Blackmorec Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 My system started with a Zenith MkII SE where I tried a few connection solutions, including several USB cables and an SoTM TX-USBUltra with sPS-500. I did compare 75cm and 1m Audioquest cables and could hear very little, if any difference. Certainly there were far bigger differences between various cable brands. The USB cable I eventually settled on, which to my ear sounded more natural and head and shoulders better than similarly priced alternatives was the Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Ref which provided some real magic in terms of purity and immersive soundstage But the reason for this post was to let you know about one of the most significant upgrades I did....3 actually. The first was adding a Sean Jacobs designed and built DC3 power supply to the AQVox SE....if you like what the Phoenix does, you will for sure like what the DC3 brings to the party. It absolutely transforms the AQVox, adds huge amounts of rhythmic drive, ambient detail, soundstage size and ‘boogy factor’. With the DC3 in circuit the rhythmic interaction between musicians will remind you more than anything of live music gigs, where you can feel the musicians having a good time. From there, I added a Ghent Audio Neotech JSSG360 DC cable, which brought added dimensionality, focus and greater detail, heard as sound stage ‘texture’. The soundstage becomes more holistic. Finally I added a Nenon developed and built DC cable, using the same topology as the Neotech, but substituting the 10x more expensive Mundorf Silver Gold cable.....in the context of a really revealing system this is another jaw dropping upgrade, adding true holographic imaging and incredible dynamics, which again makes the music sound ‘real’ in that its actually produced by the real instruments or vocalists. Details of how to build a Nenon Mundorf SG cable can be found in the ‘Building a DIY Music Server’ thread on this forum. Aberrant-Decoder 1 Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 They obviously never heard a DC3. It literally transforms their product, making a far bigger difference than adding the AQVox SE in the first place. In fact I first bought a DC2 because of that silly message from AQVox. Once run in, the difference it made was so profound I traded it straight back against a DC3 with Mundorf caps. ASRMichael 1 Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted April 4, 2020 Share Posted April 4, 2020 My DC3 is a fixed voltage. If i remember well, the AQVox SE requires 5V. I assume the AQVox paragraph was a blanket statement about LPSs. But as far as the DC2 and DC3 are concerned the statement was simply wrong. The difference is neither subtle nor trivial. I’ve no idea how other PSs will perform. Link to comment
Popular Post Blackmorec Posted April 5, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted April 5, 2020 Hi there, My current system includes the Innuos Statement, which uses the same USB clock, card and distributed PS as the Phoenix. The clock in the Phoenix is a 3ppb OCXO with its own dedicated power supply. The DC supply and regulator are designed so that the regulator is situated adjacent to the clock so there are no cables or connectors between PS and oscillator. The USB interface has a similar distributed PS topology. It is possible to connect the Statement to a DAC with both a standard and the special USB interface....the SQ difference between the 2 almost exactly mimicking the effect of adding a Phoenix (its the same hardware). I would agree with the improvements noted in this thread, but I would also add that I hear a major improvement in the perceived precision of the timing, heard as greater ‘swing’, snap and rhythmic interplay between musicians. Whenever I think about upgrades, I believe there are 2 varieties, ‘cosmetic’ upgrades, where there’s more of or improvements to the hi-fi attributes like bass or treble extension and ‘fundamental’ upgrades, where the music becomes more believable, more convincing, more lifelike. Cosmetic upgrades are soon assimilated by the listener and while enjoyment level increases for a while, a few weeks or months and its back to its usual level. With fundamental upgrades, the music creates increased listener involvement and a deeper emotional response and it does so every time you listen. These fundamental improvements start with things like removing glare and hardness to make the music sound more natural...and continue by providing greater ambient information, holistic soundscape structures, 3 dimensional note shape and decay and more detailed micro dynamics, where the ‘liveness’ of the music lives. The Zenith MkII SE is a remarkable piece of kit and can produce extremely realistic sound that is most enjoyable....but Phoenix and Statement take it to the next levels....making the music fundamentally even more believable, more thrilling or emotional, not by highlighting previous flaws but by revealing even greater complexity and structure in the music. FrankMA, adamaley and thyname 1 2 Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted June 6, 2020 Share Posted June 6, 2020 I have to say that Darko’s comment is rather counter-intuitive, given that the Phoenix’s additional power supply rails, 3 ppb clock and optimised circuitry’s main contributions are; improved timing, rhythmic drive and rhythmic interplay greater treble extension (sparkle, shimmer and transparency) Improved microdynamics (initial note percussion, bloom and decay) Soundstage focus and specificity All of which make the music far more engaging. Of course there are other variables....for example the extra USB cable The Statement basically has 2 USB outputs....the standard output from the mother board, as implemented on the MkIII and SE and the ‘super’ USB with enhanced PS, clock and circuitry. It’s possible to run a DAC from either, so its easy to compare in order to hear what the enhanced USB port’s contribution is. Phoenix’s contribution will be very similar as its more or less the self same package. For me, adding a Phoenix to a Zenith MkIII physically moves the MkIII closer to the Statements USB implementation so I fail to see how doing that can move its sound signature further away from the Statement’s, unless something else has been introduced into the equation....for example another, less accomplished USB cable kennyb123 1 Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 5 hours ago, Vangelis said: Not sure if this is the correct venue for this question, but this is probably close. I do not use Roon with my Zenith, I only use iPeng. On my iPad display for iPeng the volume control (bottom right side) is fully down and not adjustable, it cannot be raised . On every server and associated GUI the volume controls had to be fully up for the highest resolution. What am I missing here. Open iPeng and click Settings, Player Settings, Audio, Volume Adjustment then select what you want. If you use a preamp volume control select ‘Fixed Volume 100%’ Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 On 11/14/2020 at 2:35 PM, BigAlMc said: Let us know how you get on Mark. Be interested to hear. Also funnily enough after 5 months of prevarication (it sat in it's box was I was too lazy and too worried I'd break it if I attempted to mod the power supply) I shipped my Buffalo to PinkFaun yesterday to get them to do the clock mod and the PSU mod. Looking forward to seeing how that compares to my current EtherRegen switch. Cheers, Alan Hi Alan, Have you got your modded Buffalo back from PF yet? If so, would you like to post your initial impressions? Thanks Link to comment
Popular Post Blackmorec Posted December 15, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 15, 2021 Hi Gavin1977, Both PhoenixNET and USB are devices that need to be left switched on, unless there’s going to be some significant downtime. My PhoenixNET takes around 3 days to sound really good and more like 5 or 6 to sound best, but my system is quite sensitive in this area. This time applies every time you shut down and allow to get cool and is not burn-in. Burn-in is something different…..the unit will sound very, very good after 100 or so hours, but will only hit the pinnacle after a few hundred hours and some on-off cycles. The slow run-in is caused by the Mundorf caps, which really take some cooking. You’ll hardly notice the effect until one day the whole thing suddenly sounds even better. That can occur after a switch-off, even with the 3 day warm-up Koso, beautiful music and Gavin1977 1 2 Link to comment
Blackmorec Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Here you go https://innuos.com/kb/replacing-the-fuse-on-innuos-products/ I would be interested in your feedback on whether replacing the fuse brought a significant improvement in SQ. Please pay special attention to Pace, Rhythm and Timing. (PR&T) as this seems to be a sensitive area when it comes to different fuses. Link to comment
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