Summus Server from Euphony Audio

[bobfa]

All,

 

I just found this on the web :  https://euphony-audio.com/summus/

 

I have more questions than answers at this point.

 

bob

 

[Dutch]

Must be an 8th gen i7 NUC in an Akasa Plato X8 case with custom front plate.

 

They mention a 110-240V PSU so perhaps it’s the stock NUC one, in any case it’s a SMPS.

[HiFiHeard]

I too am very interested in this product, but I assume one can replicate it for half the price or are there enough unique offerings that makes the premium worth it being "hassle free" plug-n-play?

[bobfa]

I am not willing to guess at contents but the NUC thing is a good one.  I am also assuming that it comes with the software license for Stylus which is $280 USD I think.  

 

Lots to learn.   I am sure we will find out more over time.

[HiFiHeard]

Here is some additional information provided to me by Euphony:

1) Summus music server already includes our Euphony Stylus license
(special version for Summus) so you do not have to buy this license
which is running on Summus server.
2) Control application (for IOS - Ipad, Android) for Stylus player is
included in Summus . You do not have to buy this separately.
3) You need to buy Roon license to run Roon Core server software on
Summus server. You can also run Roon Core  on seperate PC / Windows
machine and stream to Summus Server. If you want to run Roon Core on
Euphony Stylus software beside Summus, you will need a license for
Stylus. For Roon Core you will need to buy separate Roon license to use
anywhere, as it is not included with Summus server.
 

[CL65]

I currently use a sonicTransporter I7 feeding an EtherREGEN feeding an UltraRendu utilizing Roon and HQPlayer.  I have been considering replacing the UltraRendu with either the Summus machine or perhaps a Signature Rendu SE optical with the Tier II upgrade.  I would be needing to purchase a nice power supply with the Summus machine also.  Forgetting the cost difference, anyone have a guess on the better performer?  I do like Roon with HQPlayer but reading various threads the software on the Summus machine is supposedly top notch but I have no experience with.  Suggestions please.   

[Pale Rider]

I am intrigued by the Summus, and also have some questions. I've heard a demo of the Euphony software, and it's not bad. I prefer the Roon GUI over the Euphony, but that may be personal taste as much as anything; Roon has certainly had more time to mature, and community support to facilitate that evolution. The circumstances of the demonstration were not set up for comparative listening, but I take at face value the assessments of reviewers who state that Euphony has better SQ than Roon. I'm certainly willing to believe that's possible. Right now, I run a Nucleus+ and am extremely pleased with it. All the files are on an NAS in a separate part of the house isolated via fiber, the Nucleus+ is dead quiet, and it is also nicely isolated from the multiple DACs it serves. It appears to me that the Summus [like the Euphony Zenion PTS before it] must be connected to a single DAC over USB, is that correct? I won't call that a non-starter for me, but I sure do see it as a disadvantage. I am not a USB fan, even when "done right," and I am not at all sure I want another box, however compact, in the headphone rack or speaker system cabinetry. I went that route with various Sonore and Mivera streamers in the past and, while I have nothing but high praise for both, the [inherent] lack of flexibility in a USB streamer is very frustrating. Summus may be fantastic, but I do wish it had an all-network capability/option.

[BCRich]

Courtesy of Arthur Power and UPS yesterday. More feedback to follow, getting familiar with the Summus.

[AnotherSpin]

37 minutes ago, BCRich said:

Courtesy of Arthur Power and UPS yesterday. More feedback to follow, getting familiar with the Summus.

 

The box looks very similar to Akasa's Plato. Is it anything more than box with intel board inside with Euphony in memory?

[BCRich]

I believe it is as you said, based on the Euphony Website and Arthur Power’s site as well. It is further tweaked by Euphony as far as the OS is concerned etc. I trialed Euphony and liked how it sounded. I am presently using Roon/HQP Embedded (Trial) through the Summus. I will eventually try all of the options available. I’m in the process of rebuilding my music files as I had a Raid 0 Failure, my bad for using Raid 0, also had some other hardware failure that caused me to reformat the Drives that were connected to my Mac Mini un-necessarily. That’s what I get for messing with stuff while not feeing well, did not troubleshoot things thoroughly.

So far I am happy with my decision. I was very intrigued and impressed with some of the custom builds that have been on display here of late. I have built my own PC’s over the years but nothing close to what is being done by Nenon and Stream Fidelity. I’m turning 60 in September, while I have some of the skill set to undertake a custom build I really don’t have the time nor the patience. Hence my decision to go with the Summus. I would love to compare it to the i9 Sonic Transporter at some point as I was also considering that; but I really like the sonic character of Euphony. Once I get things back to how they should be I will provide additional feedback.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Mike

[dc-audiogeek]

@BCRich, any additional impressions on the Euphony Summus? It looks really nice and it was recently reviewed and highly recommended by Positive Feedback. 

