Very interested in the Innuos offline mode. Haven’t found a way to make it happen with Innuos 2.0.5
3 posts were split to a new topic: What is still the point of MQA compression when with current network capacities
Yes, indeed! Please, Roon Team, do not change anything here! If DSP is not activated, no coloration should be introduced by Roon. I recently compared playing back a CD in the CD player to the ripped CD played from a USB thumb drive connected directly to my audio device and streaming the rip via Roon from my media drive (using Ethernet). I could not perceive a difference in SQ (on studio monitors). Therefore, I have reason to believe that Roon is indeed transparent. And that is the way it should be.
UPDATE: I didn’t make it clear enough: USB and Roon playback sound the same. CD player sounds definitely different.
It’s in advanced settings
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Got it, thank you. I think that ripped cd’s and stored hi resolution Hyperion recordings sounding more detailed in offline mode with InnuOS 2.0.5 on my Zenith SE. Need more time to reach a conclusion.
You’ve made your points quite a few time, Richard.
And on the subject of saving a whole lot of cash, you need to consider that some of us, even those of us who used to build computers for computing might might want to by something that is already assembled that is a proven design. It’s not a question of for some of us of how much we can save. I use to build computers in the 70s and 80s and 90s. I am retired now, and want to buy something that is proven, especially for audio, which is more than just a hobby for me; as music and audio is fundamental to how I spend my days and nights, both playing and listening to music. I’m really not into building gear at this stage of my life. I am sure you can appreciate that, right?
I will beg to differ with your contention that Innuos service isn’t any more responsive than other companies. That’s not been my experience with Innuos at all. I’ve been able to talk with senior Innuos tech engineers with no difficulty or hesitation on their part. Even in instances where it seemed less obvious that the problem was with the Innuos, they answered my emails, and offered to setup up an online conference with senior techs. Yes, I have had that happen with other highly regarded audio companies I’ve purchased from. Perhaps not lately with Covid so much. But recently with Innuos, in the middle of this pandemic, I’ve found them quite responsive.
And, you can more or less tell when a technician really wants to both help you as well as have you understand what’s going on, and give you a perspective that helps you to think about all the issues that he can see is you still have. This communicates a lot about how much a technician cares about your satisfaction. Furthermore, quite a few of the problems I encountered were not of the Innuos’ own making, but had to do more with other gear, and they certainly could have backed off some of those without a second thought if they weren’t so interested in helping. Instead, even on the issues that weren’t caused by the Innuos, there was the same level of engagement from them. They were quite willing to talk about audiophile issues, and educate and give need perspective that I think other techs wouldn’t have had the patience to do. I can’t say this has always been the case with other companies I’ve purchased expensive great from in the past. I for one, unlike you, am not feeling the least bit sorry that I purchased an Innuos server or a PhoenixUSB. It’s working, all my other gear is working with it, both in Roon and in InnuOSence 2.06, and the digital music sounds playing through my DAC sounds the best its ever sounded.
No doubt we are two different kinds of people with different kinds of needs and expectations, and yes, experiences. I am content to let that stand without suggesting you are wrong or stupid. It’s my hope forums in general could be less of an incessant arm wrestling contest. I think forums would be a happier place to dwell if folks were a little more content not to show others how their own personal needs, choices philosophies, were the only right ones, and wouldn’t always try to make others feel they were nuts or stupid for having a different opinion. There’s a bit too much convincing going on in forums. Folks, the objective truths are somewhat elusive in this audio arena. We have just have to be a little more tolerant and stay away from evangelizing that one approach fits all. It doesn’t and for many both simple and even complex reasons. Forums that aim to settle or silence the unsettable is bound to be a dangerous place to inhabit. I always tend to forget that, and then aways up wondering why I do.
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There are also many reports of Innuos streamers being unable to play streamed music as well as locally stored music, which would be a show-stopper for me.
Innuos purposely do not use a very strong Intel processor like i7or so because more computing power introduces more electrical noise like EMI to the system, this weaker CPU should be no problem as long as you do not engage heavy DSP processing on the core. Furthermore, the only reason Roonlabs suggest such a high system spec is for performing DSD upsampling which is by far the most intensive process Roon has. For normal bitperfect playback i5 or i7 is not necessary.
The Intel CPU in a Nucleus has about 60% more raw computational performance as the N4200 used in the Innuos. If you have 50 K of songs or more stored, then a search is maybe a few milliseconds faster, which should not be a big deal.
Someone in this thread claimed that Innuos wasn’t a good choice because it isn’t labeled Roon ready or Roon tested.
Innuos is a „Roon core partner“ which is not the same as Roon ready which is meant as label for endpoints like streamers and streaming DACs.
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Roon Core Partner is not an official Roon designation.
Innuos devices are specifically mentioned as being unfit to run Roon Core.
So the up to date List of Roon OS Core licensed partner is not yet out, but it seems that Innuos won‘t be on it anymore.
There never was an official list for Innuos to be on or off.
