Antipodes K22 vs Innuos Pulsar

@jayrossi13

I would have posted earlier, but it took me quite a while to browse through all the fantastic gear you have/had in your systems. Very nice!

The Innuos Sense software is fantastic, I actually like the search capabilities much better than Roon.

Wow, it would be hard to give that up going from Innuos to a competitor.

 

The other point to consider is that the Pulsar does not have internal storage whereas the K22 can have up to an 8TB internal SSD that’s easily user installable. From my personal experience, music stored locally on my Zenith sounded better than either streamed music or files stored on a NAS. I would same the same applies for my K50.

That could be valuable information for some.

You probably have read that Samsung PM893 is the best sounding SSD to get, and is the one recommended by Antipodes. I cheaped out and got a EVO 870 (I think) as I typically stream only. I have some files on the SSD but again I haven’t noticed any difference between the two.

mclinnguy - I run my K50 using the playback method of Squeeze with Roon Server. This seems to give the best overall UI and sound (to my ears).

I didn’t notice any differences worth noting using Roon/Squeeze vs. Roon/Roon, Actually I recall at one time comparing I actually liked the latter better, at least with the particular track that I compared them with, so I have stuck with Roon/Roon since. More recently after playing around with Roon/HQplayer using HQplayer trial I see no point paying for HQplayer, but I did not try every filter, just a few reported to be the best from others.

I find Squeeze/squeeze much more noticeable a change compared to any of the above permutations. If a find a track where the bass seems to be too prevalent/boomy/robust/ or in general lacking in definition is when I will switch to Squeeze/squeeze from Roon, and then typically finish the listening session with squeeze, but many times grow impatient with the UI and revert back.

As we know the goalposts are always moving with Roon updates and our proprietary squeeze software and getting updates. At least with cables one has the option to go backwards, not so with software updates so we are under the impression someone "improved" it! Roon just updated last night from build 1496 to build 1510- is it any different? Don’t know yet. Maybe I will try all the combinations again when I have the patience and see if there are any changes to be had. Been more keen of late to play around with different tubes in the pre and amps instead, which make much more differences, as one would expect.

Looking forward to Audirvana later this year! (fingers crossed) Yet another option for us Antipodes owners.

@verdantaudio

I had playback DACs I demo’d that Grimm with.

You carry Playback Designs also? Man, I see a big road trip in my future.

This is an interesting thread.

I own an older Antipodes CX(my Server) ---> DS-3(My Player) ---> Antipodes S20(re-clocker), running Squeeze.. Not sure if I notice a difference separating the server from player.

I might eventually get rid of the DS-3 and use the CX as both server/Player. This will save me some money and rack space.

I've only recently separated those functions, so time will tell.

I looked into getting Innuos before I settled with Antipodes. I didn't like that you couldn't add to your internal storage and that Innuos hard drives were not the more durable SSD type.

The support from Antipodes is next level. The CX I picked up was 10 software updates behind. Antipodes support spent 90 mins online with me, making sure I had the latest and greatest software.

The pricing seems better with Innuos over Antipodes, but again Internal storage is limited. Perhaps this is not an issue with many who normally just stream from Tidal or Qubuz etc... I like having local files.

The newer Antipodes models are nice one box solutions, but the price is very high.

Are these streamer companies that much better than Cambridge, Eversolo and wimm ? Just asking as I've never tried them. I found Antipodes and Innuos because both support open source Squeeze, which to me was a big selling point.

Yes, this is an interesting thread.  I would pick the one that sounds the best but I don't know which that is.

I have a Statement and I feel Sense sounds better than Roon and is easy to use.

However,  the Ethernet output of the Statement is better than the USB, and for my Lampizator Goldengate DAC the S/PDIF input is better than USB.  So my limited experience is I'm not a USB fan for output or input.

If the Pulse with SPDIF board sounds good that's what I would do to get Sense and stay away from USB, but I have not heard the Pulse or the board.

I use a Sonore Optical Module and Signature Rendu on the Ethernet output of the Statement then an Antipodes S20/S60 to take the USB output of the Signature Rendu to S/PDIF for my DAC.  Running the USB of the Statement directly to the S20/S60 is not as good, hence my finding the Ethernet is the superior output on the Statement.

The S20 uses the same digital output board as the K22 so I suspect the K22's digital output is very good and has the benefit over the Pulse that you aren't limited to choosing one output but then your back to Roon.

It's conundrum.