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Questions re. use of an Innuos unit with a Tambaqui

Any nuanced, on-topic, experience-based feedback from forum members regarding any, some or all of the questions I have here would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

I've recently purchased a Tambaqui and am looking into a server/streamer to pair with it. In my research I've been drawn in particular to the Innuos line, in this case either the Zen MK3 or the Zenith MK3, as they will fit in my budget and have been described, between their onboard ripping function, software, simple ’user friendly’ quality, and overall sound as being wonderful units well worth their prices.

Being a newbie to the realm of servers/streamers/standalone DAC setups, I have questions re. my particular audio needs for one. I wish to keep owning the bulk of the recordings that I’ll play, and plan to use a server/streamer predominantly as a means of playing drive content to my dac, plus as a convenient ripper, only expecting to internet stream perhaps 5-10% of the time I'm using the unit (beyond that, though, I've heard really good things about the proprietary music library software featured in these units). Otherwise I'll be purchasing mostly hi-res (and some redbook) downloads (from Qobuz) to store on an internal drive, plus listening to music ripped from my large cd collection.

Given all this, I'm wondering:

**what the relative sound contribution of a server (I'm defining it here, perhaps mistakenly, as an audiophile drive/music storage unit) vs the DAC is in terms of effect upon sound quality- I've heard it described as minimal in terms of a disc transport, though I'm not sure that's the case when using a flash drive to provide the media source, or even in a general sense. Having spent a lot (for me) on the Tambaqui at this point, I’m cautious re. spending on diminishing returns on the server side of things.

**how the Innuos Zen MK3 and Zenith MK3 perform compared with the alternatives in or somewhat above their price range if just really used as servers (and generally NOT as internet streamers).

**how synergistic their sonic attributes are with the Tambaqui.

**given that internet streaming quality is not an important variable in my decision, how much of a relative soniic improvement the Zenith MK3 offers over the Zen MK3 just in terms of music presented from its drive storage?

**whether convenient one-box alternatives offering all of these benefits (server/internal drive/ripper/streamer) more-or-less in this price/quality range (or somewhat above) exist; or otherwise, if the ripping function is excluded.

**finally, in re. to relative sonic strengths/weakness of these innuos units vs their competitors- something like a third of my digital listening consists of large classical orchestral pieces, so a unit’s ability to portray acoustic timbre, complex compositions, and a convincing soundstage for large ensembles is particularly important to me, although again, perhaps this is predominantly just a DAC issue. But if the server is a relatively important element here as well, then I wonder how these Innuos units fare on this front.

Thanks again for any responses!

aubullience

Showing 2 responses by aubullience

aubullience OP
29 posts
 

Hi, thanks everyone for the feedback so far!

Maybe I’ve presented my initial inquiry/outlook in a muddled manner, my fault.

To be clear, a better way for me to consider and make my choice would be to approach it as- if I were ONLY buying a component to feed stored files to my DAC, with NO internet-sourced or any network streaming involved, how would the Innuos units rank sound-wise and how would they compare to the alternatives in their price range / how synergistic would they be with the Tambaqui / what may be compelling alternatives? E.G., will check out the Aeon server suggested- maybe I should be getting a premium-quality server device and then separately purchase a more modest dedicated streamer if that’s more cost effective for getting a really great server and not over-paying for a very secondarily important (to me) streamer.

From the responses so far, I’m not sure if they are conflating the needs/wants of someone (a typical modern listener) streaming much/most/all of their listening content from the internet, with someone in my position (a bit of a throwback) who just generally won’t be doing that. Plus, I’m assuming (perhaps incorrectly!) that all things being equal, upstream from the DAC, it’s trickier/more expensive (setup-wise) to get a given level of sound quality through streaming it from the internet and/or through a home-network, than from a purely on-site, non-networked source.

Also, further context, about half of my "serious" listening is to my analog setup, so having already purchased the Tambaqui, I’m concerned (though I haven’t set a hard price ceiling) about the rate of diminishing returns as a server (or server/streamer combo) would approach the Tambaqui price-wise.

Thanks, fastfreight- after hearing the Tambaqui side-by-side with the Luxman D-10X I’d owned for a couple of years, I found the Tambaqui to sound substantially better than the Luxman, which is itself a wonderful piece of gear IMO.

In regards to what you’re saying about servers/streamers, Soix, I’m not assuming a priori that they have little importance, but am just curious as to relatively how much they generally have in proportion to DACs, particularly a server itself. Regarding what you’ve said about my grossly underestimating how much streaming I’ll end up doing, after 45 years of searching/collecting, I already have more music I like and love that I can ever get to as much as I’d like; and being a genuine primate, as soon as I’ve located new selections that appeal to me, prefer to own rather than "rent" them. But IF that changes down the road I’ll replace/upgrade what I have with more emphasis upon the high-end streaming side of things ; )

aubullience OP
29 posts
 

Thanks all for the further feedback!

yoyoyaya, I will check out the NAD M50.2; phishhhh4, good to hear about the simpatico nature of your Tambaqui and (Innuos) Pulsar; zlone, thanks for your discussion of clocking. Given the overall excellence of the Tambaqui, I’d expect that it would robustly handle all major functional demands placed upon it, but I should try to verify that a bit.

I’m also realizing that I really need to get a better overview of the rudiments of this domain, and so have begun reading the lengthy digital audio chapter of Harley’s latest edition of his "Complete Guide." While I personally regard him as highly suspect as a reviewer of particular gear (all the new flagship stuff he reviews seems to be continually amazing and "revolutionary" in his writeups and he seems to live in a world that generally doesn’t acknowledge typically diminishing returns and "small differences" at the high end; plus there’s his gushing "MQA of it all"), still my sense is that he’ll provide a generally accurate review of the basics, just so I basically understand the newer ’digital audio landscape.’

I think I’m also realizing that perhaps I should consider the alternative of buying all of these gear functions separately. In that case I could direct a relatively greater share of my expenditures to a 'top-notch'-sounding standalone server with internal flash storage (my ultimate priority here), preferably one with excellent proprietary music library software- i.e, devoting as least half of my overall budget for my upstream-of-DAC budget to it; with the other half going to various other functions, which are secondary, those being a cd transport (yup, I still want to spin some discs), a convenient cd ripper; and least important for my listening patterns, an adequate streamer for periodically listen to Qobuz or other internet-streamed content- mostly just to find what I'd want to purchase for download

Given that, in addition to the all-in one Innuos options, I’ve also begun looking at middle-of-range Melco Music Library units (but welcome other equivalent options); transports like the Jay’s Audio CD2-MK3 or the one by Melco; the Melco cd-ripper unit, and after all that is determined, a relatively modest streamer function (at least for my foreseeable listening future).

If anyone has experience with the Melco servers vs that function in the Innuos Gear, or vs other likely contenders in this category, please feel free to chime in, thanks! Also, for the other semi-luddites among us, any experiences/perspective on transports, particularly those I mentioned or those in that price range?

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