The claim that Innuos devices can run Roon Core was, like many things in HiFi, a semi-dishonest marketing ploy designed to attract the unwary. After all, Roon as Core can be loaded on many things, but that doesn’t mean it will be a satisfactory experience.
I have an Innuos server and a Nucleus+. I do not use any DSP. The Innuos is no less responsive than the Nucleus+ but sounds much better.
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I have use a Nucleus as my core and I have the same issues with Roon as the other commentators. Connectivity and reliability has gone to the dogs, especially when using Tidal over the last few weeks.
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Dear Friends,
I have used Roon since the early days. The integration of Qobuz/Tidal and the overall UI are far superior to Lightning DS, Lumin and Sense. The discovery is great and has helped me find lots of new music. I’ve had a Nucleus, several NUCs, Lumin U1 Mini, Auralic Vega and a host of other core/streamers. I’m strictly HeadFi and use a Holo May KTE. Listening is by Susvara. 1266 TC and Raal all fed by monoblocks. I’ve also moved up the Antipodes foodchain to K30. Most recently, I have a Innuos Zen Mk3. I was happy using the Zen as a core/server (all the caveats said on this forum prior are recognised) and all seemed well.
Until 1.8 arrived! Why do this Roon? You’ve made the system clunky, unresponsive and your “support” to me has been - delete and reinstall! I’ve had the builds go out of sync on my controllers (iPad Pro, iMac and laptop) and that has caused all sorts of issues. None of this was there before.
So, I stopped using Roon and started using Sense 2.07. Wow! Hello bass depth, soundstage and a “sense”(!) of more realism in the music. Now the Tidal integration isn’t there and no discovery but who cares!! It’s all about the SQ for me. That’s why I’m in the game.
Is Roon becoming the Microsoft Windows of the streaming world? Adding on bloated functionality at the expense of SQ? I surely hope not. Depends on what the majority of consumers want I guess and maybe they aren’t really audiofools. Roon are pioneers - get back to where you belong.
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hello,
a feedback after 2.5 months of using Sense, without Roon. I miss Roon because of his beautiful interface but on the other hand I realize that I was spending a lot of time researching rather than listening so I let go of this addiction. when it comes to listening, I never tire of reviewing my music and appreciating the sound quality of Sense. I did a quick comeback to Roon in October, but I left just as quickly. in short, in the end i’m satisfied, i would keep coming back to Roon from time to time to listen if there is any improvement. In the meantime, I’m having a lot of fun.
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I no what your saying, i just use the innuos as a core only and my roon end point is a aurelic g2.1 and i have no problems dsp, but if your happy with something why change 
I agree, but the differences don’t seem as striking as they initially were. I enjoy curation/discovery/listening with Roon, I enjoy listening with InnuOS sense current version. Pretty happy either way, with narrower edge to Sense versus Roon than I initially experienced. Hope it’s not evidence for presbyacusis 
. Wouldn’t even consider swapping my InnuOS Zenith SE for a Nucleus and I’m not too interested in adding one to my chain for the sake of an acceptable Roon Core device. Long run, short slide there at least for me.
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I could tell you all that i have a innous player and i have zero problems but cant be bothered 
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I am a big fan of Roon. I have a lifetime subscription, purchased a while ago after a year of trialling it.
I have a number of endpoints around our property, ranging from my workshop, various rooms and diverse outputs (including new and “repurposed”) all the way through to a very basic headphones set up in my bedroom.
I also have as documented on here previously - and in a separate music studio - a set of Kii three speakers, a Kii Control and an Innuos Zenith SE.
I used to run everything from the Zenith SE as the Core, and using the Squeezebox compatibility, the sound and functionality were superb.
Unfortunately that changed.
The introduction of successive updated versions of Roon made the Zenith SE experience with Roon - um, less than optimal shall I say….
It was very disappointing.
I’m fairly sure that the issues were with Roon and not the Zenith SE, since the native application never had the same issues.
Despite many attempts at resolving the issues after I moved the core to an Intel NUC running ROCK, I eventually (and sadly) gave up on Roon for my premium listening, but retained it for all the other endpoints.
The main reason was the far better sound quality for my premium system - with this obtained by using the “native” Innuos Sense application and having the SE effectively “stand-alone”.
Between Innuos Sense and Roon - I now share playlists and favourites via Qobuz, and also access the NAS for my FLAC files - some hi-res and mostly just my CD collection now ripped to FLAC using the Innuos Zenith SE.
It’s a real shame - because I miss the Roon interface, but since sound quality is so much better with the Innuos Sense app, I can’t see a return to Roon for any of my serious listening.
I am disappointed, but then again I value the multi room flexibility I have for those areas where the sound quality isn’t as important.
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I don’t believe the requirements for core and network haven’t changed since I started using Roon in 2016. You can’t say that for a lot of software products. A six-year-old i3 still cuts the mustard, a Celeron never did. A reliable wired network has always been a prerequisite.