernet to the renderer even if the two boxes are in the same rack that is one more external connection versus a much shorter internal connection. If you design your product carefully there should be no noise added by putting both pieces into one chasis. The claim that Antipodes is doing something really unique in software is a dubious claim, as Laufer's piece has a patent on data manipulation to clean up the stored packets before transmission, and Innuous has built their own processing engine as well. Which of these units sounds better to you will depend on the sonics that you prefer. As per the Taiko it does seem extremely well built and well designed is it worth that much over the Antipodes, and the Innuous pieces that to me is a hard call. We continue to explore these products as it is our belief that a good dac or a good dac/streamer with a server represents both the present and future of musical reproduction. We have found that with the right dac, cabling and servers, high end digital can easily compete with the best of analog. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Computer Audio Specialists |
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 you have not done your research... and you should before you make statements. I would not comment on the other products you have listed except the statement because I understand what Innuos has done ; but the others I could not comment on I eluded to what Antipodes does to eliminate noise before but if your honest its just easier for you to sell the other products you have. In regards to the combination CX/EX that is easily resolved via cat7 sotm cables as I've discussed before but seems you "missed" it for convenience. Since you are "not" a music server designer its obvious you are not.. why would you understand what Antipodes does... Go to the roon boards and they also recommend you separate the server and renderer. The Statement has weaknesses in running two external power lines outside into the main box above? ... they perhaps should consult Mark Jenkins on how to build a noise free power supply.... Also running both server and renderer together is also another weakness. To make it clear to the rest... I think the statement sounds very nice... and am familiar with the "basic" tech Nuno and team use for noise reduction. The Antipodes way of reducing nose in my opinion is better and way more fascinating to me. I told you previously they offset various frequencies on their boards to eliminate noise ; and you said that you didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. Which tells me you do not know this product at all. Here's a small piece and I suggest you do your research for the other pieces unless you feel you need to be spoon fed. Below is the education you need to sell Antipodes servers which in my opinion are better than what you have listed. If i was your boss I'd tell you to be more learned on products you refer to. The below is just for their power supplies; this is also for their older generation power supply their new ones are even better. The key thing is that all regulated power supplies generate switch noise, and that with digital it is really important to not only reduce that noise, but through design, put the residual noise in a frequency range that does not interfere with the digital signal. This not only involves the regulation used, but also how the transformer is wound and how it is screened – for example our transformer is completely copper screened. Mark Jenkins: Antipodes also places a lot of emphasis on the quality of the power supply, which they manufacture entirely in-house. Mark Jenkins: As mentioned, the EX and CX have two Ethernet ports. One can be used to connect to the network and the second to provide a low-noise dedicated feed to an Ethernet DAC. According to the info in the manual, “Ethernet can introduce high levels of noise into the receiving device. The Direct Ethernet solution in Antipodes servers minimizes network ‘chatter’ on the link and creates a high bandwidth, phase accurate, low-noise direct link between the server and renderer. This provides a dramatic improvement over connecting your server and renderer devices through a noisy switch or over a long length of network cable”. I’ve put this to the test and indeed, the direct connection sounds considerably cleaner as well as freer than a connection via the existing network. BTW I also conducted a similar test using multiple network switches and network cables in a range of lengths with surprising results, using Meridian Sooloos components, the predecessors or Roon, so to speak. |
