Innuos Pulsar ????

[Vangelis]

Well it appears the Pulsar is actually discontinued. I received mine as a part of the first US shipment May 15, 2023. Not even a two year of production availability cycle! Granted digital technology moves very fast, but retaining pride of ownership against a now diminished value of a product that had only a two year production cycle, does not garner loyalty. The Zenith MK3 and Statements series production averaged six years. When I purchased my Pulsar, I thought I, based on Innuos model history, I would have a comfortable three to fours years of production / market stability. My Pulsar does sound nice but this business model, is not good.

 

[matthias]

Not even a two year of production availability cycle!

It might be a poor consolation but these devices are based on computer parts and for example Apple change their Macbooks every year

 

[Paul1960]

I own a Pulsar too and have had the Zen and Zenith Mk3.
I also own a PhoenixNET.
I have used the Pulsar in every way imaginable, including stadnalone, Roon endpoint, HQPlayer NAA and so on and have occasionally tried to document my experience in this thread.
However, all Innuos products after the Pulsar, namely the NG series and the new Stream series, seem to clearly abandon the streamer only logic and go for the "do-everything" one as both accept NVMe discs.
The recent ability to also use Tidal Connect or Quobuz Connect among other things, also seems to be pointing towards a direction of more choices.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with that at all!
In fact, I feel that, if anything, this is an evolution and Innuos are clearly looking ahead.
But despite all that and despite the fact that the Pulsar does sound amazing, we are still consumers and I for one feel a tad left out.
To be honest, it's still too early to make any sort of meaningful comment without having seen how it'll all play out first, but hopefully Innuos will acknowledge the fact that their existing and loyal fan base need to be thrown a bone or two, from time to time...

Which way did the Pulsar sound the best? I like how mine sounds using the Sense app versus Roon using an Eversolo A8 as an endpoint but I would much prefer to use Roon over Sense which I think is buggy and minimal in terms of its functioning. I've thought about trying HQ Player and using the Pulsar as an HQPlayer NAA with Roon as the front end but it isn't clear to me that approach has better sound. I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[tedwoods]

Which way did the Pulsar sound the best? I like how mine sounds using the Sense app versus Roon using an Eversolo A8 as an endpoint but I would much prefer to use Roon over Sense which I think is buggy and minimal in terms of its functioning. I've thought about trying HQ Player and using the Pulsar as an HQPlayer NAA with Roon as the front end but it isn't clear to me that approach has better sound. I would appreciate your thoughts.

In my system, it sounded best in standalone mode using Sense.

 

[matthias]

Innuos mentioned on their forum:
"Keep in mind that PULSAR -> Stream3 be more a gain in features/functions rather than SQ..."

 

[Vangelis]

Sense Version 3.3.0 is a major upgrade in sound quality. Shockingly better. What a gift.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Sense Version 3.3.0 is a major upgrade in sound quality. Shockingly better. What a gift.

Hi,

Are you sure this wasn't a power of positive perception situation?

Nothing in that list of updates says anything about sound quality. Each update relates to mechanical functionality and bug fixes.

I'm concerned this may be a case for the Hyperbole Police to investigate.

 

[Vangelis]

No doubt, 3.3.0 is a clear improvement. I’ve done every update with two different Innuos streamers over four years, and only once before, did I experience an improvement in sonics. I’m always skeptical of any suggested claims from firmware updates, but a friend texted me this morning that I have to install to 3.3.0. He was shocked by the improvement made to his Pulsar from the down load, and he only streams. In spite my of friends excitement, my expectation was, fairly reserved. Nonetheless, I carefully listened to five tracks (hard files), did the update. After five seconds into Rodney Crowell’s “Shame on the moon” at the same gain level, the barely audible acoustic guitar that was buried deep in the mix prior to the update, became immediately more apparent, occupying its own new space within a denser soundscape. Lyle Lovett’s “Bears” had far more swagger and dynamics than it had five minutes earlier. Even my internet radio stations revealed the improvement. I agree, there was no mention of sound improvement from Innuos, but in both our systems, we agreed that version 3.3.0, upgrade wise, is on the level of a significant cable or power supply upgrade.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you for the explanation!

 

[b345t]

I can confirm I heard a nice improvement with 3.3 with the statement next gen. More dynamic and seemed ‘faster’.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Hi,

Are you sure this wasn't a power of positive perception situation?

Nothing in that list of updates says anything about sound quality. Each update relates to mechanical functionality and bug fixes.

I'm concerned this may be a case for the Hyperbole Police to investigate.

Let him think that..

 

[Paul1960]

No doubt, 3.3.0 is a clear improvement. I’ve done every update with two different Innuos streamers over four years, and only once before, did I experience an improvement in sonics. I’m always skeptical of any suggested claims from firmware updates, but a friend texted me this morning that I have to install to 3.3.0. He was shocked by the improvement made to his Pulsar from the down load, and he only streams. In spite my of friends excitement, my expectation was, fairly reserved. Nonetheless, I carefully listened to five tracks (hard files), did the update. After five seconds into Rodney Crowell’s “Shame on the moon” at the same gain level, the barely audible acoustic guitar that was buried deep in the mix prior to the update, became immediately more apparent, occupying its own new space within a denser soundscape. Lyle Lovett’s “Bears” had far more swagger and dynamics than it had five minutes earlier. Even my internet radio stations revealed the improvement. I agree, there was no mention of sound improvement from Innuos, but in both our systems, we agreed that version 3.3.0, upgrade wise, is on the level of a significant cable or power supply upgrade.

