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Innous Zenith MKII and Roon DSP

I purchased an Innous Zenith MKII about 6 months and configured it to use Logitech Media Server.  I had used LMS for whole house stereo for many, many years.  I finally decided to use Roon instead, and while Roon doesn't meet all of my whole house stereo needs, the interface and music management capabilities are far superior to LMS, IMHO. 

Before enabling Roon, I reached out to Innuos tech support about the fact that Roon does not list the MKII as a recommend device.  From Innous tech support, " The MkII can run Roon very well, the only reason they suggest such a high system spec is for performing DSD upsampling which is by far the most intensive process Roon has. For normal usage and bitperfect playback, the MkII can easily run Roon, no problems there."

I'm not doing any DSD upsampling.  I am trying to use Roon's DSP capabilities, but I've experienced dropouts when I do.  Other than this problem, I'm quite OK using Room with the MKII when playing DSD, FLAC, and WAV files through a MyTek Liberty DAC, as well as, streaming Tidal MQA directly to my NAD M12 BluOS module.

I want to take advantage of Roon DSP capabilities and keep the MKII.  I leaning towards buying an Intel i7 NUC to run Roon Core and strictly use the MKII as my network media player/NAS.  Thoughts anyone?
128x128oldschool1948
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
502 posts
 
Let me add that I’m using Roon DSP, which unfolds MQA; the Mytek converts it to PCM; and Roon upsamples it to DSD 128.  I’m quite happy with the SQ.  

When I buy the tube preamp, I plan to upgrade the DAC - probably a Chord Qutest and upgrade my phono stage to something better.  
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948 OP
502 posts
 
An update to my original post.  I purchased the Small Green Computer SonicTransporter i7 for Roon DSP (thanks david_ten!) to solve my Zenith MKII Roon DSP issues. And just recently, I purchased a tube preamp, a used Herron VTSP-3A (r02).  It pairs well with my NAD M22 v2 poweramp and Tannoy DC8Ti speakers.  Adding the Herron made a huge difference to my system and I am very happy with it.   

My MyTek Liberty DAC works well with my system - but, I want a better one.  I'm considering the newly released Audio Mirror Tubadour III Statement tube DAC.  It's gotten excellent reviews, and with their 30-day return policy I figure I have nothing to loose. 
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@oldschool1948  Great to hear things are working out well! Looking forward to your impressions of the Audio Mirror DAC.
redphu72's avatar
redphu72
78 posts
 
Hello all. Finally got my usb DAC worked out and looking for a streamer to use with my SGC AP I7 Roon Core. Would love to hear feedback on the SGC Signature Rendu SE (optical) and/vs the Innous Zenith SE MKIII paired with the new Innuos Phoenix reclocker. I believe Innuos will be debuting the Phoenix this weekend.  Im open to suggestions on what to feed my USB based DAC (lampi GG v2 balanced).
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@redphu72  As you know the Innuos reclocker is brand new, so there are (likely) no comparisons at this point in time.

I was able to compare my SGC i7 + Sonore Signature Rendu SE (non-optical) combination to the Innuos Zenith Mk 3 in my own system thanks to Audio Philosophy (Innuos dealer out of Baton Rouge). 

Both 'approaches' are very good.

The Innuos did best on it's own (as server / player) i.e. not being fed by the SGC.

I imagine adding the Innuos Reclocker in the chain will move sound quality even further, however at a cost. What I like about the Reclocker is the ability to use it with other brands, similar to what the dCS Network Bridge brought to the table.
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