Hehhaw, no you missed our points entirely and we have read all the Antipodes website, please point to their "white paper" on their noise reduction techniques we would love to read it. The elimination of "noise via digital manupulation of software is not the same thing or by splitting up tasks your "bandwidth" concept on the motherboard seems to make sense to us compared to designing a sophisticated, very stable state of the art and very quiet power supply design, coupled to a state of the art Ethernet and USB reclocker, instead it is a way for you to justify the high cost of the Antipodes which in terms of design and build quality we see as lacking somewhat to the all out approach that Innuous uses. Also Nuno has tested al lot of different techniques to make one of the worlds best servers and there is not a lot that they haven’t looked at. As per noise, again any external ethernet connection with or without an SOTM filter is an additional pathway to gain noise, and requires another cable, we do not see any advantages of seperating the the Roon Core vs the Renderer. Hewhaw, glad you love your Antipodes, many people are finding the Statement to be the best overall server on the market. Lets see the trajectory of the two companies in a few years, Innuous is the hotest server maker in the industry, wonder why? Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Innuous dealers |
So your bias comes out... clearly.. difference here is I AM NOT A SALES PERSON so I don't have to justify anything. It's obvious you HAVE NOT read the all the audiophile sites or you wouldn't be perplexed to how Antipodes eliminates noise. The statement is not cheap and I think its overpriced and needs justification. It's more expensive than the CX/EX combo (which is better) Hottest does not mean best. Bugatti cars are rare purchases and many other high quality products but they are not "hot" items. Perhaps I need to say it again... "do your own research" you have access to the same people I do.. get your own white paper... Who said software? It's done at the board level. You know the difference right? Innuos uses... lol.... its more of a V8 Chevy approach compared to a finely tuned Aston Martin Innuos as I said before is good its ok I own an innuos server... but the sophistication and preparation on the Antipodes imho is better. Trajectory? lol... they have been around for a long time. So we are clear they are having a hard time keeping up with demand.... You will find these servers in audiophile homes; not Joe and Bob's living room where you might find an Innuos. Nothing wrong with that... but the target audience is NOT the same. No of course you don't because you sell Innuos products that's why you don't see a difference is separating Core and renderer. But even Roon itself will tell you its beneficial as I stated above and again was ignored..... ..... any audiophile with experience will tell you its beneficial... As for ethernet... that's addressed above... perhaps a re-read will help |
@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. |
@astewart8944 Thanks for stepping in...I have been following this thread closely and enjoyed reading all posts except last few posts by hehaw/troy. I had a chance to listen Statement and Zenith MK3 with Phoenix USB reclocker at RMAF 2019. The MK3 w/USB reclocker sounded very rich and emotionally engaging. And rightfully, earned my respect. I am not quite sold on the Statement at $15K price point. Maybe a in-home audition will sway my decision to consider Statement over W20SE....LOL!!! |
Thanks @david_ten and @astewart8944 I appreciate the replies. I've been tracking the Statement and Taiko Extreme threads over at WBF for awhile and know one user managed to get both servers in the same room. Was hoping someone on Agon had the opportunity to A/B them directly in the same system... or the Statement vs. a top of the line Melco. I currently have the Melco N1ZH running into the Simaudio 780d v2 and am looking to upgrade the server. Will keep my eye out for any further reviews. Thanks again for starting this thread! |
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shoff, I will be ecstatic if the Phoenix brings the Zenith to near the performance level of the Statement. If so, it will be a bargain, if anything in HiFi can really be a bargain anymore. The Phoenix was released at RMAF, in the US market. It won't be released in the UK until a HiFi show at the end of October. |
@astewart8944 Thanks. In addition to Innuos, servers I am considering: Wolf Audio Systems: https://wolfaudiosystems.com/ Pink Faun: https://www.pinkfaun.com/ fidata / iodata: https://www.iodata.jp/fidata/en/audio.htm 432 EVO: http://432evo.be/index.php/editions etc. |
@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. |
@astewart8944 Al, I have read the review. But I had not read the comments. Thank you for pointing me to them. They are informative as well. In many ways those conversations align with @audiotroy 's here in terms of his position that each server (he discusses/carries) has a "particular sound" and needs to be chosen in context of one's system and priorities. Are you open to offering your 'take-away(s)' on the Pink Faun units / Christiaan Punter's response to you and others? Thanks. As an aside, Sound Galleries and Baetis were mentioned earlier in this thread, which is why I did not list them. |
@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 |
@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. |