[BCRich]

Hey DC,

I’ve spent the better part of the week getting my Music Files squared away. Just started listening a bit last night and just got home about a half hour ago. Been listening to the Stylus Player and really like it, it definitely sounds better than Roon, especially if you are using HQPlayer Embedded, however I don’t expect it to handle the more intense algorithms that HQP is capable of given that it is passively cooled. Still getting familiar with it though. 
Stay safe and Healthy!

Mike

[dc-audiogeek]

@BCRich

 

Thanks for your impressions!

 

I ordered a Euphony Summus myself. It was delivered yesterday and it's awesome! A huge step up from the Euphony PTS. I won't have any serious listening time available until this weekend, but I'm very happy with the brief time I've spent with it.

 

Whoo!

 

--Marc

[BCRich]

6 minutes ago, dc-audiogeek said:

@BCRich

 

Thanks for your impressions!

 

I ordered a Euphony Summus myself. It was delivered yesterday and it's awesome! A huge step up from the Euphony PTS. I won't have any serious listening time available until this weekend, but I'm very happy with the brief time I've spent with it.

 

Whoo!

 

--Marc

Cool, looking forward to your impressions as well. What Power Supply are you using?

Enjoy the Music Marc!

Mike

[dc-audiogeek]

4 hours ago, BCRich said:

Cool, looking forward to your impressions as well. What Power Supply are you using?

Enjoy the Music Marc!

Mike

 

Mike,

 

I believe I'm using the same power supply as you, the Keces P-8A Ultra Linear PS.

 

Thanks!

 

--Marc

[Ben-M]

23 hours ago, dc-audiogeek said:

@BCRich

 

Thanks for your impressions!

 

I ordered a Euphony Summus myself. It was delivered yesterday and it's awesome! A huge step up from the Euphony PTS. I won't have any serious listening time available until this weekend, but I'm very happy with the brief time I've spent with it.

 

Whoo!

 

--Marc

Any chance you can pop the top or bottom and get some internal shots? The Akasa case opens and closes with just a few screws. It would be good to see what the hardware situation is.

[BCRich]

3 hours ago, Ben-M said:

Any chance you can pop the top or bottom and get some internal shots? The Akasa case opens and closes with just a few screws. It would be good to see what the hardware situation is.

It’s the same Motherboard that is used in the Roon Nucleus only a generation newer. It’s a 8th gen i7...

 

 

[Ben-M]

That's very interesting to see. So this is a very normal hardware situation, like no special Apacer industrial ram or MLC SSD or Optane drive. 

 

So I'd guess any of the final sonic magic is coming from potentially the CPU and then the optimized Stylus software. That's pretty cool. Also great for similar HW owners, as it's then just the cost of the SW and we can likely get similar or the same performance. 

[hasticus]

On 5/29/2020 at 11:27 PM, BCRich said:

It’s the same Motherboard that is used in the Roon Nucleus only a generation newer. It’s a 8th gen i7...

 

 

 

How you compare sound with Sonore/Uptone and Summus? which mode do you use in Summus?

[BCRich]

10 hours ago, hasticus said:

How you compare sound with Sonore/Uptone and Summus? which mode do you use in Summus?

@hasticus, so far I have only been listening using Roon/HQPe and Stylus/HQPe to the OpticalRendu.

I have not done a direct connection between the Summus and my Bryston BDA-3 DAC. 
As far as Sonic quality goes the Stylus Player is very musical, at times I like it very much and other times I like how Roon sounds. If I had to make a choice I would say Stylus is probably the better of the two.

At some point I will connect the Summus directly to my DAC, I just have not had the time .

The EtherRegen definitely took things up to another level. 

[Foggie]

On 4/22/2020 at 8:47 PM, BCRich said:

it definitely sounds better than Roon, especially if you are using HQPlayer Embedded

Can elaborate on this, as it's confusing to me on wording => its better than ROON and even better than ROON with HQP?

 

I've tried direct to DAC vs endpoint etc.. and is hard to beat the optical setup and keeping all the "crap" in a network room IMHO, but will be interesting on your findings.  Have fun!

[BCRich]

12 hours ago, Foggie said:

Can elaborate on this, as it's confusing to me on wording => its better than ROON and even better than ROON with HQP?

 

I've tried direct to DAC vs endpoint etc.. and is hard to beat the optical setup and keeping all the "crap" in a network room IMHO, but will be interesting on your findings.  Have fun!

@Foggie, sorry to be confusing.... I’m a die hard HQPlayer user, after quite a bit of listening I would have to say Stylus sounds more musical than Roon no matter how you compare things. I have not used Stylus without HQP as that would require the direct connection to my DAC or the used of StylusEP.  I will say that I have compared Roon with its own upsampling engine and while it’s more that listenable I still like Stylus + HQP more so. The Summus and PS are in another room. No time to move things around right now. I do miss the smooth integration of Qobuz that Roon affords when using Stylus. I switch back and forth depending on my mood.