ADCO

I experienced this the first time I listened to my (new to me) AMR dac.... I have since concluded and verified through other very good dacs that the machines I was using previously were off ... or seemingly mistimed and perceived as fast. My experience was like the whole landscape of the sound slowed down but at the same time actually opened up and simply sounded like instruments being played by humans rather than just yet another hi-if reproduction i however doubt that this , considering the fine dacs that have graced your listening space , is what your up against

I have the Metrum Pavane and a Abbingdon Music Research DP777 SE ...both NOS The Metrum is just an awesome performer all around assuming you don’t need dsd and the Abbingdon is quite simply the best dac I have heard for red book files . The AMR is one of those pieces of equipment you just can’t let go of. I have had a ridiculous number of dacs through here and it just does something special. The Pavane was the first dac that truly bettered it in quantifiable sonic ways but the AMR is still holding court in a great office system where Tidal is played for hours most days Special shout out the to my third dac .... the Norma Audio HS da1 , NOS dac... Also a great dac in this catagory

Well that’s it right. It seems the major players that stick around are a premium to buy into. So the surface look is that you get the same esoteric sound quality but you pay massive amounts more for the company to be long term viable. Sounds catch 22 ish.... kinda thinking this story is as old as audiophile equipment is... many have fallen and many of those built dam good sounding gear

Don’t know if this topic came up, I didn’t see it here. Metrum Acoustics is no more. Their designer as some know had moved on a while back and is part of Sonnet Audio , building what looks like it could have easily been a Metrum dac. i have their Pavane Level 3 and find that on my system is nothing short of exceptional . Sure hope those of us who are owners don’t have any repair issues.

Sorry for the slow reply on this and thank you BTW.... I did a remote service with Nuno ( the main man at Innuos) and he sorted it out in his code not in Roon...appears to be flawless now I tell you what to a computer illiterate like myself these guys have champion service.....I say this in response to the poster who feels compelled to assert that he could build this for 1/3 the cost....thats maybe true ,maybe not but I can say for certain that I cannot...nor would I commission someone to do so and forgo the service guarantee .... I can say with absolution that I can build him a house for roughly a half of what it would cost him off the same blueprints but I have seen so many people try and ultimately fall on their face....and then call me, a builder . Those people needed a pro...not to say everyone does but I wouldnt go on a DIY board and say how easy it is to build a home/addition/reno and that if you do it yourself you save 50%.... just saying

great advice and will do just that

yep did a reboot etc ....and yes using Zenith as core and server to a usb dac (Calyx Femto) who knows, I will deal with Innuos on this ....none of it makes any sense to me so I had best leave it to the pros to hopefully sort out. I mean its not total dire straits I have 350Gb of great music it does feel like serving up and does so very well I might add. My only real frustration is self induced as I work in an environment that if there is an issue the world stops right there and then to get a resolution....other industries and or work environments don't seem to have the same speed to deal with the issues...such as it goes

Nope, Roon still not seeing the music even when I force a rescan of the folder.... lol....I have to be honest this is the exact thing I was attempting to avoid by purchasing EASY....the thing is , if I had half a brain I might be able to determine if there are issues with the files (shouldnt be as they play remotely served from my Zenith to my desktop from the unsorted folder) or if there is a Zenith problem or what.... I can read incredibly difficult blueprints, build incredibly complicated structures and sort out just about every conceivable construction related issue you can dream up...But boy oh boy do I suck with this stuff...

thats not a bad idea ....lemme give it a go....

My latest update on my Zenith I encountered an issue where 60% of my music (approx 500 GB) was literally "trapped" in the unsorted file within the Zenith drive. I contacted Innuos and the very promptly set up a remote session to rectify the issue. As a disclaimer I chose the Zenith primarily because of the glowing reviews on how easy it is to set up and for a half computer illiterate like me that is very appealing... Anyway, Roon could not see the file but it is absolutely on the Zenith drive as I can get to the unsorted file through my network . They applied what is best described as a circuitous network path for the Innuos to allow Roon to see the file by way of IP address. this worked for a short amount of time and has now failed and is showing in Roon that the "drive is not available"... Once again I am in the process of arranging a remote session but I really dont want to access that music that is already on the drive in a roundabout way ....this makes no sense to me at all and further I just dont have the skills or time to sort this out myself as I do not think this is a Roon issue ....Roon is easy So while I think the Zenith is a great server , I believe that I may have inadvertently mined out a problem with it.... ugh

