Innuos Pulsar ????

tedwoods said:

Playing files off a USB stick on the Pulsar is nothing more than a utility feature and certainly nothing to write home about SQwise.
Besides, only a handful of files can be read off the USB stick.
I have a 256GB USB stick with dozens of files and only the first few (ten or so) show up under Sense.
Same files played through a Roon server (I've tested with latest generation Nucleus) sound less "noisy" overall, but still have the Roon "sound signature".
The same files again but pulled direct from the web (Tidal or Quobuz) without a Roon server sound much better still.
Currently, (YMMV of course) in the scenarios I've tried, SQ hierarchy was:
1. Innuos Zen series used as server (local files stored there) w/h Innuos Sense - Pulsar in end point mode.
2. Innuos Pulsar without a server w/h Innuos Sense (NAS for local files) in standalone mode.
3. HQPlayer server (in custom DIY PC) - Innuos Pulsar as NAA
4. Roon server (Nucleus) - Innuos Pulsar in endpoint mode.
I have even noticed a SQ difference between running the Pulsar with or without Tidal or Quobuz integration (slightly better SQ without but a pita) but it may just as well have been audiophilia nervosa.
Unless somebody other than myself confirms it, that is...

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tedwoods said:

Playing files off a USB stick on the Pulsar is nothing more than a utility feature and certainly nothing to write home about SQwise.
Besides, only a handful of files can be read off the USB stick.
I have a 256GB USB stick with dozens of files and only the first few (ten or so) show up under Sense.
Same files played through a Roon server (I've tested with latest generation Nucleus) sound less "noisy" overall, but still have the Roon "sound signature".
The same files again but pulled direct from the web (Tidal or Quobuz) without a Roon server sound much better still.
Currently, (YMMV of course) in the scenarios I've tried, SQ hierarchy was:
1. Innuos Zen series used as server (local files stored there) w/h Innuos Sense - Pulsar in end point mode.
2. Innuos Pulsar without a server w/h Innuos Sense (NAS for local files) in standalone mode.
3. HQPlayer server (in custom DIY PC) - Innuos Pulsar as NAA
4. Roon server (Nucleus) - Innuos Pulsar in endpoint mode.
I have even noticed a SQ difference between running the Pulsar with or without Tidal or Quobuz integration (slightly better SQ without but a pita) but it may just as well have been audiophilia nervosa.
Unless somebody other than myself confirms it, that is...

Click to expand...

skids929 said:

I have the pulsar and pulse here making comparisons..I am using the Pulse via AES into the DAC and the Pulsar obviously only has USB. the Pulsar I have was a demo with supposedly 200 hours on it, but I am wondering how long this thing takes to break in. I am noticing an overall improvement over the Pulse but the Pulsar has a brighter even thinner sound on some tracks I am wondering if it's attributed to break in. I'm always thrown off by break in to be honest, but I would imagine this things takes a long while...Any long term users here have anything to report?

I am at times in the camp of is the Pulsar worth the extra $$ over the Pulse quite honestly as I go back and forth. Like I said there is an improvement but it's a huge leap.

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MusicListener said:

The Pulsar uses a Sean Jacobs power supply, I have the Pulse mini powered by the his DC4 power unit and it took a good three months to reach peak performance especially in the highs. By the way, throw in a PhoenixUSB into the Pulse mini DC4 mix and you have a stellar system for just a little more than the Pulsar.

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skids929 said:

but I am wondering how long this thing takes to break in.

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skids929 said:

I have the pulsar and pulse here making comparisons..I am using the Pulse via AES into the DAC and the Pulsar obviously only has USB. the Pulsar I have was a demo with supposedly 200 hours on it, but I am wondering how long this thing takes to break in. I am noticing an overall improvement over the Pulse but the Pulsar has a brighter even thinner sound on some tracks I am wondering if it's attributed to break in. I'm always thrown off by break in to be honest, but I would imagine this things takes a long while...Any long term users here have anything to report?

I am at times in the camp of is the Pulsar worth the extra $$ over the Pulse quite honestly as I go back and forth. Like I said there is an improvement but it's a huge leap.

Click to expand...

Tuckers said:

For me by 200 hours the basics were there, but with an additional 400 or so, the real warmth and liquidity came into its own. And those are the qualities that really set it apart from the competition IMHO.

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Vangelis said:

I’m currently breaking in a Grimm MU2 but I still have my Pulsar which I will retain until make any clear judgments on the differences over weeks of break-in. Too early to have clear judgment on the differences.