Of course I’ll comment on the below. The EX alone sounds better than the DX3 ; the CX alone sounds better. DX3 is old tech even if its been upgraded. It’s been noted already that the combo sounds much better. Than each unit on its own. Others have also commented that comparing the DX3 to other servers is not a correct comparison. I Really don’t know what more can be said if people want to believe something regardless of facts. I’d venture to say this person has not listened to the combo. Almost positive of that..in fact anyone agreeing with that statement I’d ask if they have heard the combo. If you have then prefer something else fair enough; as I’ve heard both and prefer the combo over anything I’ve heard to date. I can also say the MK2 with my clocks give me a significant portion of the Innuos Statement sound; which is somewhat correct, and upgrading to the Innuos Statement wouldn’t give me significant up-gradable experience. Which is somewhat true; but I’d be comparing old tech to Innuos top of line. Quote: "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." |
@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. |
provide the link... if this is his quote "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." I'd have to see this favorable review for myself; as the DX3 is good but just ok sub par compared to the combo and he EX alone is better. |
@hehaw77 Could you please comment on the speed of the CX + EX combo running Roon? I currently run a DX2 as both core and renderer for Roon, and I find it awfully slow in navigating. (Example: Discover can take a full minute to provide an output. I only have about 2,500 CD’s ripped. Searching for an artist can take it 30 seconds. I am not that patient I’m afraid.) How fast does it perform for you? As it is with the DX2 I am reluctant to buy a lifetime of Roon. |
@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/ |
Thanks for posting the links and flagging your comment to CP @astewart8944. And @david_ten for the additional server ideas. Really helpful to read the above and the reviews. Roughly speaking, if I could ask your advice, which of these 'higher-end' servers would you recommend that could add 'warmth' or 'richness' to a neutral/slightly cool pretty highly resolved system? I currently run the Melco N1/ZH through Simaudio DAC, pre and amp to Hailey 2.2s.... Any insights would be greatly appreciated, but I understand if there are simply too many variables at play to put forth a rec. I too wish CP would get the chance to review the Statement..... |
@astewart8944 I already posted those links in one of my responses and his final conclusion is as per below. So I agree with that but saying the dx3 gets you almost to the cx/ex combo is inaccurate. Even the sound signature is different on the new units ; smoother etc.. There comes a time when a reviewer just lacks the superlatives to describe the latest experience and for me, this is it. How do I describe the CX+EX delivery if I have already used all the superlatives that I can think of for earlier reviews? This combination is, quite simply, the very best digital front end that I have heard. |
@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. |
@zprr You are welcome. Regarding your question... Roughly speaking, if I could ask your advice, which of these ’higher-end’ servers would you recommend that could add ’warmth’ or ’richness’ to a neutral/slightly cool pretty highly resolved system? This is something I have also been processing and thinking through and struggling with myself. Hopefully others will offer their perspectives on the matter. My current system has a ’sound’ that is a net synergy of it’s parts. I am becoming more and more cautious with change, given it’s current configuration and sound. As a result, I’m struggling with which ’sound signature’ to choose when it comes to my future server/player choice. Counter to this is my position (belief) that a source needs to be as pure / accurate as possible (since it stands at the front of the system) with fine tuning applied downstream, if and when necessary. For example, I was able to ’evaluate’ the dCS Rossini for a second time yesterday and I’m starting to get a feel for it’s contribution to system sound. I’ll be evaluating it once more, but I now have a growing feeling that it may not be an ideal fit within my current system, despite it being an exceptional DAC. |
10 months ago I was trying to decide between the Antipodes CX+EX combo and the Innous Statement. It was taking forever for the Antipodes to become available. I ended up buying a The Memory Player. Sound was incredible but I found it difficult to use and I wanted to use ROON. I sold it and bought the Innous Statement and not the Antipodes CX+EC...which you would also have to buy a P-1 to add CD’s...plus 2 power cords VS. 1 with the Innous. They come close to the same price when done. The Innous Statement looks much better in a high end system, especially in silver. I found the Innous easier to use. After just over 2 months of listening to the Innous I am glad of my decision. I have tried a few different cables, AQ Diamond USB, Transparent Ethernet, Vetere...& WireWorld Platinum Ethernet & USB among a few others. I kept both WireWorld Platinums in my system. USB sounds better than Ethernet from the Statement to my DAC (T+A MP 3100HV). CD’s ripped to the Innous hard drive sound the best, but streaming QoBuz & Tidal sounds crazy good also, as do hi Rez files on the Innous. I recently finally got the hear the Antipodes CX +EX combo and it sounded really good. It was with even more expensive cabling than mine, higher end amplification and speakers (not as good as mine). I personally preferred the Innous Statement sound slightly more. Sound with both is fantastic, but the ease of use, less pieces, much better looks and reliable operation of the Innous Statement reassures me I made the right decision. |
