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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.     
Ag insider logo xs@2xastewart8944
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astewart8944 OP
499 posts
 
Here is my assessment of the Innuos Statement after 400 hours of burn-in compared to the Antipodes DX3. Everything I noted in my initial post remains accurate except for the following: (1) I made this comparison using the same make and model and length of powers cords on both servers (Cardas Clear Beyond 1.5M); and (2) I placed a Symposium Platform underneath the Innuos Statement but did not use any other isolation device with the Statement. I continued to use the Symposium Svelte Platform and Stillpoints Ultra SS feet under the Antipodes DX3.I listened to 14 tracks, one at a time, first using the DX3 then using the Statement. The time between stopping the first track and starting the next track was less than 15 seconds. I wrote down my impressions immediately after listening to the two same tracks. I took a 50 minute listening break after listening to music for 50 minutes. I then listened to another 25 minutes of music before taking a 20 minute listening break. I listened to the final 4 tracks in 20 minutes.Conclusions:1. The Innuos Statement benefits from a substantial burn-in. It differentiated itself from the DX3 by the 100 hour mark. At the 300 hour burn-in mark the sound stage had widened further compared to the 100 hour mark. The Statement appears to have fully opened up by the 300 hour mark.
2. The Statement's noise floor is lower than the DX3's. As a result, the Statement delivers greater depth, detail and decay than the DX3. The Statement tends to sound louder than the DX3, IMO because it is providing a blacker background.
3. The Statement's sound stage depth is its strongest attribute IMO. This depth is allowing the listener to perceive more "air" around the instruments than presented by the DX3.4. The Statement's sound stage height is only slightly "taller" than the DX3. Both provide a realistic presentation of performers on a stage.5. The Statement excels at believable timbre and resolution that sounds "real." My comments in the initial post at the 100 hour mark remain unchanged on the Statements ability to faithfully convey acoustical instruments. Again, I attribute this to its blacker background.
6. If the Statement is rated a 100 at the 400 hour burn-in mark (which based on my listening I consider completely burned in), I now rate the completely burned-in DX3 as a 69. (My DX3 is not for sale--it will go in my second system.)
6. The tracks I used for testing are as follows: (a) Theme for Jetsetters--Tikiyaki Orchestra; (b) Chan Chan--Alfredo Rodriguez; (c) Still Feel Like Your Man--John Mayer; (d) Carpe Diem--Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet; (e) They Can't Take That Away From Me--Kristin Chenoweth; (f) Bubbles--Yosi Harakawa; (g) Feels Like Rain--John Hiatt; (h) The Old Woman--John Barry movie soundtrack of Somewhere in Time; (i) Babylon Sisters--Steely Dan; (j) Stay (Wasting Time)--Dave Matthews Band; (k) Hey Eugene--Pink Martini; (l) Gaslighting Abbie--Steely Dan; (m) Also sprach Zarathustra Op. 30 (Intro)--Richard Strauss/Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and (n) Alli'l Fire Dance--Tikiyaki Orchestra.7. I used a different list of test recordings in the 100 hour listening session. I used the above listed recordings for the 300 hour and 400 hour listening sessions.
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,625 posts
 
Great report, we have tested the Statement vs a few other expensive servers and the Statment usually beats the competition hands down.

We have moved from the Stillpoints to the Critical Mass Centerstage footers and the difference was quite audible. 

The centerstage footers act as both an isolator and an absorber if you want to try an interesting experiment replace the Stillpoints with the Critical Mass footers and then relisten to your system.

We have found the Centerstages lower the noise floor and increase macro dynamics, both devices create a more three dimensional soundstage the Centerstage combines the quietness of the HRS with the speed and detail of the Stillpoints.

Thanks for the update we were thinking you would be really impressed after the 300 hour mark or so.

Are you using high end ethernet cables as well? We are using the Wireworld Platinum starlight and they also made an nice improvement. 

You may also want to experiment with different USB cables we tried four the AQ, Wireworld, Light Harminic and the Enklekin David which just blew them all away. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Innous dealers
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astewart8944 OP
499 posts
 
@audiotroy I tried putting Stillpoints Ultra 5s under the Statement at the 300 hour mark; they degraded the Statement's SQ IMO. I will probably try the Stillpoint Ultra SS feet under the Statement (I have extra) to see if they yield the same result as the larger Ultra 5s. I will be using an upgraded ethernet cable--the Purist Audio Design CAT7 cable. In the above testing I left it on the Antipodes DX3 server and used a standard ethernet cable on the Statement. I already own two higher end USB cables. I will perform a shoot-out of sorts between the Purist Audio Design 30th Anniversary USB cable and the Stealth USB T-Select USB cable (both are 1.5M in length). However, before getting there, I first need to determine whether I prefer the Statement directly into the Rowland Aeris DAC via USB or prefer the Statement through the Berkeley USB converter to the Aeris DAC via BNC. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the Rowland Aeric DAC's manual specifically states that the SPDIF/BNC input has been optimized to provide superior performance compared to its USB input. I will be conducting those listening tests in the near future.
ricred1
1,988 posts
 
Al,
As I said in my PM I think it's silly to compare the Statement to the DX3. The DX3 isn't in the same price range, nor does it reflect Antipodes top of the line music server. A better comparison would be the Statement to Antipodes's CX and EX music server.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,102 posts
 
@ricred1,

You make an excellent point. I would like to add, limiting Innuos Statement to USB output only was quite disappointing. No SPDIF or AES/EBU output on a flagship player.....don’t know what they were thinking.

For this reason alone, I will never consider buying a Innuos Statement or any other flagship server that limits you to one audio output.
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