Innuos Zenith mk2 or Zenith mk3

[kennyb123]

This is what the Zenith Mk2 looks like on the inside:

 

 

And now this is the Zenith SE

 

 

I don’t have a pic of the Zenith Mk3, but what follows is actually the less expensive Zen Mk3.  The Zenith has the same power supply board, but those empty spaces are filled so that there are three supplies in the Zenith vs two in the Zen.

 

 

To my eyes it appears that Sean Jacobs certainly had a hand in designing the Mk3’s power supplies.  

 

Darko reviewed the Zen Mk3.  You should check it out.  I can’t recall the exact wording, but he concluded that the Zen came awfully close to the SE.

 

https://darko.audio/2019/02/a-short-film-about-the-innuos-zen-mk3/

 

I own a Zenith Mk2, but plan to someday move to a Zenith Mk3.

 

 

[kennyb123]

2 hours ago, RedDogCo said:

Anyway, I am trying to find out how much better the Zenith MK3 is than the Zenith MK2 SE, to help me decide if I should spend an extra € 1300.- for the Zenit MK3 vs the Zen MK3.

 

I'm pretty sure I had seen Nuno say that the SE is still better than the Zenith Mk3.  I don't recall where I heard or saw that.

 

Edit:  found it

"Do take into consideration that the SE is superior to the ZENith MK3 so it will be closer to the Statement than the ZENith."

 

 

[kennyb123]

On 6/26/2020 at 3:13 PM, your momo said:

Probably no need to open my Zen mk3, just looking again at John Darko's Zen mk3 review video where we see internal and the famous caps.

My conclusion is Zen mk3 has no Mundorf MLytic like Zenhit mk3, so yes - caps are different.

 

However the above Zen mk3 inside top picture is kind of cheating since this one use the Mundorf MLytic as my Zenhit mk3 top picture shows - probably a marketing leak 😉

 

 

I want to make sure I understand this correctly.  It sounds like you have concluded that:

• The Zenith has better capacitors than the Zen
• Some marketing photos showed the Zen as having the better capacitors as well, but those photos aren’t accurate 

Did I get that right?  
 

If so, it might be that the Zen Mk3 is using the same capacitors as the Zen Mk2, but it gets twice as many.  I think the photo that follows is the Zen Mk2.  Those two capacitors may represent a single power supply rail, while the Zen Mk3 gets two rails.  Both the Zenith Mk2 and Mk3 have three rails.  The Zenith Mk2 appears to have the same caps as in the Zen Mk2, but 6 instead of 2. As such, I will guess that with Mk3, the Zen gained an additional rail, while the Zenith gained better caps.  The Mk3 power supplies have clearly gained some additional improvements as well.

 

I just purchased a Zenith Mk3 to replace my Zenith Mk2.  I won’t have it until next week, but will be sure to share my impressions.

 

[kennyb123]

1 hour ago, your momo said:

The old gen Logitech stuff has less crisp sound but can be run with an IR remote, so cool, so simple, so obvious.

 

I am able to use an IR remote to control Roon.  I have an old Mac set up to accept IR commands from one of those small aluminum Apple remotes.  The application Remote Buddy then controls Roon running on that Mac.   There is occasionally a delay but it gets the job done.  Nice for pausing playback or advancing to the next track. Roon on that Mac is acting only as a control app.  

 

[kennyb123]

9 hours ago, hfinewbiw said:

I recently tested both the Zenith Mk2 and Mk3.  Currently using a modern Dell laptop as source.  The Mk2 was a bit better, richer sound, but not a huge difference, say 5%.  Not enough to buy one.  The Mk3 - OMG! miles better.  The Mk2 I wouldn't consider a hifi product, the Mk3 definitely is.  I played Jean Michel Jarre Equinox V on it, and for the first time it felt not like hifi, but a more emotional experience.  It had life, and made me really feel I was there.    I now have one on order....

 

I recently swapped a Zenith Mk3 for the Mk2.  I'm not sure I'd characterize the differences the way you did.  I'm surprised the Mk2 underperformed as much as you say that it did.  No way I would say that it's not a hi fi product, as it was certainly a wonderful upgrade when it first landed here a year and a half ago.  It replaced a microRendu, which had easily trounced a laptop.

 

The Mk3 can in some ways be thought of as the Mk2 plus a better power supply.  The improvements are along the lines of what one might expect from upgrading a component's power supply.  Prior to the Mk3 arriving here, I had purchased three Farad Super3.  What I had heard from each of them was very much along the same lines of what I heard from going from Mk2 to Mk3.

 

Not surprisingly, both the Mk2 and Mk3 are cut from the same cloth.  The casual listener might not even immediately notice that the Zeniths were swapped.  But the more attentive listener will hear more goodness and even new things revealed from familiar music.  The Mk3 makes it easier to hear deeper into the music.  Tone has greater density and images are better separated.  

 

On a familiar track, I was surprised that in addition to the lead vocal, the vocalist's voice was double-tracked such that he could be heard singing in a lower voice - but that voice was panned hard right and hard left.  The MK2 had glossed over these differences.  The lead vocal was clearer and more distinct as well.

 

Having said all that, for the difference in price between a used Zenith Mk2 and a brand new Zenith Mk3, I'm not sure that the expense is justified. I purchased s demo Mk3 for a nice discount, but when I look at the retail price of the Mk3 compared to what I hope I can get for selling my Mk2, I can't see the expense being justified.  A big part of that has to do with the Super3s spoiling me by giving such a bang for the buck for an outlay of only around $500.  The Mk3 would justify an additional $1000-$1200 spent over a Mk2 but maybe not much more than that.  Innous does offer a power supply upgrade for the Mk2, which gives it the same power supply as the Mk3.  I think it's priced around $1000, which seems about right.

 

[kennyb123]

The motherboard is powered by a Sean Jacob’s designed power supply.  And in the Mk3, the supply had three rails.  The care taken throughout this execution could achieve that goal of an ultra-low noise USB.  Even the Zenith Mk2 seemed to achieve this as I found no further benefit from an ISO Regen, which had benefited even a device like the microRendu, which has a custom board.  

[kennyb123]

45 minutes ago, jcn3 said:

 

website says "new custom motherboard" - implies that they did.

He asked if they are designing their own motherboard.  I believe they are customizing a board they selected.  I’m not sure the distinction matters as whether or not they designed it doesn’t favor into whether USB is “ultra-low noise”.  Innuos meant that in a relative sense.