@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. |
Hmm... well you don't have one piece with the statement you have 2 pieces and 2 external power cords attaching on the right and left sides. Plus a power cord. I do find the design a little strange... but that's just me. Just my opinion I own a WA 33 woo audio amplifier and they put the power cords in through the middle. No external cords don't know if there was a reason Innuos didn't do that. Maybe flexibility? Power box can be put farther away from the player portion with longer cables. Again though you do risk noise when you do that... I also prefer a burner outside the music units. Unsure of the noise factor with having it internal... doesn't really affect me; as I do have an Zenith MK2 unit I can burn cd's to. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is storage. Your basically stuck with the statement... Antipodes you can swap out drives and increase on the fly. |
Thanks for the replies @davidten and hehaw. I do think the point that the source should be as 'accurate' as possible is well taken and has me contemplating further re: server choice. I am looking at some cable and preamp tests to get at the warmth vs neutral issue rather than the server at the moment. I am enjoying hearing everyone's feedback on these top servers and hope it continues. |
Hewhaw why would a two piece with a separate power supply that sits directly underneath the CPU/Drive section be any more strange than a two piece Core and Renderer? With the Statement you have a massive power supply that sits directly under the main chassis forming essentially one unit, the two power supply umbilical cords are included and therefore you only need one external high quality power cord vs requiring two with the Antipodes. As per noise with the burner most people are not listening while burning and even if you do we would doubt you would notice and gee isn't it nice to have one built in to the unit? As per HD swaps most people can store a massive amount on either the 2tb or 4tb unit. and yes that is an advantage with the Antipodes. The reality is that once you go above 4tb you are going to be looking at a NAS drive anyway. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Innous dealers |
The 2 piece core and render-er is what Roon itself recommends. To me this is a flaw regardless of brand. Including the ultra crazy pink faun which I reviewed a little while ago. Secondly these are stand alone units they don't have to be used together. They are separate units and can be used as such. I had the EX before I ordered the CX to get to the next level. To me the EX alone is a match for the statement... that's right ... a match. It's a different sound signature as I've spoken about in other posts. Which of course I prefer. That's right you have a massive noise generating power supply right underneath your player. Then you also have two power cords with more noise potential. If I had bought that unit. I would immediately have been looking to upgrade the 2 stock power cords to something high quality. It's also bulky looking (my opinion) some of you may like the look. The EX/CX units are small and light. I can pick up one unit with one arm. Which by the way my local dealer did try to get me to buy the statement. He now has the Antipodes units. Smart move on his part. It's not nice to have one built into the unit its a noise source should be outside the unit. That's another advantage if you don't have the funds right away to go cx ex you can just buy the ex ... affordable as far as music players/servers go ... and then upgrade from there. EX retail is 5099 CAD 4K US CX retail is 7800 CAD 6K US Don't quote me on exact Antipodes pricing... I paid way less than this 8900 US for both.. that's right 8900 (taxes included) so the person who was saying it comes out to the same is not correct. If you know how to bargain of course.... yes brand new units. Statement retail price below excluding taxes.... Again I'll say that when listening to the Statement I liked it so those of you that own it don't assume I'm slamming it. I just didn't like it as much as the Antipodes... I think its overpriced... Eventually they will cut pricing (if they want to move units) or maybe not if the other models do well. Personally I think they will.... sorry present Statement owners. As for SSD drive space 650 for an extra TB? I can easily get 2TB SSD for that |
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 |