Innuos Zenith & Hugo

I'm running a Liv Zen into a Chord 2Qute so slightly different but I did have Raspberry Pi into Chord 2Qute last year and I prefer the Zen/2Qute both for SQ and usability.

I would be interested to hear your findings Mort2K as I am contemplating a Rpi/Allo streamer and i like the functionality of the Innuos too!

Mort2k posted:

Hi All

i am testing a new source option, just a test for now, 

Roon > Innuos Zenith Mk2 > Hugo1

against 

Roon > AlloDigiOne > Hugo1

Currently Roon runs on a PC and Music is on a NAS. DigiOne is Roon end point, with coax out to Hugo. 

First test is the Zenith replacing the DigiOne as the Roon end point. Second test will be the Zenith also being the Roon Core and using its internal SSD storage, replacing the PC and NAS  

The one difference I cannot escape is the Zenith outputs USB and not Coax.

Now I noticed a big difference replacing a cheap coax with a good one. So two questions:

1) is a basic USB cable good enough for the test?

2) is this a fair test or is there a difference in quality between the Hugo inputs that could skew the results ? 

will post some thoughts on the combinations  after some listening. 

 

Thanks

Rob

Do you already have the Zenith or are you about to have it? Because Innuos have announced the mk3 version of all three devices: ZenMini, Zen and Zenith. The ZenMini mk3 has both USB and S/PDIF outputs and could be directly compared with the DigiOne. The mk3 devices have been displayed at the Munich show last month, I believe.

Hi All

i was borrowing a Mk2 from a mate who was on holiday. The test got cut short by external factors. The only,short, comparisons I did revealed a harshness when using the Zenith. I wondered if this was due to poor quality usb or the Hugo not liking usb over coax. 

Mort2k posted:

Hi All

i was borrowing a Mk2 from a mate who was on holiday. The test got cut short by external factors. The only,short, comparisons I did revealed a harshness when using the Zenith. I wondered if this was due to poor quality usb or the Hugo not liking usb over coax. 

A pity that you didn't have the Zenith for long, but as an Allo DigiOne user I am glad to learn that the Allo performed well. ;-)

Re USB Vs Coax, Chord, I believe, recommends USB rather than Coax, but I guess that might be a matter of taste... If my recollection is correct Simon-in-Suffolk prefers Coax...