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Downsize multiple boxes to a single (Hegel H590) box?

AndyU said:
The Zenith is another example of putting too much in one box and charging far too much for it. You can do a better job of ripping on any old pc, at least if you want your rips verified, and at least as good a job of storing rips on any old NAS or hard drive, and a better job of running Roon Core on the same pc/mac or a fancy one if you want to do a lot of DSP. Once again flexibility is both beneficial and good value for money.
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This post couldn’t be more wrong. I spoke to Innuos before buying a Zen MK3.
The CD ripper was left in because it adds very little cost and would have required them to fabricate new cases. There was effectively no saving in removing it, so they left it in.
Music streamed from the internet or the internal drive is buffered in a designated core of the processor.
The processor is chosen to be powerful just enough for Roon but with much less noise than in a PC.
A primary feature are three internal linear power supplies, one each dedicated to the processor and output sockets, and the SSD in the Zenith.
The hard drive has a special format preferred for the sole function of supplying audio files.
The unit runs a minimalist operating system with the most basic graphics, minimising processing noise and heat to a minimum.
The unit is fanless and still runs almost cold.

The Zen and Zenith units have a lot of similarity to the Roon Nucleus, the latter using a single external power supply, like the Zen Mini. This is because they are deploying features that make a purpose built Roon server so much better than using a PC, that is designed for maximum processing power and heavy graphics use, irrespective of noise and heat, the opposite of audio.

Innuos offer 4 different levels of power supplies and any type and size of drive you want. They offer great value for what they do and sound miles better than using a PC and network drive, better also than Auralic Aries Femto and Aries Mini with an external power supply.

I’ve had an all-in-one unit for 3 years, but since then have improved the sound significantly with an ultra-low noise digital signal path.
 
^^^ This is correct. Performance metrics matter, and performance doesnt always mean speed (it usually does in a pc), fitness for purpose is a better metric and a PC's purpose is not high end sound quality.
 
sls4321 said:
This post couldn’t be more wrong. I spoke to Innuos before buying a Zen MK3.

The processor is chosen to be powerful just enough for Roon but with much less noise than in a PC.
A primary feature are three internal linear power supplies, one each dedicated to the processor and output sockets, and the SSD in the Zenith.
The hard drive has a special format preferred for the sole function of supplying audio files.
The unit runs a minimalist operating system with the most basic graphics, minimising processing noise and heat to a minimum.
The unit is fanless and still runs almost cold.
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The issue with all of these audiophile claims is that you never see measurements showing that any of this affects the OUTPUT of any competently designed modern DAC.
There is all sorts of "noise" around - that isn't the question. The question is whether it actually has any audible result (results at 115-120 db down don't count, and it is totally unlikely you can hear anything even at a significatly higher level but still say, 90db down).

Nor do you see the results of non-sighted listening tests showing users can consistently tell their fancy playback from A NAS and a small PC as a network streamer - that will get you the same sounding result. Or even from a reasonably made computer/server feeding USB to a well made DAC. "Jitter" isn't an issue today. You are much better off investing money in speakers and a good amp that works well with the speakers.
 
firedog said:
The issue with all of these audiophile claims is that you never see measurements showing that any of this affects the OUTPUT of any competently designed modern DAC.
There is all sorts of "noise" around - that isn't the question. The question is whether it actually has any audible result (results at 115-120 db down don't count, and it is totally unlikely you can hear anything even at a significatly higher level but still say, 90db down).

Nor do you see the results of non-sighted listening tests showing users can consistently tell their fancy playback from A NAS and a small PC as a network streamer - that will get you the same sounding result. Or even from a reasonably made computer/server feeding USB to a well made DAC. "Jitter" isn't an issue today. You are much better off investing money in speakers and a good amp that works well with the speakers.
Click to expand...

Same for amps, isn’t it?
 
AOM3 said:
Same for amps, isn’t it?
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Not sure what you mean. Amps are a different question, as they interact with different speakers differently. There are definitely cases where one amp speaker combination sounds different to another.
That said, it is remains to be shown that super expensive amps sound better than more moderately priced ones in non sighted listening. Highly likely there are at least some moderately priced amps that are good enough that the uber expensive ones would not be preferred in non sighted listening. Again, it is possible today to make an amp with state of the art measured performance for much less that the five figure sums - or multiple 5 figure sums - that some amps cost. Sometimes the less expensive units might actually measure better.

There might still be reasons to buy an expensive amp, but without non sighted listening, you won't really know if your megabucks are really getting you something or not.
 
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