I have to tell you that I found that after a full month, nearly 800 hours my Pulsar was not clearly better than my Zenith MKII SE and then, BAM everything came into focus, it smoothed out and it sounded like it grew a pair and had a shot of testosterone and it really started to swing with whole new weight to the presentation. It was a big obvious change. Now that being said, a close friend of mine got caught up over my excitement of my Pulsar once it was broken in, and purchased one. This friend was a break-in skeptic and made the same observations that you’re making now. He was totally frustrated that it did sound better than his old Melco. I told him be claim, patient, meditate and have a few strong drinks over a month and things will improve. I got a call from him a few weeks ago, and he was dumbfounded that one morning he sat to listen and his jaw dropped. He could not believe it finally woke up almost overnight from playing over a month. He is no longer a break-in skeptic. My advice is, absolutely give it 30 days nonstop music play. 200 hrs isn’t even hinting at its final performance potential.

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skids929 said:

I have the pulsar and pulse here making comparisons..I am using the Pulse via AES into the DAC and the Pulsar obviously only has USB. the Pulsar I have was a demo with supposedly 200 hours on it, but I am wondering how long this thing takes to break in. I am noticing an overall improvement over the Pulse but the Pulsar has a brighter even thinner sound on some tracks I am wondering if it's attributed to break in. I'm always thrown off by break in to be honest, but I would imagine this things takes a long while...Any long term users here have anything to report?

I am at times in the camp of is the Pulsar worth the extra $$ over the Pulse quite honestly as I go back and forth. Like I said there is an improvement but it's a huge leap.

Click to expand...

As mentioned above, the reason it takes a long time for the Pulsar to break in lies in its power supply design: it has a rather large toroidal, a big choke and six hefty capacitors, all requiring some serious time to be properly conditioned.
Mine took over two months to reach its peak, yet, I could still notice smaller incremental gains, even after that given period had elapsed.
However, the differences between Pulsar and Pulse, especially in bass delivery, timbre accuracy, detail and portrayal of spacial cues, were rather obvious to me from the get-go, so perhaps in your case the smaller improvements might be attributed to other factors.
BTW, 2.6.3 is out. If you haven't already upgraded you can do so. It sounds amazing!
And while I am certainly not the one to believe every reviewer under the sun gets everything down right (well, some make even rather blatant mistakes...), this review -ceteris paribus- puts an interesting spin on the differences of the Pulsar in comparison to the Statement Next Gen:

Innuos PULSAR – HiFi Knights

This is the www.hifiknights.com review of Innuos PULSAR network player. Author: Dawid Grzyb. Enjoy!

hifiknights.com

tedwoods said:

As mentioned above, the reason it takes a long time for the Pulsar to break in lies in its power supply design: it has a rather large toroidal, a big choke and six hefty capacitors, all requiring some serious time to be properly conditioned.
Mine took over two months to reach its peak, yet, I could still notice smaller incremental gains, even after that given period had elapsed.
However, the differences between Pulsar and Pulse, especially in bass delivery, timbre accuracy, detail and portrayal of spacial cues, were rather obvious to me from the get-go, so perhaps in your case the smaller improvements might be attributed to other factors.
BTW, 2.6.3 is out. If you haven't already upgraded you can do so. It sounds amazing!
And while I am certainly not the one to believe every reviewer under the sun gets everything down right (well, some make even rather blatant mistakes...), this review -ceteris paribus- puts an interesting spin on the differences of the Pulsar in comparison to the Statement Next Gen:

Innuos PULSAR – HiFi Knights

This is the www.hifiknights.com review of Innuos PULSAR network player. Author: Dawid Grzyb. Enjoy!

hifiknights.com

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skids929 said:

I agree that was a very thorough and well-written review that helped me make a deicsion....Have you used the grounding port on your Pulsar? If so how did you attach?

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tedwoods said:

I was lucky enough to have found a friend with a ground unit for sale (Nordodt QKORE1) and at a bargain price to boot, so, I gave in to temptation and have been using that with its supplied banana to banana cable.

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skids929 said:

Yeah I am running the Puritan products so I may give it a whirl...You notice anything audible?

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tedwoods said:

Not a huge difference but it's definitely there...
Overall, I'd say more detail and a less forced sound.
Ideally the QKORE1 should be used in conjunction with a power strip, which is not exactly how I'm using it now...
However, I am planning on connecting it to the Puritan PSM156 ground slot next -effectively grounding the whole system- and see what happens.

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