Firedog.....Very good point I cant speak to any other source comparisons other than against my PC. And frankly their is no comparison. It has not been since I was hard core into turntables (15 years or more ago) that a source change has made such a clearly audible difference in every aspect of the fidelity. It's not better in one or two areas it's just musically and fundimentally more natural and ( presumably) more correct. Any way, it would be interesting to hear from the fellows that have directly compared it to the likes of an Aurender or Lumin or (?)

Just some further "updates" or "findings" on my standard Zenith... I spent some time fooling around with how to get the signal to my Calyx Dac from the Zenith to see if what I had around here as "add-ons" would yield any sonic benefits . my standard set is : Zenith > Audiobyte Hydra Z with ZPM power supply D-D converter (USB - BNC or AES ) > Calyx Femto I tried : Zenith > USB > Calyx Femto also tried : Zenith > IFI iusb3 with Hdplex lps > Calyx Femto My purely subjective results proved that the HydraZ/ZPM was an improvement over the other two options too the Femto dac from the Zenith. This was the same result I had with my hopped up PC feeding the Femto. Which tells me one of two things , that the Audiobyte converter combo and it's reclocking/clean power is working here or ( and I suspect this to be the real case) that the Femto just has an average USB input and simply sounds better on a BNC or AES input. My Dac only does 24/192 so at this point I don't need to bother with the extended ability of DXD or DSD from the USB not sure what the take away is here because as I stated using the Zenith MkII is an overall sonic improvement over my PC in every way I could articulate. As good as the Calyx Femto is it might be time for a newer dac

The 95% rule here is exactly how I felt about this. While I'm in the good(lucky) position to have a purpose built room and feel that area of things is relatively optimized I just am always struggling with investing in that last 5%.... when I don't know what 100% really is... in other words, I went off of reviews in this purchase and I didn't see the risk in the standard Mk II.... I just couldn't bring myself to put out the extra money for the top tier. Anyone buying hifi for a while knows what I mean here. The thing here is the reviews were spot on with this product. I got exactly what the consensus said I would . I find this important because I actually dismissed the idea that there would be tangible sonic benefits and purchased the Zenith solely on the premise that I'm tired of chasing the dragon with my PC and all its mods and add ons etc.... turns out the unit sounds fantastic and as mentioned is just easy. Further, because of the nature of the one box configuration I have exactly zero thoughts about mods/changes/add ons.... for me that might just be worth the price of admission Now, I am acutely aware this might just be the flavour of the week but I have to say it's really a great product . It's a nice feeling when you take a flyer and it comes back as expected, or in this case somewhat better than expected

My dealer , or should I say distributor here in Ontario didn't quite come out and say it but the undertones where that the sweet spot in the line up in terms of a value proposition was the standard....I kinda just took that as situation normal as with all hifi . In other words diminishing returns...I don't know this to be any kind of fact though. I just didnt see the price of the standard Zenith as being any kind of risk and it has exceeded my expectations generally

Greetings guys Long time reader but rarely post... My Zenith mII (standard) arrived just before xmas and is at this point as close to "burned in" as I would think it could be. I came out of a fairly optimized Pc with Sotm card with separate power supply , The HD plex power supply for the mother board etc etc feeding a Micro rendu....and this sounded very good. While all of this is purely subjective I have to tell you the Zenith is better in every way I can articulate ....I just cant get enough hours of music in now. And that is really what its all about, that and its the easiest dam thing ever to get up and running on Roon. System is: Zenith >Hydra Z/ZPM D-D converter >Calyx Femto dac > Gamut Di150 LE Integrated > Acoustic Zen Crescendo II's > Rel G1's in stereo btw, ignore my signature I have tried a dozen times to edit it or remove it and this dumb dumb cant get it to do so