Haven't seen this unit mentioned much around here. Read some nice reviews and thought i would give it a go.
Managed to get it at a pretty good discount off retail. I only received it yesterday. It took 7 days to reach me from Europe. It took a little while to obtain the unit in the first place, due to Covid19 and production line and dealerships being delayed/closed. But the person helping me get the unit was great with updates, so never did I feel hesitant or doubtful at any time.
Quickly unboxed, hooked it up, and was a little disappointed because I heard lots of static, pops and crackles over a few of the first songs. It would come and go, and sometimes stay present for a few minutes. Quickly emailed Innuos support (who were great and replied really fast). I did a full system reboot, restarted core PC, rebooted all my power supplies. Made sure all the cabling was fitted correctly. Started music again, and heard a few pops and crackles initially, but it quickly went away and I've not heard it since.
Here are a few pics. Nothing new that can't be found on the Web. Comes with a generic ac cord, usb cord, small booklet. Simple black box, two USB points, on/off switch. I actually quite liked that there is no led light on the front. Unit is quite heavy and sturdy. No flex no rattles.
One thing to note is that the unit is longer than it is wide, so rack space/table top space has to accommodate this long-ish design.
Innuos support suggested to leave it on 24/7. Will take 1-3 days to properly warm up, reach optimal temps and settle down. Another 1-3 weeks before sounding its best.
So right now I'm at about 7 hours in.. I guess quite a long way to go. After "sorting out" the static issue, sound I'm getting is pretty good.
Im coming from a small sotm stack ie sms-200 ultra neo + txusbultra, so the txusbultra goes out of the chain for a while. Signal from phoenix goes to a singxer su-6 and then i2s to dac. The most notable differences now are less brightness and glare up top, and a lot of front back width and spaciousness overall, and music and vocals seem to come out quite relaxed but effortlessly.
Will compare phoenix to dac VS phoenix to su-6 to dac in the coming weeks.
Feel free to chime in, ask questions, or discuss.
Managed to get it at a pretty good discount off retail. I only received it yesterday. It took 7 days to reach me from Europe. It took a little while to obtain the unit in the first place, due to Covid19 and production line and dealerships being delayed/closed. But the person helping me get the unit was great with updates, so never did I feel hesitant or doubtful at any time.
Quickly unboxed, hooked it up, and was a little disappointed because I heard lots of static, pops and crackles over a few of the first songs. It would come and go, and sometimes stay present for a few minutes. Quickly emailed Innuos support (who were great and replied really fast). I did a full system reboot, restarted core PC, rebooted all my power supplies. Made sure all the cabling was fitted correctly. Started music again, and heard a few pops and crackles initially, but it quickly went away and I've not heard it since.
Here are a few pics. Nothing new that can't be found on the Web. Comes with a generic ac cord, usb cord, small booklet. Simple black box, two USB points, on/off switch. I actually quite liked that there is no led light on the front. Unit is quite heavy and sturdy. No flex no rattles.
One thing to note is that the unit is longer than it is wide, so rack space/table top space has to accommodate this long-ish design.
Innuos support suggested to leave it on 24/7. Will take 1-3 days to properly warm up, reach optimal temps and settle down. Another 1-3 weeks before sounding its best.
So right now I'm at about 7 hours in.. I guess quite a long way to go. After "sorting out" the static issue, sound I'm getting is pretty good.
Im coming from a small sotm stack ie sms-200 ultra neo + txusbultra, so the txusbultra goes out of the chain for a while. Signal from phoenix goes to a singxer su-6 and then i2s to dac. The most notable differences now are less brightness and glare up top, and a lot of front back width and spaciousness overall, and music and vocals seem to come out quite relaxed but effortlessly.
Will compare phoenix to dac VS phoenix to su-6 to dac in the coming weeks.
Feel free to chime in, ask questions, or discuss.
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