I heard no improvement updating to 3.3.0 with my Pulsar but I wasn't looking for any either. But I would have thought a "clear improvement" would have been, well, clear.

I did notice that none of the interface issues with Sense seem to have been fixed. If you have a long playlist it still jumps you back to the beginning if you want to go look at the various tracks in the album that is being played. If you remove a track in a playlist like that it still jumps you back to the beginning. With an iPad if you set the iPad down with any suddenness it still opens up an "Undo Typing" box that has to be cancelled before you can use Sense again. For some reason that I have never been able to figure out on some tracks it still ignores the return to the beginning button when you are playing the track. The list goes on. Having come from Roon I am stunned at what Innuos users happily put up with. Sure it sounds better but come on, this ought to be mature well developed bug free software. Maybe if they stopped introducing endless versions of their hardware and actually focused some resources on the software they might actually have a world class interface.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

I heard no improvement updating to 3.3.0 with my Pulsar but I wasn't looking for any either. But I would have thought a "clear improvement" would have been, well, clear.

I did notice that none of the interface issues with Sense seem to have been fixed. If you have a long playlist it still jumps you back to the beginning if you want to go look at the various tracks in the album that is being played. If you remove a track in a playlist like that it still jumps you back to the beginning. With an iPad if you set the iPad down with any suddenness it still opens up an "Undo Typing" box that has to be cancelled before you can use Sense again. For some reason that I have never been able to figure out on some tracks it still ignores the return to the beginning button when you are playing the track. The list goes on. Having come from Roon I am stunned at what Innuos users happily put up with. Sure it sounds better but come on, this ought to be mature well developed bug free software. Maybe if they stopped introducing endless versions of their hardware and actually focused some resources on the software they might actually have a world class interface.

As the saying goes you do you. I was of the same opinion about Roon.

 

[matthias]

Qobuz Connect might be superior to Roon and Sense. What do you think about?

 

[Paul1960]

Qobuz Connect might be superior to Roon and Sense. What do you think about?

That is an interesting idea. Other than confirming that it sees my Pulsar I haven't given Qobuz Connect a try. I did buy a NUC back in April to put HQPlayer on and see how that worked with the Pulsar and Roon but that is a complicated piece of software and I haven't gotten around to trying it. If I'm motivated tonight I'll try comparing Qobuz Connect to Sense and report back anything I learn

 

[Paul1960]

Qobuz Connect might be superior to Roon and Sense. What do you think about?

I tried Qobuz Connect with the Pulsar. Switching back and forth between Qobuz Connect and Sense several times managed to crash my Pulsar. A track would appear to be playing on the Sense app but no sound would come forth. It required powering off the Pulsar and disconnecting it from the network to restore it to proper function. So that is disturbing. It did appear that tracks streamed over Qobuz Connect were playing louder than the same track streamed with Sense which would have made any comparisons difficult. Also, Qobuz Connect wouldn't play all the tracks in the playlist and I have no idea what that was about. I would have tried to debug that but now I'm afraid of bricking the Pulsar.

 

[matthias]

I tried Qobuz Connect with the Pulsar. Switching back and forth between Qobuz Connect and Sense several times managed to crash my Pulsar. A track would appear to be playing on the Sense app but no sound would come forth. It required powering off the Pulsar and disconnecting it from the network to restore it to proper function. So that is disturbing. It did appear that tracks streamed over Qobuz Connect were playing louder than the same track streamed with Sense which would have made any comparisons difficult. Also, Qobuz Connect wouldn't play all the tracks in the playlist and I have no idea what that was about. I would have tried to debug that but now I'm afraid of bricking the Pulsar.

Yes, on the Innuos Community forum they report similar issues....
BUT the problem is probably not Quobuz Connect but Sense...
Maybe for SQ comparisons it is better to stick for some time to QC and after a week or so to change back to Sense.
This makes probably more "sense" than short time switching

 

[ssfas]

I had a chat with Niall at Innuos UK a few weeks ago about where Pulsar owners stand now. The product is not redundant, but Stream3 should be better and cheaper. It has much more processor power with their new board and a new power supply from Sean Jacobs. Better mechanical construction. The main thing is that customers have been demanding an internal DAC for years and that is now available in three options. I was told the Phoenix DAC will be £2,900 and there will be upgrade pricing for Pulsar owners. Should be with dealers in a few weeks.

 

[Re-tread]

Good to know. Thank you!

 

[ssfas]

Good to know. Thank you!

The DAC will have it's own power supply and is very well specified. For those of us who like fewer components and even fewer wires, it's a very welcome development tinged with the fact that it comes so soon after having bought Pulsar.

From my chat it seems that Nuno has a tendency towards extreme engineering, he just wants to make things as good as possible, and Next-Gen was the result, not quite as originally conceived. Stream1 and Stream3 are a return to Innous' core value of providing quality products for the more budget-conscious consumer. If only there were a fibre-optic input.