Auralic Aries G2.1 or Innuos Zenith mk3

Pretty sure the question was about two specific products by Auralic and Innuos. Not 432evo, despite the dealer bringing that brand up again. 

Anyway back on topic, I compared these exact two products (among many others) a few years ago and my choice was the Zenith mark III. Auralic was very nice and I liked it better than some of the others, would probably have been happy enough if I got that instead. But with direct comparison I felt the Zenith had better synergy with my system. 

I'll upgrade again in a year or two. By then both brands will have newer models (I think they do already) so it might end up differently.

We have tested many servers and streamers and they all sound different

we started streaming journey years ago by using laptops, pcs and a Mac Mini using Jriver then Roon

we started with an Auralic Aries s then Aurender n100h an Sotm super modified custom pc, Baetis then we were introduced to Innous and their servers were clearly better. we were with Innous for many years till we discovered 432EVO a server line from Belgium that offered a modular, upgradable architecture. and this line of servers sounded even better.

in fact we tested an Aeon vs a 27k Innous Statement and found the One third priced 432EVO aeon, and found the Aeon to sound just as good.

and the Aeon also outperformed the aAurener 10 and N20, while costing less.

So yes servers do sound different and are as important as the Dac.

 

Dave and Troy

audio Intellect NJ

432EVO dealers

former Auralic, Aurender and Innous dealers

 

@auxinput

I‘d be a bit careful about your claim on InnuOS‘ use of DSP. It is directly counter to their minimalist philosophy on CPU power, which by the way leads to superiror sound compared to Roon.

In my experience, the clean up of both the incoming Ethernet or fibre signal as well as of the outgoing signal, whether USB, I2S, Coax or other is way more determinant for sound quality than the actual box chosen. And btw, optimal cables and filters are again box dependent. If properly implemented, and that is no simple ask, even a amcor PC or a simple Bluesound Node can be quite effective.

Innuos use Mundorf capacitors which warm the sound up a bit 

some people want a more neutral perspective .

I was able to hear an Innous Statement being used strictly as a network streamer (i.e. NOT connected directly to a DAC).  This was compared directly to a Antipodes network streamer using the same exact song and content.  There was a DLNA player that played through a Chord Dave DAC.  We were able to switch between Innous and Antipodes being used only as network streamers.  I was really surprised at the outcome.  We did not like the Innous sound at all.  It changed the sonics of the sound and lacked bass punch.  It actually sounded so much better using the Antipodes as a network streamer (this is just streaming PCM data over the network to a player).  The Innous was definitely doing things to the waveform.

However, like I said, some people love Innous.

Thank you all for replies, I think streamer comparisons would be interesting and don’t quite understand why I can’t find those. Typically streamers are compared through their internal dacs which is unfortunate. 

I have the Aries G2 (not 2.1) and wasn’t able to compare it to the Innuous, unfortunately.  So, I won’t opine on which is better.  

I will say that the G2’s build quality is very high and that it sounds better than my Aurender N100H in direct comparison.   I would also offer that Lightning DS (native app to Auralic) sounds better than Roon.  This is a noticeable difference and I speculate it’s because LDS better uses the substantial buffers built into the Auralic unit.

Finally, I will add that the Aries G2 was a bigger upgrade in sound than when I substantially upgraded my DAC.  As always, YMMV.  For me, the source is the more important component.

My $.03 (inflation).
mgrif 

I have found that Innous changes the sound of the music (waveforms), even when it's used purely as a network streamer.  They do some smoothing or modification of the waveforms using DSP. 

The Auralic has been described as sounding "dryer" than the Innous, but I really think it means that Auralic is more neutral and uncolored.  The Innous definitely has a sonic signature.  Many people love the Innous, but it depends on what kind of sound you want.

I have a Innuos Zenith and I would be really interested in that sonic comparison. Audio reviewer‘s and bloggers never compare the sound of different streamers /server renders. A  side by side comparison of one box solutions like the Auralic Aries G2.1 with build its SS drives compared to a Innuos would be helpful.